Stock up? Stock down? Too early to tell?
Of course, it’s all too early to tell. It’s preseason. The Denver Nuggets are 0-3 though, and that can cause some strong reactions from not only the fan base, but from the Nuggets coaching staff itself.
Michael Malone told local media on Monday that the losses weren’t what bothered him but rather Denver’s inability to string together consistently good possessions throughout the first three games. The first half of each game has been solid overall, while the second half has seemingly wiped away all of that good favor.
Fortunately for the Nuggets, it’s the starters that are playing in the first half, and they’re mostly looking good.
But how is the rest of the rotation fairing? Let’s do a Stock Watch for different players on the Nuggets roster through three games of preseason action:
Stock Up: Michael Porter Jr.
Michael Porter Jr. has played five quarters for the Nuggets so far this preseason. He’s been very involved offensively every single time, staying engaged and aggressive within the offense and creating opportunities for himself. So far, he’s converted on those opportunities well, scoring 29.5 points per 36 minutes of action while shooting nearly 62% from the field and 45% from three-point range.
a LOT of plays being run for MPJ tonight, I love it pic.twitter.com/lRLNfCfjAP
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) October 14, 2024
However, I still see zero reason Porter can’t be a 20 point-per-game scorer this season. He averaged 17.4 points and 16.7 points in each of the last two years, but his last healthy year before that, he averaged 19.0 points per game. With the overall improvements Porter has made to his game, his body, and his understanding of Denver’s goals on offense, he’s in line for a career scoring year.
Stock Down: Jamal Murray
It’s hard to evaluate Murray fully (which is often the case at the best of times) because of the injuries. He dealt with them for much of last year, so in theory, an offseason of recovery should have helped. Apparently, things were good for a while, but yesterday, Michael Malone shared the reason Murray sat out in the second half was because his knee felt “a little funny.”
Putting aside any numbers, Murray being on the court is the most important thing for the team. He has to be healthy and ready to go when the playoffs begin, and yet his absence in the regular season can’t over index Denver’s starters like it did last season too. It’s an impossible position for the Nuggets to be in, knowing how important it is for Murray to be healthy but also knowing that his absence makes it less likely the rest of the team can hold up.
Now to the numbers: Murray’s averaging 5.3 points per game on 40.3% True Shooting. That’s bad for any starter, let alone Murray. He has only averaged 17.5 minutes across three games, but outside of the first quarter of Game 2, there haven’t been many bright spots on the court.
It would go a long way for Murray to have a really nice game to wrap up the preseason. He has two more opportunities beginning with tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder, though I doubt he plays in both remaining contests.
Stock Even: Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook has been everything the Nuggets thought he would be. There’s been some good and some bad, but the effort and want-to has been unquestionable. The Nuggets need someone that plays with that level of intensity and set a great example for Denver’s younger rotation players, and it appears Westbrook is more than happy to play that role.
You can see the impact Russell Westbrook is making for a young Nuggets team.
He and Trey Alexander did “Media Training” today and it was pretty cool. Trey has a picture with Russ back in his OKC days when Trey was 9 years old. pic.twitter.com/FePhakRovi
— Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) October 14, 2024
There will be missed layups, turnovers, and open jumpers missed on some nights. On others, it will be Westbrook’s energy, athleticism, playmaking, and drive that help the Nuggets win. That’s enough for Denver to go through the growing pains for a while and see what Westbrook can do for a team that needs his exact skill set.
Stock Up: Julian Strawther
Through three games, there has been no player on the Denver Nuggets roster to make more meaningful improvements this offseason than Julian Strawther.
The young shooting guard spent his entire summer in Denver getting ready for this moments, and he’s maintaining a 64.2% True Shooting on 20.1% Usage with a 2.33 Assist-to-Turnover ratio. Those are excellent numbers for any shooting guard, let alone a second-year player. Strawther has immediately proved he deserves rotation time, and there will be times he closes over Christian Braun if he’s shooting well.
Michael Malone effectively declared Braun the starting shooting guard heading into the regular season because of his fit with the top group. Braun’s defense, size, and athleticism make him a solid approximation of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
But that doesn’t mean Strawther doesn’t have a bright future. He might even have a future as a starter down the line depending on the situation. For now though, he and the Nuggets should be focused on getting him comfortable as a scorer off the bench. He should excel there in short order, especially with Westbrook setting him up.