2018-19 Season Preview: Paul Millsap faces daunting challenge in second season with Nuggets

When Nuggets brass sat eye-to-eye with Paul Millsap over one year ago in Atlanta and gave their sales pitch to try and sway the four-time All-Star to begin the next chapter of his career in Denver, their message was simple: Team with our young core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Will Barton, and help instill a defensive-first culture that can lead to the franchise’s first playoff appearance in five seasons, one that head coach Michael Malone has wanted to imbue since his first day on the job.

The Nuggets’ pitch worked, and Millsap committed to Denver soon after. The Nuggets immediately installed a more aggressive defensive pick-and-roll scheme, an item that Millsap and Malone discussed last summer in their free agent meeting. It showed promise throughout the preseason. After 15 games the Nuggets were 9-6 and had the 17th-best defense in the league after finishing dead last in defensive efficiency in 2017, per NBA.com.

But the Nuggets’ grand plan for their refurbished defense around Millsap was put on hold. Millsap hurt his wrist in Denver’s next game in Los Angeles and missed the next three months. Without its defensive traffic cop, Denver’s defense cratered towards familiar territory at the bottom of the league.

Training camp next week in San Diego will be deja vu for Millsap and the Nuggets. Again, Denver could introduce a more aggressive scheme centered around Millsap’s defensive acumen, something they got a taste of at the start of last season and when Millsap returned down the stretch. As he did at last year’s media day, Malone will surely preach that his club will have a defensive-first mentality this upcoming season.

The challenge that lies ahead for Millsap this season is daunting. Can he lead Denver’s defense back towards league-average status?

Team defense never falls on one player’s shoulders. A successful defensive unit requires buy-in and commitment from all five players on the court. Everyone needs to be on a string and the same page. However, Millsap is the type of defender who can elevate his teammates’ play on that end of the floor. He’s an expert communicator and always conscious of every defensive assignment, not just his.

Millsap is a bookworm who’s always well versed in his opponent’s tendencies. He’s seen every offensive action in every NBA playbook too many times to count. He’s gone up against the best offenses and matched up with the best players in the league for the last 10-plus years. You can’t teach that kind of experience.

Millsap is also a premier help-side defender who’s constantly talking and always keeps his head on a swivel. It’s what allows the 33-year-old to always be in the right spot to clean up his teammates’ mistakes if they get beat on a drive, cut or off the dribble.

Millsap was the Nuggets’ best defensive player by a healthy margin last year, even though he played the final 22 games of the season without a left hand. Last year Denver allowed 107.1 points per 100 possessions when Millsap was on the floor, which was the lowest mark on Denver’s roster. Even though the Nuggets finished 26th overall in defensive efficiency, per NBA.com, Denver’s starting lineup featuring Millsap, Murray, Harris, Jokic and Wilson Chandler only gave up 105.1 points per 100 possessions.

The Nuggets’ first five played like the 12th-best defense in the league last year. Unfortunately, Denver’s bench didn’t.

Toward the end of last season, Denver flashed the defensive competence it showed over its first 15 games. Whether it was the 82 points on 33 percent shooting and 14 fourth-quarter points that they held the Trail Blazers to in a must-win game during the final week of the regular season, or when Denver locked up the Clippers in the fourth quarter three nights prior, the Nuggets had their fair share of defensive moments late in the season.

“This whole year we’ve been trying to establish that (defensive) identity,” Millsap said during Denver’s stretch run to close last season. “We’ve always been an offensive-minded team. Now we’re just going to buckle down and lock in on defense.”

Denver lost one of its better defenders in Chandler this summer. It will replace him with Will Barton, who’s smaller and thinner than Chandler. If Malone has his sights on fielding a respectable defense, much of the Nuggets’ improvement will fall on Millsap’s shoulders.

One player can’t turn a defense from one of the league’s worst to one of the league’s best. But if healthy for an entire season, Millsap can implement the defensive culture that the Nuggets had in mind when they signed him last summer.