A five-step process to turning the Denver Nuggets’ season around

It hasn’t gone well for the Denver Nuggets.

Splice it any way you want, 3-7 is a disappointment, and if it doesn’t get turned around quickly, the bottom could fall out on the Nuggets’ season; there’s little room for error in the Western Conference.

So how do they turn it around? Here are five (simple?) steps to getting the Nuggets back on track:

Take Advantage Of The Schedule

We knew it coming into the season, but actually running through the gantlet made it all the more true: The Nuggets got screwed.

Denver began their season with seven of their first 10 games on the road, and with eight of those first 10 games coming against playoff teams from last year.

While the Nuggets would have liked to have come out of that brutal stretch a little closer to .500 — they blew at least two games in the final minute — it is what it is. They have to move on from here, and they’ll be given an opportunity to do so.

Over the next two-plus weeks, they’ll play seven of their next nine games at home, before heading out on another six-game road trip. If they can’t take advantage of this homestretch, they’re going to be in major trouble.

Bring back the home-court advantage, inch your way back towards .500 and get back in the playoff conversation. They will still be facing six current playoff teams in that nine-game stretch, but the Nuggets can no longer use the schedule as an excuse when they’re playing in Denver.

Get Healthy

Somehow, someway, the Denver Nuggets always end up with half their roster in the infirmary.

It’s easy to get frustrated about the Nuggets’ performance, but it’s hard to be surprised when Gary Harris, Will Barton, Darrell Arthur and Wilson Chandler (all major contributors) have missed a combined 22 games to start the season. Michael Malone has yet to coach a game where he’s had his full roster at his disposal, and it may still be awhile.

But the good news, the silver lining, is that the Nuggets should improve once these guys start making a return to the court.

Both Arthur and Chandler are expected to play tonight against the Suns, which is a step in the right direction, and Barton is getting closer every day. Reports are that Harris could be out upwards of a month, which is a major blow, but the Nuggets can get by if he’s their only serious injury concern.

Malone has been forced to mix and match his rotations through the first 10 games of the season; increased consistency will play a major role in pushing this team forward.

Saving Mudiay

I wrote about this in detail on Tuesday, so please sneak a peek if you’d like to hear my full reasoning, but one of the Nuggets’ top priorities has to be saving Emmanuel Mudiay.

The Nuggets’ upside depends in large part on whether Mudiay pans out, and right now, the early returns have not been positive.

Not only is Mudiay a turnover machine, but the kid can’t finish a layup, a dunk, a anything. It’s in his head now, and I’m not sure throwing him back out to the wolves every night is going to make it any better.

If I’m Malone, I pull Mudiay back, sit him down and let him regain his confidence. Allow him watch the game from a new perspective. He needs it.

Right now, Mudiay is one of the most innefective players in the NBA. When he’s on the court, the Nuggets have a -5.5 plus/minus; that number rises to 1.4 when he’s off the court. Likewise, Denver’s net rating is nearly seven points better when Mudiay is on the bench.

If Mudiay can get back to playing like he did post All-Star break last season, where the Nuggets’ net rating was 3.6 points better with him on the court, Denver will immediately become a more effective team.

Blow Up The Starting Lineup

No more playing good guy. Malone has to fix the starting lineup, even if it hurts some feelings.

If one of the Balkan Bigs is to be coming off the bench — and one should be coming off the bench — there’s no question that it should be Jusuf Nurkic. For one, Nikola Jokic is better. Point blank. Period. He’s a more well-rounded, developed player, and while I love me some Nurkic, he’s simply not as efficient, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

And two, if you did bring Nurkic off the bench, he would absolutely destroy second-unit big men, even more so than he does now against starters.

But it doesn’t stop there. The Nuggets’ best lineup is one that has Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler on the floor at the same time, and they should be out there as much as possible, starting from the tip.

And it’s the Nuggets’ depth that allows them to take their top bench player and bring him to the starting lineup without losing much in that second unit, particularly when Will Barton returns in the near future.

For Malone, it’s time he takes his best players and puts them on the floor. Simple as that.

Make A Trade

We’ve been saying this for months, but it’s only becoming more true by the day: The Nuggets need to make a trade.

And this isn’t just about acquiring talent; it’s about consolidating what you already have — decongesting the rotation.

The Nuggets biggest issue is that they have too much talent, too many guys vying for minutes. That may sound counterintuitive, but if Malone wasn’t worrying about getting Jokic and Nurkic on the floor as much as possible, or finding minutes for Kenneth Faried or developing his youngsters, he could focus on what matters most: winning.

And that’s not to say that the Nuggets haven’t been trying to win, but they’re doing so with one arm tied behind their back.

Again, the Nuggets best lineup is when they go small with Chandler and Gallo at the three and four, but they can’t do that when they’re trying to find minutes for Jokic, Faried and even Juancho Hernangomez at power forward.

Find your core and move the rest for another central piece to this franchise’s future. That’s how you take the next step.