Why is Zeke Nnaji on the Nuggets roster?
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 2:45 pm
I just don't see much there. I don't get to see the Nuggets much. What am I missing?
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farkingidiot wrote:I just don't see much there. I don't get to see the Nuggets much. What am I missing?
farkingidiot wrote:Other than being condescending, that doesn't seem to be much of an answer. Every team has players they give contracts and every team thinks a player has potential. There is a league of guys with potential. I'm asking what everyone's opinion is of his game. I haven't seen anything of note, ability-wise, for years from Zeke. I was wondering what fan's opinion is of him.
THE J0KER wrote:farkingidiot wrote:Other than being condescending, that doesn't seem to be much of an answer. Every team has players they give contracts and every team thinks a player has potential. There is a league of guys with potential. I'm asking what everyone's opinion is of his game. I haven't seen anything of note, ability-wise, for years from Zeke. I was wondering what fan's opinion is of him.
I'm the first who complain here because young players do not get enough chances under Malone.
Maf wrote:THE J0KER wrote:farkingidiot wrote:Other than being condescending, that doesn't seem to be much of an answer. Every team has players they give contracts and every team thinks a player has potential. There is a league of guys with potential. I'm asking what everyone's opinion is of his game. I haven't seen anything of note, ability-wise, for years from Zeke. I was wondering what fan's opinion is of him.
I'm the first who complain here because young players do not get enough chances under Malone.
Want to ask, do you still think that? Because I wonder who are those players that were overlooked by Malone? Bones barely plays in LA. Bol Bol barely plays at Phoenix. I had no idea if Hampton is still in the league, had to look it up. Many guys are out of the NBA. Like only guy I can remeber is having any career is Vanderbilt and he was bad fit to our playstyle.
So I mean, some of those players were given chances after they were traded but in season or two showed they are just not that good. Yeah like Malone feels like he is the coach of NBA team, not a babysitter. But it is not as he would ignore some super talented players on the bench.
THE J0KER wrote:Maf wrote:THE J0KER wrote: I'm the first who complain here because young players do not get enough chances under Malone.
Want to ask, do you still think that? Because I wonder who are those players that were overlooked by Malone? Bones barely plays in LA. Bol Bol barely plays at Phoenix. I had no idea if Hampton is still in the league, had to look it up. Many guys are out of the NBA. Like only guy I can remeber is having any career is Vanderbilt and he was bad fit to our playstyle.
So I mean, some of those players were given chances after they were traded but in season or two showed they are just not that good. Yeah like Malone feels like he is the coach of NBA team, not a babysitter. But it is not as he would ignore some super talented players on the bench.
Apart from Emmanuel Mudiay who played over 30 minutes per game in his rookie year, there is no single player in the past 9 years who got a fair chance in his rookie year, including two-time future MVP Nikola Jokic or two future max-contract players Jamal Murray and MPJ which all three was TOP10 (TOP5!) best in their rookie class in "per 36 minutes" stats but played around 20 mpg.
30.4 Emmanuel Mudiay
21.7 Nikola Jokic
21.5 Jamal Murray
16.4 Michael Porter Jr.
15.5 Christian Braun
12.4 Bol Bol
10.1 Bones Hyland
9.5 Zeke Nnaji
9.3 R.J. Hampton
8.4 Monte Morris
8.1 Peyton Watson
7.5 Malik Beasley
4.1 Jarred Vanderbilt
3.2 Vlatko Cancar
Malone does not like young players. Period.
Maf wrote:Spoiler:
Ok, no trying to convince you just fix some problematic things. First, Jamal (31), MPJ (31) Monte (24), Nikola (28, 59 games as a starter) in their second year. So let´s change young players to rookies, all right? They were still young players in their second years.
10.1 for Bones is his PPG, not minutes (19). And it still more minutes a game that he plays in his third year. Same can be said about Bol Bol in his fifth year and basically Hampton too (9.3 vs 9.5)
CB and PW, whose minutes should they took last season? Bruce´s? No way...
So my counting is from your list there are three guys contributing to other teams, one of them bad fit, one of them we couldn´t pay him the contract he wanted and (my beloved) Monte, who need to go so we could get KCP (and won a tittle). And MM was developed pretty fine I believe. Rest of them are just bad players. Or our stars/starters/rotation players.
Manolito wrote:Nnaji's contract was intended to inflate Nuggets cap and have a tradeable contract to gain some flexibility while being over the tax. The problem is Nnaji is playing even worse than ever, becoming a toxic contract.
IMHO Nnaji is not a Center and never will be, I do not understand why insisting so much on that. He could be a decent backup PF if he recovers his 3pt shoot, because he is a good switchable defender
THE J0KER wrote:Maf wrote:Spoiler:
Ok, no trying to convince you just fix some problematic things. First, Jamal (31), MPJ (31) Monte (24), Nikola (28, 59 games as a starter) in their second year. So let´s change young players to rookies, all right? They were still young players in their second years.
10.1 for Bones is his PPG, not minutes (19). And it still more minutes a game that he plays in his third year. Same can be said about Bol Bol in his fifth year and basically Hampton too (9.3 vs 9.5)
CB and PW, whose minutes should they took last season? Bruce´s? No way...
So my counting is from your list there are three guys contributing to other teams, one of them bad fit, one of them we couldn´t pay him the contract he wanted and (my beloved) Monte, who need to go so we could get KCP (and won a tittle). And MM was developed pretty fine I believe. Rest of them are just bad players. Or our stars/starters/rotation players.
I give rookie stats because it is a pure picture of how some coach is willing to give a chance to young players where no pressure on him to put them to play, and also it is easier for me to navigate stats because "rookie year" filters on stats sites. You give as proof the sophomore playing times of our three players which are so good in their young years that all three signed max-contract as their first NBA pro contract. If you ask me Jokic playing only 27.9mpg in his 2nd year back in time in a mediocre team where he had already shown clear signs of future HoF (competed with Giannis for the MIP award that season) is an even bigger scandal!
In his 2nd year, Murray literally has no competition on the PG spot because veteran Nelson was out while Muddiay was just a year older than Jamal and underperformed badly. I'm just curious what would happen with MPJ's playing time in his 2nd year if Jerami Grant re-signed as FO hoped. Would Malone give up on giving 30+ minutes to his favorite Will Barton?
Malik Beasley is a starter-level player (currently 29mpg starter in the contender Bucks team) and clearly more talented than Barton, but gets 8mpg in 1st, 9mpg in 2nd season. GF Hyland is in the worst possible position right now, in a team whose guard-forward spot was occupied by Kawhi-Harden-PG13-Russ-Power, don't write off him too early.
Christian Braun overperformed in his rookie season despite restricting 15mpg but he barely played over 20mpg this season (mostly during Murray's injury pause). Peyton Watson, a defensive specialist who can score also playing his 2nd season and he has 2nd best defensive rating after Jokic, but under Malone 17.7mpg so far in a team whose bench is the biggest weakness! Talking about defensive specialists I remind you about Jarred Vanderbilt case who struggled recently with injuries but back in time he was a 5mpg player under Malone in his 1st and 2nd seasons but after the trade, he was most the time starter in Minnesota and Utah, and the Lakers (starter in 150 games in first 200 after trade from Denver), before injury troubles prevail.
Malone doesn't *love* young players, if you want to see him lovable and patient with someone and give him some extra minutes just look at the cases of the VETERANS Will Barton, Plumlee, the late Milsap + G.Harris, also Wilson Chandler.. etc..
TunaFish wrote:Nnaji has looked much improved since the break. He has been effective in the rotation and appears to have temporarily won the backup center minutes.