Aaron Gordon is a warrior. Unfortunately, he’s a wounded one far too often.
This is not to say that the Denver Nuggets need to get rid of ‘Mr. Nugget.’ But they do need to finally realize his physical limitations, and the urgent need to get him some help for next season and beyond.
Yes, it’s time to find AG’s eventual replacement.
A viable and productive back up for AG is not on the current Nuggets roster, and won’t be for however long Denver remains in this postseason. Sure, Spencer Jones had a terrific performance in Gordon’s place in Denver’s critical Game 5 win over Minnesota. But when you look at the season as a whole, the 6’ 7” Jones simply isn’t going to be able to deliver the kinds of performances a healthy, 6′ 9″ Gordon has delivered on a nightly basis since he arrived via the trade from Orlando. Nice story, nice player, but he’s no AG. He’s not really even an NBA ‘big.’
Perhaps it coulda, shoulda been the 6’10” Zeke Nnaji, but he’s been miscast as a backup ‘big’ in Denver for so long that his playing time and productivity all but evaporated. He’s stuck on the Nuggets roster due to a bad contract given to him by former front office regime, but to this point, he hasn’t been any sort of help at all at the ‘four’ spot. Neither has DaRon Holmes II, who at 6’10” may have been drafted to be Gordon’s backup, but won’t ever be. After watching him hoist three pointers during his limited playing time, it’s clear he’s much more of a wing player than an in-the-paint guy. And no, a healthy Peyton Watson (6’8”) isn’t the answer at the “four,” either. The slender Watson is built to play a wing spot, too – if and when he ever gets healthy again. Watson’s length can be very valuable as someone who can disrupt passing lanes, and he can be an excellent shot-blocker as a help defender. But asking him to body up beefier players down low is inviting disaster.
The only three guys on the current roster capable of playing any sort of “bully ball” down in the paint are AG, Nikola Jokić and Jonas Valančiūnas. And until Monday night, the latter couldn’t get off the Denver bench. (Of course, when he did, Denver was finally able to play physical with the bigger T-Wolves, but that’s another column altogether…)
Simply put, the Nuggets still need Gordon… and they also need to go out and find a big player with a very similar skill set for the times when AG can’t go.
Whenever the Nuggets’ postseason comes to an end, it’s going to be fair to ask for that, and some other significant changes. Is David Adelman safe as the head coach? Should he be? Will Denver be forced to trade Cam Johnson so they can re-sign Watson? What about the backup center spot? If Adelman is back, it’s fair to surmise that Valančiūnas won’t be. Can they find a veteran point guard to take the ball-handling duties off Jamal Murray’s plate?
If they lose this series to the T-Wolves, will the new front office blow it all up?
Of course, the salary cap and it’s various ‘aprons’ make wholesale changes and roster moves extremely difficult… unless Denver can find a way to part with some high-priced talent in the same way they did last off season.
So many question marks, so little room to maneuver, and yet sky-high expectations that aren’t going anywhere.
A Nuggets’ resurgence next season really depends on what Gordon can do, and who the Nuggets can plug in and play when he can’t.
