Strike 1: If you happen to see Dario Saric’s picture on a milk cartoon, don’t worry. The Denver Nuggets know exactly where he is. He’s the tall guy down at the end of the Nuggets’ bench wearing the warm ups he never takes off.
In case you’ve forgotten, Saric was the Nuggets biggest (financially, anyway) free agent acquisition of an otherwise austere off season. He signed a two-year, $10,594,400 million contract to serve as the primary back up for the overworked Nikola Jokic. The 6-foot-10 Croatian spent last season coming off the bench for Golden State, where he averaged 17 minutes, eight points and four and half rebounds per. Not bad.
Saric is well-traveled, and not just because he is – like his buddy Jokic – from eastern Europe. He’s spent six seasons in the NBA (seven if you count the 2021-22 he missed with an injury) and was part of the Croatian National team in last summer’s Olympics. He was second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2017 after he averaged 12 points and six boards per game for the Philadelphia 76’ers. In fact, last season was his first in the NBA where he didn’t average double figures in scoring.
In short, he’s not a star, but he’s not a stiff, either.
Very early returns in Denver might lead you to think otherwise. In five games thus far – all of them before the recent five-game homestand – Saric played a total of 44 minutes, made just two of 12 shots, grabbed only eight total rebounds and was in the negative in plus/minus in all five contests.
Yes, he’s been pretty bad. In past seasons, you’d have no trouble seeing why Saric has taken up pretty much permanent residence in head coach Michael Malone’s doghouse. However, things have been a bit different this season, especially since the Nuggets returned from a road trip that saw them win two of three with just a narrow loss in Minnesota smudging things up. Malone has apparently bought into the front office’s desire to see more minutes for young reserves like Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, who are rotation regulars now, and we’re even seeing some Hunter Tyson minutes. Christian Braun is now a starter and playing very well. And for pure shock value, there’s been former Malone doghouse resident Zeke Nnaji taking backup center minutes with Aaron Gordon sidelined.
Everyone seems to be getting a look. Except Saric.
If someone had told you before the season that Nnaji would be playing regular minutes while Saric didn’t leave the bench, you’d have thought that person had never seen the Nuggets play before. But here we are.
The reason is pretty clear: Saric has been lousy. But there’s probably the added factor of Denver shifting gears – literally – and becoming a running team again, as reflected in their “pace of play” statistic. Saric appeared to be struggling with the full court game.
This all needs to change. Nuggets fans should be hoping that during his hiatus, Saric is watching and learning about his new team and how to succeed at his new job, because the Nuggets are going to need him at some point.
To no one’s surprise, Jokic is off to another spectacular start, numbers-wise. He’s averaging a triple-double while leading the NBA in rebounding and assists, and of course scoring close to 30 points per game. Problem is – and has been for some time – that the Nuggets are still far too Jokic-reliant. He’s playing huge minutes and carrying that same big load early in the season.
That does not bode well for later in the season.
It’s just asking too much for the 29-year-old Jokic to keep playing almost 40 minutes nightly. He’s played less than 30 just once – when he got to sit out the fourth quarter of a blowout win over Utah, and has played 38 or more minutes in seven of Denver’s 10 games.
Saric was supposed to help with those “non-Jokic minutes.” As a fellow European player, he was going to be able to help emulate, style-wise, what Denver does when Joker is on the floor. Give the Nuggets some stability in the front court while the youngsters get their legs under them. At least allow the Nuggets bench to break even on a nightly basis. Was that asking too much?
Maybe. Maybe Saric will spend the entire season in Malone’s doghouse. But that’s not what’s best for the Nuggets playoff chances. Joker can’t keep up this pace. Someone’s gotta step up and make a contribution at the back up center spot, and it just can’t be the forward-in-disguise Nnaji. Hopefully, sometime soon, when an opportunity arises, Malone will unlock the doors to the doghouse again and we can find out if Saric can contribute or not.
