The NBA is evolving, and apparently that means that a 6’8″ power forward who was criticized for being “too small” coming out of college is now plenty big enough to start at center for the Denver Nuggets.
Kenneth Faried has made a living out of being more athletic and more relentless than his opponents, and now that head coach Mike Malone is experimenting with the NCAA’s all-time leading rebounder at center, that’s only going to be more true.
On Tuesday, Malone started Faried at center against the Golden State Warriors, the same team that helped ignite the “small-ball revolution” with their Finals victory last season; Faried dominated, shooting over 80 percent from the field, with 22 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and a +16 plus-minus.
Now, there’s no way you can spend an entire season playing Faried at the five, Danilo Gallinari at the four and Wilson Chandler at the three, but the Nuggets will undoubtedly run a small-ball lineup out onto the floor during certain points of every game, and it’s going to explosive.
Offensively, the Nuggets have a chance to be absolutely deadly with Faried at the five, and if more and more of the league continues to make a similar transition, the defensive liabilities will become less pronounced, too. In fact, it already seems as if Malone is impressed with how Faried has held up on both sides of the ball.
Check out Malone’s full postgame presser, curtesy of Altitude Sports, where he discusses Faried, Emmanuel Mudiay and more.
The Nuggets will continue their preseason this Friday when they take on the Phoenix Suns at the Pepsi Center.