Is the Nuggest Bench worse than last year?

[BelgradeNugget]

Well Bruce Brown is is a better all-around player than anyone on their bench this year. His versatility fit perfect in Denver because he could come in as a ball handler, spot up shooter, wing defender, or cutting finisher. The Nuggets don't have someone like that anymore.

But Peyton Watson is a bigger, better defender than Bruce Brown, while Reggie Jackson is a better ball handler and shooter. Christian Braun has made slight improvements across the board.

I voted "same" but I might lean more towards "a bit better" than "a bit worse". I think we'll have to see what Watson looks like in the playoffs.

Just one little thing to add - Justin Holliday had the best net rating of all Nuggets bench players (3.7), better than BB last year, shot 40.4% from 3 with 59.8 TS%.

[cupcakesnake]

Well Bruce Brown is is a better all-around player than anyone on their bench this year. His versatility fit perfect in Denver because he could come in as a ball handler, spot up shooter, wing defender, or cutting finisher. The Nuggets don't have someone like that anymore.

But Peyton Watson is a bigger, better defender than Bruce Brown, while Reggie Jackson is a better ball handler and shooter. Christian Braun has made slight improvements across the board.

I voted "same" but I might lean more towards "a bit better" than "a bit worse". I think we'll have to see what Watson looks like in the playoffs.

Just one little thing to add - Justin Holliday had the best net rating of all Nuggets bench players (3.7), better than BB last year, shot 40.4% from 3 with 59.8 TS%.

Yeah I thought about mentioning him. He's sort of the least exciting, but has the most utility in that you can throw him out there in almost any lineup and he doesn't hurt you too much. Hits 3s, doesn't turn the ball over, and has positional length. Very useful guy to have. I think with Holiday I can picture him equally as someone who drops out of the playoff rotation because he isn't doing enough, or someone who becomes indispensable because of his relative lack of weaknesses.

[Hoop Hunter]

I say a little worse. Bruce Brown is a very good do it all player. He makes winning plays not always showing in the stats. I think the Pacers missed him for a while after the trade. Ever team could use a guy like him.

Braun has improved though, I like him.

[shi-woo]

I mean Brown was a solid player on both ends of the floor, and was fairly consistent. That's the only thing this group is missing, that consistency.

Watson already provides more upside and a higher chance of changing the corse of a game with his defense. I like having him on the bench when the majority of teams are going to be throwing elite wings and guards at the Nuggets. If he can hold his own, and not commit silly fouls during this run, that alone will make this bench better than last years.

Reggie is okay, he is what he is. He's a solid backup guard who is a streaky shooter, and meddling defender. Again though I like his size, ability to get to the hoop, and that he replaced Green as the vet coming in off the bench. He's low key had a super good year as their 6th man. Reggie couldn't play for them in the PO last year, but lets not forget he was the sole reason why the Clippers made that run in 21. Averaging 18/3/3 on crazy good efficiency for 19 games. He won't do that, but he's no slouch in the PO.

I think this team is going to miss not having a player like Uncle Jeff this year. He was able to come in and give them a veteran presence at the 3-5, and could play with literally anyone. His ability to be a small ball 5 was also something that didn't go un-noticed by me last year, and was huge at times. We'll see how they fare this year with essentially Jokic as the only one really capable of playing that role. I don't see Nanji or Deandre getting much burn, if any at all this run.

I do like that they do have a consistent batch of veterans to run to if need be,, and everyone else has played on a NCAA team that made a final 4 it seems like. There is a lot of winners on this team that can step up when the games matter.

The bench this year has more potential, but will they be more consistent? That's really the only question, and we will find that out in just a month or so.

Last years bench was a solid C. This year's I think is a solid C as well, but with the chance to be a C+ if consistent minutes are given

[MarcusBrody]

Yeah this is a tricky one. The Nuggets went straight 8 deep last year. And Jeff Green - while I love him - was not particularly good. Brown was. Braun played well for a rookie under the bright lights, but wasn't amazing. He's been a bit better this year, but not really a ton. He's a playoff rotation player, but he'd be better as a 8th/9th guy on a deep team than the 6/7th role he has on the Nuggets. Reggie Jackson started the year out better than last, but has kind of deteriorated toward the end of the season. He needs to get it going again.

It's also an open question how the heck the Nuggets are going to fill the non-Jokic minutes at center. Do they go for Zeke/DeAndre, or do they go super small and just play Gordon/MPJ (both good rebounders) as their frontcourt when Jokic is off. It would seem to work against some teams, but teams like the Wolves would seem too big (though Gobert's offensive limitations and Gordon's fight, could possibly make it work).

So up to there, I'm edging toward "worse". But the wildcard for me is Peyton Watson. The kid is becoming a defensive MONSTER. I honestly think that he has the chance to become one of the league's best wing defenders over the next three years or so. He's lanky and an amazing shot blocker for someone his size. He can guard everyone from points to big wings like KD. But his offense is raw. He's shooting under 30% from three this year (29.6%). He has gotten a bit better at cutting and finishing. But if he can get in a rhythm and even shoot somewhat reasonably, it really improves the Nuggets bench as his defense really cuts down the overall number of points scored by the opposition. The problem is that his offense particularly benefits from playing with Jokic. Watson plays most of his minutes alongside Braun. When Jokic is with them, the three person lineup is +10. When it's Murray (-5) or Reggie Jackson (-6) as the playmaker alongside them, they aren't nearly as good. So if the Nuggets go super short, I suspect that we'd seen Jokic run a good deal with Braun/Watson and use that time to rest Murray and one of MPJ/Gordon so that they can spend their energy on small ball without Jokic.

[famicommander]

Year 2 Christian Braun > Rookie Christian Braun
Peyton Watson > Jeff Green
Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday << Bruce Brown

It's a net gain for the Nuggets. Jeff Green averaged like 4 points and 1.5 rebounds on 45% shooting last year. He was barely even a factor.

[zero rings]

They are offensively inept, same as last year. They might be slightly better on defense with Watson taking up Green’s minutes.

People are overrating Bruce Brown as a “6th man.” His efficiency tanked when he wasn’t playing with Jokic and he did nothing to boost their league worst bench. He was at his best when playing with the starters.

[AleksandarN]

Funny the Nuggets are better this year than last and that’s with Murray missing a quarter of the season. They have better offense and defense.

[AleksandarN]

I voted a bit worse because Brown was really a 6th starter for them in the playoffs last year, but the big issue they still haven't solved is a half decent backup center for when Jokic sits. Nnaji has been a huge disappointment

AG is their backup center

[Johnny Bball]

Clearly Worae.

[MarcusBrody]

One thing that hurt their depth this year was losing Vlatko Cancar to an ACL tear while he was playing with Slovenia over the summer. I thought he was generally better than Jeff Green last year and was hoping that he could take another step this year, but it was not to be. He would have been the obvious backup behind MPJ/Gordon in their hybrid SF/PF positions.