Trevon Brazile keeps giving the Nuggets a reason to take him seriously.
With Denver missing Peyton Watson after the summer trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was a real question about who could help fill that athletic, versatile spot in the frontcourt mix. Through the preseason, the answer might already be emerging in rookie second-round pick Trevon Brazile, who turned in one of the few bright spots in the Nuggets’ 122-110 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in their fourth preseason game.
Brazile didn’t just look comfortable - he looked ready. He was the first player off the bench for Aaron Gordon and wasted no time making noise, finishing a lob from Nikola Jokic and then burying a catch-and-shoot three on the next possession. By the end of the night, he had a team-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting and made 3-of-4 from deep.
He flashed on the other end, too. One of the clearest clips from the game was a chase-down volleyball spike block from behind on Darius Garland after Garland had slipped by him in the lane. That kind of rim protection paired with his bounce is exactly the sort of defensive spark Denver has been looking for.
The Nuggets took Brazile with the 35th pick in this year’s draft, and the athletic upside was obvious from the start. But he’s showing more than just pop. There’s real shooting touch here, and it’s showing up against higher-level competition after he already put together a huge Summer League outing in Las Vegas, when he scored 32 points and hit 6-of-12 from three.
What stands out most is the confidence. Brazile isn’t hesitating, and that matters. He’s letting it fly with no second-guessing, which puts him in a very different category from Christian Braun, who has been hesitant and couldn’t hit the ocean if it were in front of him right now.
Brazile also got to the rim a few times, finishing with dunks and layups as a cutter and slasher. For a rookie, he looks polished offensively.
There were rough spots on defense, and the minus-21 plus/minus told part of that story, but Denver’s bench unit was shaky across the board against the Clippers. That’s the kind of environment where coaching can help him clean up where he needs to be.
Even with the mistakes, Brazile is stacking up enough positive tape to force his way into the rotation conversation with head coach David Adelman. For a Nuggets team that just moved on from Watson, that matters. And if nothing else, Denver may have found a rookie it can actually trust during his first year - or at the very least, a bench piece who can eventually match, and maybe even exceed, what they lost.
In Other News...
Nuggets Suddenly Have A Julian Strawther Problem They Didn't Want
The Nuggets preseason loss to the Clippers was already the kind of October result teams mostly file away and move past, but the sight of Julian Strawther leaving after a third-quarter knee injury changed the tone quickly. Strawther has been part of Denvers effort to build out its depth, and any issue involving a rotation player this early in camp tends to land harder because it interrupts the work of sorting out roles and finding rhythm.
Trevon Brazile gave Denver something more encouraging off the bench in the same game, which is a small preseason bright spot the Nuggets can point to while they wait for clarity on Strawther. For now, though, the injury is the part hanging over everything, and the lack of an official report only adds to the uncertainty as Denver moves deeper into preseason without a clear read on how serious it might be. [Read more 🡒]
Julian Strawther Injury Scare Clouds A Crucial Nuggets Opportunity
Julian Strawthers night against the Clippers had an encouraging start before it turned tense, with the second-year wing leaving Denvers preseason game after a lower-body injury and not returning. Strawther had given the Nuggets useful minutes before the exit, finishing with 11 points, two rebounds and two turnovers in 19 minutes as Denver fell 122-110.
For a team trying to sort out its rotation and lean on young depth, any setback in the preseason carries extra weight. Strawther has been in the mix for a more meaningful role, and the Nuggets will now be waiting to see how serious the injury is before they can know whether this was just a scare or something that could slow his push for a bigger opportunity. [Read more 🡒]
Nikola Jokic Just Delivered A Reminder The Nuggets Still Have No Answer For
Nikola Jokic wasted little time in the Nuggets preseason opener against the Jazz reminding everyone what makes Denvers offense so hard to box in. On a behind-the-back feed to Cam Johnson, Jokic turned a routine possession into the kind of pass only he seems to see, and both Johnson and Aaron Gordon were quick to marvel at the precision and vision behind it.
Jokic called it his personal favorite and said it belonged near the top of his best passes, which is hardly a small claim from a player who has built a career on making the impossible look casual. For the Nuggets, it was another early glimpse of how much their season still revolves around his playmaking, and how few teams can ever feel truly comfortable when he starts manipulating the floor. [Read more 🡒]