The Denver Nuggets miss Aaron Gordon more than the Denver Broncos missed Bo Nix. Gordon’s extended absence could end up being what defines this Nuggets season.
Unless the front office does something about it. Soon.
Denver badly needs another big body. Very badly.
Following one more home tilt against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, the All-Star break is here. A lot of Nuggets players will get some badly needed rest. You hope that players like Christian Braun and Cam Johnson, who are coming back from injuries, can come back stronger. Because after stealing another home defeat from the jaws of victory Monday night against Cleveland, Denver’s precarious grip on a top-four playoff spot is looking weaker and weaker.
For the umpteenth time this season, the Nuggets got outmuscled by an opponent. This time, it was the Cavs. The same thing happened just recently against Oklahoma City…in Detroit and in New York. And it won’t stop happening until the Nuggets put a stop to it.
It’s partly about mindset, yes… but it’s mostly about personnel. With either Nikola Jokić or Jonas Valančiūnas on the court – along with four guards/small forwards at all times – Denver, as currently constructed, presents almost zero defensive presence down low. Pull Joker or Big Val away from the rim at all (and Joker, for all he does so well, is hardly anyone’s idea of a ‘rim protector’) and opponents – especially those with legit three-point shooting threats that have to be accounted for at all times – can pretty much do as they please in the paint.
Gordon – when healthy – provides that additional physical presence on both ends of the court, and he makes a huge difference in Denver’s defense. But he can’t do anything when he’s on the bench in street clothes.
And he’s going to remain right there for the foreseeable future.
Even as Nuggets Nation bites down hard and hopes for the return of a healthy ‘AG’ in a month or so, the fact of the matter is that pulled hamstrings – and this is Gordon’s second serious one in less than a calendar year – don’t heal totally unless they’re given several months of rest and rehab. Gordon isn’t going to be fully healthy again before – or during – this postseason.
Denver’s season can’t wait several months. This team needs help right now from someone other than Gordon. Yes, getting rookie Spencer Jones back from a concussion will help, because clearly the Nuggets don’t believe that Zeke Nnaji or DaRon Holmes are the answer to their glaring deficiency. But Jones alone isn’t, either.
At the recently passed trade deadline, the Denver front office was focused on salary-cap issues. They got under the ‘apron’ while they cleared a roster spot by peddling seldom-used Hunter Tyson. They did so seemingly with the intention of using it to add a veteran from the soon-to-be open ‘buy-out’/bargain-bin free-agent market. It’s expected that there will be a few big men made available, including former Nuggets DeAndre Jordan and Mason Plumlee, as well as former T-Wolf and current Grizzlies forward Kyle Anderson.
Denver’s season depends not on Gordon coming back healthy – because that’s not likely to happen. It depends more on the front office being able to add someone like the 6’8” Anderson, known as a physical player and someone who could help fill a void for the rest of this season (provided that Memphis makes him available by buying out his contract, which pundits believe will happen.)
Most observers will say that unless Denver gets totally healthy, they can’t compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. That should absolutely not be the mind-set inside the offices at Ball Arena.
Depth wins titles, not perfect health.
The Nuggets have been rightfully applauded for what they were able to accomplish during the first half-plus of this NBA season while Joker was out and so many others were hurt, too. Their newfound depth (due to some sharp front-office moves over the summer) has had to play a greater than ever imagined role. And while they’re getting healthier, they probably won’t be at full strength again this season.
That’s why filling that available roster spot with as big a body as possible should be priority number one. Joker isn’t getting any younger.
