For years, the Nuggets have chased the same answer: who backs up Nikola Jokic when he sits?
They’ve tried plenty of paths, and none of them really stuck. That search has been a recurring problem for Denver, one that has hurt the team at different points along the way.
This season, though, it finally looks like they’ve landed on something workable. Marvin Bagley has given them competent center minutes and has even been able to share the floor with Jokic at times, which has taken some pressure off a long-running roster issue.
But solving one hole has only exposed another.
The irony is that Denver’s latest problem looks a lot like the one it spent years trying to fix at center. Now the issue is behind Jamal Murray. He has been excellent this season, but the Nuggets have cratered when he leaves the floor, with a 19-point swing in their net rating.
That’s a sharp turn for a team that has usually been able to patch together non-Murray minutes with other pieces. In past seasons, Denver could lean on Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, or simply let Jokic steer the offense more often. This year, that safety net has not held up.
The Tyus Jones minutes have been a disaster, and the DeMar DeRozan experience has somehow been even worse. At some point, Denver may have to give Ryan Nembhard a look, because the current setup is not built to last. Even if the Nuggets manage to survive the regular season like this, Murray is going to be carrying too much by the time the playoffs arrive, and that kind of load can leave a team stuck in the same place it was a year ago.
The deeper issue is that Denver does not have the same secondary creation it has had before. Watson and Brown once helped cover those gaps. DeRozan can provide some shot creation, but he is not a point guard and does not fit the way the Nuggets want to play.
The rest of the supporting cast does not solve it either. Spencer Jones, Christian Braun, and Cam Johnson do not bring enough playmaking to run bench units while Murray rests. Aaron Gordon, meanwhile, no longer looks like the player he once was, and his days as any kind of offensive hub may be behind him.
So while Denver may have finally steadied itself at backup center, the backup point guard spot has become an even bigger concern. In today’s NBA, teams need layers of ball-handling and creation to survive, and right now the Nuggets are short on both.
In Other News...
Nuggets Just Exposed An Early Road Problem Fans Will Notice
The Nuggets left Houston with a loss that felt more revealing than alarming, even with their full starting lineup on the floor. Nikola Jokic did his usual all-around work and Jamal Murray carried the scoring load, but Denver could not turn that into enough against the Rockets in a 110-100 defeat.
What stood out was how thin the margin for error looked away from home. Denver had trouble on the glass and did not get enough help beyond its two stars, a combination that can make even a talented roster look vulnerable early in the road schedule. It is the kind of issue that tends to show up quickly and linger if it is not cleaned up. [Read more 🡒]
DeMar DeRozan's Fit Next To Jokic Is Becoming A Real Concern
The Nuggets 110-100 loss to the Rockets was another reminder of how heavily they are leaning on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to carry the offense. Those two combined for 63 of Denvers 100 points, while the rest of the rotation never found a steady rhythm. DeMar DeRozan was part of that quiet group, and his night fit the larger problem of Denver not getting enough from the supporting cast when the stars are forced to do so much.
DeRozans presence was supposed to give the Nuggets another reliable half-court option, but the fit has been harder to pin down as the offense has bogged down in lineups with him and Jokic together. The numbers have pointed in an uncomfortable direction, with Denver performing worse when DeRozan is on the floor, especially in those shared minutes with Jokic. For a team trying to maximize a title window, that is the kind of trend that cant be brushed aside for long. [Read more 🡒]
Jokic Rumors Are Becoming A Bigger Nuggets Problem Than Fans Wanted
Nikola Jokics long-term future in Denver has become a real talking point around the league, and it is arriving at an awkward moment for the Nuggets. Insiders such as Tim Kawakami and Jake Fischer have both raised the possibility that Jokic may not be eager to lock in a long-term extension, which is the kind of noise a team would rather not hear when it is trying to settle into the season and find its footing after a slow start.
The concern for Denver is not just the rumor itself, but how quickly it can turn into a bigger organizational issue if the uncertainty lingers. Jokic remains the franchise centerpiece, and any hint that his timeline could be less secure naturally draws attention from other teams, including Golden State, while putting even more pressure on the Nuggets to steady things on the court and keep the conversation from drifting beyond basketball. [Read more 🡒]