MHS Roundtable: Is Jamal Murray developing into the face of the Nuggets?

Aniello Piro

7 years ago

The Denver Nuggets currently sit at 26-23 on the season and are penciled in as the eighth-seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference playoff race. Denver is 5-5 in their last ten games and is 3-1 on their current five-game homestand.

The Nuggets are winners of three in a row while their young point guard Jamal Murray is flaunting his scoring and playmaking ability throughout the process. Murray has recorded double-digit points in each of Denver’s four games on the homestead, including a career-high 38 point performance against the Portland Trail Blazers in which he demonstrated his ability to take over games.

With the recent play of Murray, the Nuggets’ scribes here at Mile High Sports took a moment to discuss his impact, what Denver should do at the trade deadline and how the injury to New Orleans Pelicans center DeMarcus Cousins affects Denver moving forward.

Is Jamal Murray good enough to lead the Nuggets at point guard this season, or do they need help?

Aniello Piro: I think Jamal has certainly demonstrated his ability to lead the Nuggets at the point guard position, but I don’t know if he’s the right guy for the Nuggets as their starter while chasing playoffs though. I still have some questions about his maturity which is the most significant aspect of his game that needs work. Once he learns to slow things down, becomes more deliberate, and fully grasp the style of play in the NBA better, than his production should increase. Murray has looked good in spurts but still needs to establish consistency if he wants to be ‘the guy’ to lead Denver back to the promise land. The Nuggets need a veteran point guard to help weather the storm when the going gets tough, and Murray usually looks like the 20-year-old he is.

Brendan Vogt: Jamal Murray has proved himself worthy of a starting point guard role on a playoff team. While there is room for growth on his end in some of the more traditional duties of a point guard, he’s rapidly evolving into the dynamic scorer that the Nuggets drafted him to be. The issue is the lack of a backup ball handler. Mudiay has seen a brief respite from his exile to the end of Malone’s bench, but it’s clear the team no longer views of him as a viable option at point guard moving forward. Will Barton has been serviceable in this role, but he’s stretched thin in terms of what this team asks him to do. They need another point guard.

Dev Johnson: He’s shown he is good enough and is only improving with time. I do still think they should go out and get a back up if they are not going to use Emmanuel Mudiay as much.

What should the Nuggets do with Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried?

AP: To be honest, I am shocked Kenneth Faried is still a member of the Nuggets. It’s no secret the Nuggets have been trying to trade Faried for some time with his name appearing in trade rumors for over three seasons now. The two need to go their separate ways; it’s time.

As for Wilson Chandler, I think he still brings value to the table for the Nuggets but it seems to have maxed out his potential with the team. Chandler is very steady. Denver knows what he can bring on a nightly basis and, while he can still be a contributor for the Nuggets, I think the time has come for the team to part ways with the last two players from the George Karl era to free up some roster space which will only be beneficial for the future.

BV: It’s time to move on from Faried, but the problem is that’s easier said than done. Faried just doesn’t fit into the Nuggets the way you’d hope given the size of his contract. He’s a big that doesn’t defend at a high level and can’t stretch the floor—that’s a tough sell at four years and 50 million. There is still a place on an NBA team for players like Faried; he sparks a run off the bench with the best of them. That’s valuable, but not 12.5 million a year level of value. They need to get off of that money.

Chandler has been an important player on this Nuggets’ team on the defensive end. He’s a switchable wing defender who can move his feet with the guards and bang with some of the smaller bigs throughout the league, but the energy hasn’t been consistent and the offense has been severely lacking. The Nuggets might need to get off of his money as well, but that begs two questions: who would be interested, and do the Nuggets have enough depth on the wing to move on from him?

DJ: It is simple; trade them. They are only getting older and Faried is completely out of the rotation. Get something out of them while you can.

Did the DeMarcus Cousins injury directly impact the Nuggets playoff chances?

AP: Absolutely. The New Orleans Pelicans are currently slotted as the sixth seed in the Western Conference. Losing Cousins will undoubtedly have an effect on their dynamic as a team. They will have to revert back to relying virtually on just Anthony Davis to carry the team. That is not a winning formula, especially for a team that has failed to make the playoff’s with Davis as their centerpiece before. With Cousins sidelined for the rest of the season, the Nuggets chances of making the playoffs should go up exponentially.

BV: It absolutely does. It feels cold to view a player injury of this magnitude through such a lens, but this show must — and will — go on. There’s no denying that this changes the playoff implications for teams like Denver, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pelicans have played some of their best basketball with just Anthony Davis on the floor this season, but they’ve played very few minutes with neither of their world-beating bigs. New Orleans will remain formidable when Davis is out there, but they’re bound to be dreadful when he rests. The Pelicans likely cannot count on the play of Davis and Jrue Holiday alone to carry them through the second half of the season.

DJ: Yes. They were the sixth seed in the Western Conference, and he’s been having an incredible year. It’s another team that was bound to make the playoffs that are now not at full strength.