Aaron Gordon has continued to grow his Nuggets legacy ever since arriving in Denver, earning the moniker Mr. Nugget, playing through countless injuries, and helping the team win its first championship in 2023. He’s only 31 years old, but his body has taken an absolute beating. Still, when he’s on the floor, it’s easy to see why he’s one of the most important players on the team.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s such a great thing for the Nuggets. It’s obviously good that he’s still playing at such a high level. But with the way he has battled soft tissue injuries over the last few years and started to break down, it’s crazy how vital he is to the team’s success.
And it’s not just one thing with AG; he’s a critical part of almost everything they do. He’s their best player out of the dunker spot, he’s their best spot-up shooter, he’s their best backup center, and he’s their best defender. And that’s just scratching the surface.
He does so many things well, but they’re all things that are needed of him. In an ideal world, Denver would have built out a roster that would allow Gordon to age gracefully and manage his body through the regular season, saving his best for the playoffs.
Nuggets haven't done enough to ease Gordon's burden
But that’s hardly the case, because the drop-off from what Gordon provides to whoever would be taking his place is massive. You don’t want him playing backup center during the regular season, but are we confident that Marvin Bagley, Zeke Nnaji, and DaRon Holmes can carry the load for 82 games?
You don’t want to rely on him as a high-volume three-point shooter every night, but other than Cam Johnson, who else do you trust to let it fly? You don’t want to overtax him with a huge defensive burden every night, but without him doing so, the defense falls off a cliff.
These aren’t new issues, but the fact that they haven’t been fixed yet is very frustrating. Leaning on him so heavily is a recipe for disaster and just asking for trouble. Even if he’s somehow able to mostly survive the grind of the regular season, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be completely spent by playoff time anyway.
That’s basically what we’ve seen the past few years, and sadly, there’s not much reason to believe it won’t happen again. Maybe the young guys and newcomers will be able to step up and surprise people, but that’s a tough bet to make, and one that this team shouldn’t have to make as they vie to maximize the championship window around Nikola Jokic.
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