Construction of the Nuggets Roster

[NuggetsWY]

During drafting, there's always the "Need vs Best player available" discussion. I tend to avoid that topic because, especially with the Nuggets, rookies seldom play enough to make that argument significant IMO.

In fact, I've typically avoided that discussion even when considering trades and free agent acquisitions - although I've talked about it.

But over the last couple of years, I've begun to really shake my head at the construction of our roster. It seems like every year our roster becomes shorter and shorter. In fact this year's roster of players that have played any minutes has half of the players at 6'6" or shorter; with a mind-boggling 7 players under 6'3" in a league where the motto has frequently been: You can't teach height.

Short players can definitely have skills and be valuable; yet some teams are playing a starting lineup with a PG of 6'6" or even taller. That difference can be significant on both ends of the court -- and quickness does not make up enough of a difference IMO.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference is on the boards. Jokic is second in the league but he is getting almost three times as many rebounds as any other Nugget - which leaves our team rebounding at 29th in the league. If you take out Porter's stats, Jokic is outrebounding the next three Nuggets.

To be a winner, in my opinion, a team needs offense & defense & hustle stats --- rebounding is perhaps the most significant hustle stat. Some teams manage to sign veterans that can help on defense and rebounding; meanwhile the Nuggets seem content to dominate the league in the under-sized players.

Or maybe I'm just venting from the wrong perspective.

[The Rebel]

Part of the problem with the system that the Nuggets are running this year is it depends heavily on perimeter defense, forcing the Center to cover the paint on pick and rolls and to do all the rebounding. While guards should be getting more rebounds since so many of them seem to follow their guys into the paint, their inability to rebound seems to me to be more about not wanting to put in the effort and Malone allowing them to get away with it.

I would argue that our roster problems have not been with the draft, but with the guys we have signed in free agency and the trades we have made. I don't know if anybody else remembers the front office and Malone himself openly talked about wanting more ball handlers after the 2019 playoffs? They openly blamed the loss against the Trailblazers as not having enough ball handlers and of course perimeter defense.

Since that time we have continued to draft well, I would argue that Hampton is still likely to develop into a versatile SG/SF defensive slasher. NNaji when he gets minutes has shown some talent, Bones has been great. Bol despite his issues was worth a mid-2nd round pick.

My questions start with trades. I understand why we traded Hampton and Harris for Gordon, but why did we not have any kind of follow up deal to get us another wing or SG? Why did we trade Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Juancho for cap relief and a late 1st round pick? Why give up 2 2nd round picks and Hartenstein for McGee when Malone never had any intention of playing Hartenstein or McGee?


The free agency is a mess. I get why they liked Campazzo, I get why they liked Howard, I get why they liked Dozier, and I get why they liked Hampton, but why the hell did we acquire all 4 in 1 offseason when they all were basically advertised as PGs? HOw many 3rd PGs do you need? Could we not find a SG/SF that can score? Also how are you going to bring in 4 guards and not a single one of them can create their own damn shot?

Does our front office and coaching staff realize that Draymond Green and JayMichael Green are not the same people? I get why they brought in Green after we lost Grant and decided not to bring Millsap back, but when he opted out why the **** did we give him a raise and another year when it was obvious that he was not who we needed last year?

Why did we bring in Jeff Green when we had already re-signed JayMichael and had NNaji, Bol, and Cancar to play backup PF minutes?

Obviously there was no way that McGee was coming back after Malone refused to play him, but did anybody in the front office say hey maybe we should sign a Center or SF since we have 6 PFs and 1 of each of the others?

Our depth sucks, and our roster construction is terrible we have no balance, and I am not sure if we have the assets to make a move and balance the roster since our young talent is buried on the bench and we have limited picks to trade.

[blahblah312]

Part of the problem with the system that the Nuggets are running this year is it depends heavily on perimeter defense, forcing the Center to cover the paint on pick and rolls and to do all the rebounding. While guards should be getting more rebounds since so many of them seem to follow their guys into the paint, their inability to rebound seems to me to be more about not wanting to put in the effort and Malone allowing them to get away with it.

I would argue that our roster problems have not been with the draft, but with the guys we have signed in free agency and the trades we have made. I don't know if anybody else remembers the front office and Malone himself openly talked about wanting more ball handlers after the 2019 playoffs? They openly blamed the loss against the Trailblazers as not having enough ball handlers and of course perimeter defense.

Since that time we have continued to draft well, I would argue that Hampton is still likely to develop into a versatile SG/SF defensive slasher. NNaji when he gets minutes has shown some talent, Bones has been great. Bol despite his issues was worth a mid-2nd round pick.

My questions start with trades. I understand why we traded Hampton and Harris for Gordon, but why did we not have any kind of follow up deal to get us another wing or SG? Why did we trade Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Juancho for cap relief and a late 1st round pick? Why give up 2 2nd round picks and Hartenstein for McGee when Malone never had any intention of playing Hartenstein or McGee?


The free agency is a mess. I get why they liked Campazzo, I get why they liked Howard, I get why they liked Dozier, and I get why they liked Hampton, but why the hell did we acquire all 4 in 1 offseason when they all were basically advertised as PGs? HOw many 3rd PGs do you need? Could we not find a SG/SF that can score? Also how are you going to bring in 4 guards and not a single one of them can create their own damn shot?

Does our front office and coaching staff realize that Draymond Green and JayMichael Green are not the same people? I get why they brought in Green after we lost Grant and decided not to bring Millsap back, but when he opted out why the **** did we give him a raise and another year when it was obvious that he was not who we needed last year?

Why did we bring in Jeff Green when we had already re-signed JayMichael and had NNaji, Bol, and Cancar to play backup PF minutes?

Obviously there was no way that McGee was coming back after Malone refused to play him, but did anybody in the front office say hey maybe we should sign a Center or SF since we have 6 PFs and 1 of each of the others?

Our depth sucks, and our roster construction is terrible we have no balance, and I am not sure if we have the assets to make a move and balance the roster since our young talent is buried on the bench and we have limited picks to trade.

McGee was brought in to motivate Bol and show how a veteran prepares to be ready every game unlike when Jones texted Bol and said to be ready for minutes. Bench players should be ready every game it worked well for Gerhing.

Beasley and Juancho were also not able to resign but they knew that in offseason and could have done more by highlighting/giving more minutes to increase trade value.

They could have had Milsap back at half of Green cost and one year while they determined if Nnaji is the future.

I had hoped they would have signed Cameron Krutwig. Before NCAA 64 analyst called him the mini Jokic and during the tournament he style was similar. He would have been nice fit for 2nd unit as PF to help ball movement and cause problems for opponents.

[skywalker33]

When you look at how the league is becoming guard/wing oriented, it's not hard to see why their efforts have been trying to get 3&D wings and add shooters to complement Jokic. With Malone being a defensive-minded coach (don't know where he got that label), the trade of Hampton and Harris for Gordon was easily to pair a defensive forward with some scoring ability of Jokic and MPJ. Dozier and Murray also look like they could be a standout duo if they ever get so PT together.

I have never been a Campazzo fan, he seems too small and offensively challenged to be effective but Malone loves the pesky defense he brings. And my question is why did we bring back JaMychel Green ? Obviously, one of Malone's ideas as he loves small ball (to lose leads the starters get ?), and yet we're looking for a backup Center, anyone else see something wrong here ?

Injuries have decimated this team and yet we're still in the playoff hunt, that's gotta say something, right ? The bench has been our Achilles Heal all season but Joker's will to win has kept us afloat. If/when Murray and MPJ get back, this could be the best starting unit in the NBA all while building a quality bench back up. Green and Morris/Campazzo will return to the bench, joining Bones and Nnaji.

[The Rebel]

Spoiler:

Part of the problem with the system that the Nuggets are running this year is it depends heavily on perimeter defense, forcing the Center to cover the paint on pick and rolls and to do all the rebounding. While guards should be getting more rebounds since so many of them seem to follow their guys into the paint, their inability to rebound seems to me to be more about not wanting to put in the effort and Malone allowing them to get away with it.

I would argue that our roster problems have not been with the draft, but with the guys we have signed in free agency and the trades we have made. I don't know if anybody else remembers the front office and Malone himself openly talked about wanting more ball handlers after the 2019 playoffs? They openly blamed the loss against the Trailblazers as not having enough ball handlers and of course perimeter defense.

Since that time we have continued to draft well, I would argue that Hampton is still likely to develop into a versatile SG/SF defensive slasher. NNaji when he gets minutes has shown some talent, Bones has been great. Bol despite his issues was worth a mid-2nd round pick.

My questions start with trades. I understand why we traded Hampton and Harris for Gordon, but why did we not have any kind of follow up deal to get us another wing or SG? Why did we trade Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Juancho for cap relief and a late 1st round pick? Why give up 2 2nd round picks and Hartenstein for McGee when Malone never had any intention of playing Hartenstein or McGee?


The free agency is a mess. I get why they liked Campazzo, I get why they liked Howard, I get why they liked Dozier, and I get why they liked Hampton, but why the hell did we acquire all 4 in 1 offseason when they all were basically advertised as PGs? HOw many 3rd PGs do you need? Could we not find a SG/SF that can score? Also how are you going to bring in 4 guards and not a single one of them can create their own damn shot?

Does our front office and coaching staff realize that Draymond Green and JayMichael Green are not the same people? I get why they brought in Green after we lost Grant and decided not to bring Millsap back, but when he opted out why the **** did we give him a raise and another year when it was obvious that he was not who we needed last year?

Why did we bring in Jeff Green when we had already re-signed JayMichael and had NNaji, Bol, and Cancar to play backup PF minutes?

Obviously there was no way that McGee was coming back after Malone refused to play him, but did anybody in the front office say hey maybe we should sign a Center or SF since we have 6 PFs and 1 of each of the others?

Our depth sucks, and our roster construction is terrible we have no balance, and I am not sure if we have the assets to make a move and balance the roster since our young talent is buried on the bench and we have limited picks to trade.

McGee was brought in to motivate Bol and show how a veteran prepares to be ready every game unlike when Jones texted Bol and said to be ready for minutes. Bench players should be ready every game it worked well for Gerhing.

That doesn't even make sense, Bol couldn't beat Hartenstein or Nnaji for minutes, there was no need to trade for a better big to motivate Bol. There are plenty of professionals they could have brought in to teach Bol to be a professional without costing 2 2nd round picks. FAct is we made the trade for the same reason we are looking for a backup Center right now, we need size against teams that have multiple true bigs because our front office and coaching staff refuse to trust the young talent until they have no other choice.

Beasley and Juancho were also not able to resign but they knew that in offseason and could have done more by highlighting/giving more minutes to increase trade value.

Beasley and Juancho both should have been traded before pre-season even started that year, we knew we couldn't afford them, but instead the front office once again wanted to make sure that MPJ was what they thought he was and Barton and Harris were healthy and then decided to shop them for 2 months trying to get the best deal while they lost value due to no playing time.

They could have had Milsap back at half of Green cost and one year while they determined if Nnaji is the future.

As I said signing Green for 1 year made sense although it made no sense to sign both JayMichael and Millsap last year. MIllsap is obviously washed, but when you have 3 young PFs to compete for backup it makes no sense to sign 2 veteran backup PFs. NNaji and Cancar both are capable of playing meaningful minutes and like they would be very good bench guys with more meaningful experience but they aren't getting that experience buried on the bench.

I had hoped they would have signed Cameron Krutwig. Before NCAA 64 analyst called him the mini Jokic and during the tournament he style was similar. He would have been nice fit for 2nd unit as PF to help ball movement and cause problems for opponents.

Krutwig is not exactly setting the Euroleagues on fire and he would be buried along with Cornelie who also isn't ready for meaningful NBA minutes. There were more than a dozen veteran Centers that signed for less than Jeff Green last summer, there were several that signed for the minimum that would have served our purposes, instead we gave JayMichael and Will Barton raises and got cheap so we didn't hit the luxury tax line.

[TunaFish]

When MPJ is healthy, along with Jokic and Gordon, the Nuggets have the best frontcourt in the NBA. That's pretty good construction of an NBA roster taken alone. With a top guard pair they would be unstoppable (again if MPJ and Murray were healthy). Health is always the "trump" card and that is the primary factor in this season.

The loss of Murray was devastating enough to the guard position but add in the loss of of Dozier with the nagging injuries to the rest and you have the makings of a disaster.

If there is one positive, there is little doubt that Jokic, Murray, MPJ and Gordon are the core. Unfortunately, two are out with substantial injuries and that is difficult to overcome.

The rest of the roster is built on a cap structure to fill the roster around 2 max contracts which in the end, has lead to this current configuration being carefully adjusted to remain under the threshold.

Could they contend if only two core players return? I find it fascinating that the Nuggets have not stated that either Murray or MPJ are out for the season. All press reports indicating they are out are unverifiable. Maybe the Nuggets don't think they are? The power of positive thinking is on display.

[Alatan]

When MPJ is healthy...

Is MPJ ever going to be healthy? Kid had 3 back surgeries. Would not surprise me if he never played another NBA game.

[Richard Miller]

When MPJ is healthy, along with Jokic and Gordon, the Nuggets have the best frontcourt in the NBA. That's pretty good construction of an NBA roster taken alone. With a top guard pair they would be unstoppable (again if MPJ and Murray were healthy). Health is always the "trump" card and that is the primary factor in this season.

This. It's pointless to discuss the construction of the roster when half of the roster is injured or in H&S. Murray/Barton/Gordon/MPJ/Jokic with Monte/PJ/Jeff first from the bench should have no problem with size.

[NuggetsWY]

When MPJ is healthy, along with Jokic and Gordon, the Nuggets have the best frontcourt in the NBA. That's pretty good construction of an NBA roster taken alone. With a top guard pair they would be unstoppable (again if MPJ and Murray were healthy). Health is always the "trump" card and that is the primary factor in this season.

This. It's pointless to discuss the construction of the roster when half of the roster is injured or in H&S. Murray/Barton/Gordon/MPJ/Jokic with Monte/PJ/Jeff first from the bench should have no problem with size.

It would seem to me that it is a good time to rebuild: teams might be willing to trade players not playing for younger players that could play. If we could pick up the right player or maybe two ...

[THE J0KER]

Our FO is too passive during the season even for their own low standards. They seem to be lazy or afraid to do almost anything. Two weeks ago our backcourt line was without Murray, Morris, Barton, Dozier, Hyland... even one Nuggets game was postponed due to a lack of enough players... so, why we didn't offer an available 31yo veteran Lance Stephenson a 10-day contract? He signed lately with the Pacers and in the last two games have shocking 30-2-5 (4 threes) and 16-6-14 (4 steals) performances!

I can understand if they don't want to make big moves before seeing what exactly to expect from Murray or/and MPJ, but little improvements without too much investing and risking always have sense, but for that, you at least MUST TRY to do something.

[Richard Miller]

so, why we didn't offer an available 31yo veteran Lance Stephenson a 10-day contract? He signed lately with the Pacers and in the last two games have shocking 30-2-5 (4 threes) and 16-6-14 (4 steals) performances!

It's just two games. As soon as he has a bad game, people will say he's washed and bemoan why a 31 yr old was signed and why is he taking minutes. Btw:

Read on Twitter

[THE J0KER]

so, why we didn't offer an available 31yo veteran Lance Stephenson a 10-day contract? He signed lately with the Pacers and in the last two games have shocking 30-2-5 (4 threes) and 16-6-14 (4 steals) performances!

It's just two games. As soon as he has a bad game, people will say he's washed and bemoan why a 31 yr old was signed and why is he taking minutes. Btw:

Read on Twitter

To be honest, the center is the last position we need right now some improvement, but nice to see FO at least trying something.

[Richard Miller]

To be honest, the center is the last position we need right now some improvement, but nice to see FO at least trying something.

I wouldn't be so sure, non-Jokic minutes have been a near disaster pretty much all season long.

[nedleeds]

When MPJ is healthy, along with Jokic and Gordon, the Nuggets have the best frontcourt in the NBA. That's pretty good construction of an NBA roster taken alone. With a top guard pair they would be unstoppable (again if MPJ and Murray were healthy). Health is always the "trump" card and that is the primary factor in this season.

This. It's pointless to discuss the construction of the roster when half of the roster is injured or in H&S. Murray/Barton/Gordon/MPJ/Jokic with Monte/PJ/Jeff first from the bench should have no problem with size.

It would seem to me that it is a good time to rebuild: teams might be willing to trade players not playing for younger players that could play. If we could pick up the right player or maybe two ...

Randle for MP Jr. and his fused back.

[blahblah312]

Spoiler:

Part of the problem with the system that the Nuggets are running this year is it depends heavily on perimeter defense, forcing the Center to cover the paint on pick and rolls and to do all the rebounding. While guards should be getting more rebounds since so many of them seem to follow their guys into the paint, their inability to rebound seems to me to be more about not wanting to put in the effort and Malone allowing them to get away with it.

I would argue that our roster problems have not been with the draft, but with the guys we have signed in free agency and the trades we have made. I don't know if anybody else remembers the front office and Malone himself openly talked about wanting more ball handlers after the 2019 playoffs? They openly blamed the loss against the Trailblazers as not having enough ball handlers and of course perimeter defense.

Since that time we have continued to draft well, I would argue that Hampton is still likely to develop into a versatile SG/SF defensive slasher. NNaji when he gets minutes has shown some talent, Bones has been great. Bol despite his issues was worth a mid-2nd round pick.

My questions start with trades. I understand why we traded Hampton and Harris for Gordon, but why did we not have any kind of follow up deal to get us another wing or SG? Why did we trade Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Juancho for cap relief and a late 1st round pick? Why give up 2 2nd round picks and Hartenstein for McGee when Malone never had any intention of playing Hartenstein or McGee?


The free agency is a mess. I get why they liked Campazzo, I get why they liked Howard, I get why they liked Dozier, and I get why they liked Hampton, but why the hell did we acquire all 4 in 1 offseason when they all were basically advertised as PGs? HOw many 3rd PGs do you need? Could we not find a SG/SF that can score? Also how are you going to bring in 4 guards and not a single one of them can create their own damn shot?

Does our front office and coaching staff realize that Draymond Green and JayMichael Green are not the same people? I get why they brought in Green after we lost Grant and decided not to bring Millsap back, but when he opted out why the **** did we give him a raise and another year when it was obvious that he was not who we needed last year?

Why did we bring in Jeff Green when we had already re-signed JayMichael and had NNaji, Bol, and Cancar to play backup PF minutes?

Obviously there was no way that McGee was coming back after Malone refused to play him, but did anybody in the front office say hey maybe we should sign a Center or SF since we have 6 PFs and 1 of each of the others?

Our depth sucks, and our roster construction is terrible we have no balance, and I am not sure if we have the assets to make a move and balance the roster since our young talent is buried on the bench and we have limited picks to trade.

McGee was brought in to motivate Bol and show how a veteran prepares to be ready every game unlike when Jones texted Bol and said to be ready for minutes. Bench players should be ready every game it worked well for Gerhing.

That doesn't even make sense, Bol couldn't beat Hartenstein or Nnaji for minutes, there was no need to trade for a better big to motivate Bol. There are plenty of professionals they could have brought in to teach Bol to be a professional without costing 2 2nd round picks. FAct is we made the trade for the same reason we are looking for a backup Center right now, we need size against teams that have multiple true bigs because our front office and coaching staff refuse to trust the young talent until they have no other choice.

Beasley and Juancho were also not able to resign but they knew that in offseason and could have done more by highlighting/giving more minutes to increase trade value.

Beasley and Juancho both should have been traded before pre-season even started that year, we knew we couldn't afford them, but instead the front office once again wanted to make sure that MPJ was what they thought he was and Barton and Harris were healthy and then decided to shop them for 2 months trying to get the best deal while they lost value due to no playing time.

They could have had Milsap back at half of Green cost and one year while they determined if Nnaji is the future.

As I said signing Green for 1 year made sense although it made no sense to sign both JayMichael and Millsap last year. MIllsap is obviously washed, but when you have 3 young PFs to compete for backup it makes no sense to sign 2 veteran backup PFs. NNaji and Cancar both are capable of playing meaningful minutes and like they would be very good bench guys with more meaningful experience but they aren't getting that experience buried on the bench.

I had hoped they would have signed Cameron Krutwig. Before NCAA 64 analyst called him the mini Jokic and during the tournament he style was similar. He would have been nice fit for 2nd unit as PF to help ball movement and cause problems for opponents.

Krutwig is not exactly setting the Euroleagues on fire and he would be buried along with Cornelie who also isn't ready for meaningful NBA minutes. There were more than a dozen veteran Centers that signed for less than Jeff Green last summer, there were several that signed for the minimum that would have served our purposes, instead we gave JayMichael and Will Barton raises and got cheap so we didn't hit the luxury tax line.

You would have to ask Connelly/Malone why they thought that Bol could be motivated after a year and half at the cost of a 2

Green was not signed for 1 year the 2nd is PO that he will not turn down since he is paid twice what he was paid for last 4 years. Millsap could have been had for 1/4 of Green for 1 year. The position was to be low minutes and would have given flexibility in offseason. Now you have 2 Greens with PO for 2022. Nobody was eager to sign either right away.

To put context on Krutwig. few are on fire in Euro. His numbers are similar to Jokic and Luka during their first years. It would not have cost anything to bring in for summer or training camp for a look. You wouldnt have him as center he would have to be PF in nba.

[Richard Miller]

Millsap could have been had for 1/4 of Green for 1 year. The position was to be low minutes and would have given flexibility in offseason. Now you have 2 Greens with PO for 2022. Nobody was eager to sign either right away.

Millsap is toast

[NuggetsWY]

Joy, joy -said with sarcasm dripping, another 6'4" guard on a team that now consists of short guards and a few big men.

Is McGruder so good that ... well, Malone wouldn't use Bol, so not much of a loss for Denver. Miami, LAC, Detroit in six seasons and not many minutes in LA or Detroit. Miami gave him some minutes and he shot 41% over all with 35% from 3pt range. I just don't see him getting minutes in Denver - even with all of our issues.

[Richard Miller]

Joy, joy -said with sarcasm dripping, another 6'4" guard on a team that now consists of short guards and a few big men.

The trade was to ship Bol, not so much to get McGruder He could easily get waived before long

[The Rebel]

Joy, joy -said with sarcasm dripping, another 6'4" guard on a team that now consists of short guards and a few big men.

The trade was to ship Bol, not so much to get McGruder He could easily get waived before long

Exactly McGruder is on a minimum contract, he can be cut and we can sign another minimum deal while staying out of the luxury tax, opening up a way to bring in a cheap backup veteran Center to play against teams with bigs. With the weird way the NBA counts money out on contracts Bol counted the full $2+ million against the salary cap, if he was cut or waived there is no way to bring in another minimum deal while staying under the luxury tax. McGruder will likely be here until we figure out the backup C.

[skywalker33]

so, why we didn't offer an available 31yo veteran Lance Stephenson a 10-day contract? He signed lately with the Pacers and in the last two games have shocking 30-2-5 (4 threes) and 16-6-14 (4 steals) performances!

It's just two games. As soon as he has a bad game, people will say he's washed and bemoan why a 31 yr old was signed and why is he taking minutes. Btw:

Read on Twitter

To be honest, the center is the last position we need right now some improvement, but nice to see FO at least trying something.

The bench can definitely use some help and if this allows Jokic to get some rest without losing any lead built by the starters would be HUGE, not hard to see that !