Rotation:
Did I miss something, or did the Nuggets put a minutes restriction on the entire starting lineup?
Danilo Gallinari leads the Nuggets in minutes with 33.6 a game, and that’s only good for 36th in the NBA. And why is Kenneth Faried only getting 28? Michael Malone has seemingly decided to run with one of the deepest benches in the league, entirely overlooking the fact that his roster is, well, not that deep, especially when Wilson Chandler and Jusuf Nurkic are still sidelined with injuries.
Right now, Denver has 11 guys averaging over 15 minutes a game; the Spurs, the king of distributing minutes, only have eight.
And what’s even more confusing is that the Nuggets have actually been successful when relying on their starting lineup. Against the Rockets, Gallo (35), Faried (30) and Mudiay (37) all played heavy minutes on route towards an upset victory. In fact, both times Malone has given those three 30-plus minutes, the Nuggets have won.
Throw Gary Harris into the mix, too. For whatever reason, Malone seems to go through 15 minute stretches where he forgets that Harris is even on the team.
If Denver is going to surprise anybody this season, it’s going to be because of Gallo, Faried, Mudiay and Harris, not Will Barton or Darrelle Arthur.
