Everyone has been hyping up the Nuggets’ offseason moves, and rightfully so, but maybe we should pump the brakes just a little bit. The bench was so porous last season that bringing in some proven NBA players has felt like assembling an all-star cast. In reality, it may be folly to expect too much from Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, and Jonas Valanciunas at this point.
Nuggets fans know Brown well and remember him fondly from his role in helping win the 2023 championship. But since leaving Denver, Brown hasn’t done much, mostly wasting away injured or on the bench for bad teams.
There’s no reason to think he won’t be ready to go to start the season or anything, but there’s no guarantee that he’s even a league-average player anymore. Hopefully, reuniting him with Nikola Jokic and the boys will reinvigorate him, but again, it may be wishful thinking.
THJ started for Detroit last year and helped them make the playoffs, but that was mostly because that team just needed shooting so desperately. Hardaway Jr. is a streaky shooter, but he doesn’t offer much beyond that at this point in his career.
He’s not a plus defender and doesn’t offer much in the way of playmaking. On nights when his shots aren’t falling, he may actually actively be harming the team.
Valanciunas seems like the best bet to return value, but even that is not fully reliable as JV is 33 years old and as of a month ago, was looking to leave the NBA and play in Europe. He agreed to stay in the US, and everything seems fine now, but the idea that he’d be retired if not for his $10.4 million guarantee isn’t exactly ideal.
Nuggets bench may end up looking very familiar
When it’s all said and done, it’s not crazy to imagine a world where the Nuggets are back to relying on the same kids from last year. Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett, and DaRon Holmes II may quickly prove to be better NBA players than Valanciunas, THJ, and Brown currently.
Either way, it’s great that the Nuggets were able to add so much depth. And even if only one or two of these moves work out, that should still be a big upgrade from last year. But the way people are talking, you’d think that Denver is rolling out the 1992 Dream Team this season, and unfortunately, that’s not quite the case.