Although the Nuggets haven’t suffered any truly devastating long-term injury this year, at times, it has felt like a slow death by papercuts. They’ve had different guys in and out of the lineup, players clearly playing through things, and just when somebody has returned from an absence, another seems to be lost.
This has led to an up-and-down season with little consistency in the night-to-night rotations. There have been very few opportunities for them to be at full strength for long stretches. Michael Malone and his staff have done a solid job of patching holes, given what they had to work with, but the moves always felt like band-aids rather than real solutions.
Now, we’re just two weeks away from the end of the NBA’s regular season and there is still plenty of uncertainty about what the playoff rotation will look like for Denver. The starting lineup is certainly set in stone as Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic will all play heavy minutes every night.
Beyond that, there are a lot of question marks. Russell Westbrook will get the first crack at heavy bench minutes, but he may be on a short leash due to a recent history of playoff struggles and questionable shooting and decision-making. Peyton Watson should get a shot thanks to his stellar defense, but will Malone trust his offense enough to ride him for long stretches?
Beyond those two, things get even shakier. DeAndre Jordan has provided solid backup center minutes, but he is beyond washed up at this point in his career. Zeke Nnaji came on strong late at power forward, but he was out of the rotation for months.
Nuggets expect Julian Strawther back ahead of playoffs
The forgotten guy recently who could be a real X-factor is Julian Strawther. Strawther has had an inconsistent sophomore season, but he provides something that nobody else can; shooting. Strawther can create and make shots with the ball and he’s a real spot-up threat. That can’t be said about Westbrook or Watson.
Strawther suffered a knee sprain in Boston on March 2nd and hasn’t played since. The initial reporting was that he’d be reevaluated in four weeks and it appears that time has come as Michael Malone told reporters that Strawther is progressing well, he has started participating in 3-on-3 scrimmages, and the team hopes to have him back before the end of the regular season.
Malone wouldn’t fully commit to anything, but this is great news for the Nuggets and the sooner they can get Strawther back in the mix, the better. We will see how quickly he can get up to speed and if it takes time for his jumper to get going, this all may be moot.
But the Nuggets badly need the spark that Strawther can provide and if the team is fully healthy, he gives them a great option to come off the bench and knock down some shots. His defense is an issue, and his minutes will be matchup-dependent, but again, beyond the top few players on the roster, everyone on the Nuggets has some weaknesses.
The more buttons that Malone has to push, the better suited the Nuggets will be to survive a seven-game series. Strawther and his shooting should at least give Malone one more button and one more tool in his arsenal. Hopefully, Strawther can hit the ground running, get a few games under his belt in early April, and factor into the playoff rotation.