Nuggets Roundtable: Denver's season reaches its tipping point

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This week Dan Fatigato (DNF_on_NBA), Joel Rush (@NuggetsDenJoel) and T.J. McBride (@BSN_McBride) came together to shed some light on some of the bigger questions surrounding the Nuggets.

Michael Malone recently called out his veterans for their lack of leadership and ended up apologizing for not keeping issues in the locker room. What do you make of the current veterans and their relationship with Malone?

Dan: I think you have to look at what “veteran leadership” is supposed to be. Buzz words tend to lose all meaning through overuse. Malone and Tim Connelly signed up for this by keeping all three first-round picks and adding three more youngsters to an already super young team. In order for it to work, (i.e. become competitive, maybe get an eight-seed), the more established guys needed to set the tone in areas that young players struggle in – namely defense and crunch time. The problem is Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari, and Wilson Chandler may be veterans, but they’re not known for their defense or one-on-one clutch shotmaking late in games. I don’t feel like Malone was out of line, as I understand the frustration. It just shouldn’t be much of a surprise to Nuggets brass when this team gets lit up by opposing scorers.

Joel: Much like winning heals all wounds in the NBA, losing rips off scar tissue and pours in salt. The current losing streak is clearly frustrating both Nuggets players and coaches and is straining everyone’s patience. For Malone, losing – yet again – to his former team appeared to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. And as Harrison broke down in his recent piece on Denver’s defensive dumpster fire, there are fundamental problems the Nuggets need to address. But that said, I actually think (in the spirit of Festivus) the recent airing of grievances may ultimately prove constructive. There’s a strong character quotient on this mostly headcase-free Nuggets roster, and I think it’s more likely we’ll see a renewed effort from all corners to make things work than it is the vets will circle the wagons causing Malone to lose the locker room.

T.J.: Frustrations have boiled over but I do not think the locker room is on the verge of collapsing. Malone did go too far in his postgame interview by saying that there is no veteran leadership but following another loss it is understandable for Malone to be heated. On the other end of the spectrum, there could be some merit in Malone’s words. The Nuggets have not played with much defensive effort and that energy usually starts with the veterans setting the tone. At the same time it just simply is not true that the Nuggets have no veteran leadership. Mike Miller is known to be one of the best influences in the league while Darrell Arthur is the definition of a team player.

The Nuggets are at a crossroads. They are just outside the eighth seed in the West but have been up and down all season. Going forward would you rather see the Nuggets make a move for an All-Star caliber player and try to make a run at the playoffs or tear the roster down and look towards the 2017 Draft?

Dan: I don’t think we’re at a tear-down point by any means. Let’s face it, there isn’t much of a market for the guys Denver is looking to trade, or else moves would’ve been made by now. No sense in selling for 50 cents on the dollar. As for bringing in an All-Star, I’m all ears but Paul Millsap isn’t walking through that door. Emmanuel Mudiay just finished a game with zero points on nine shots in 25 minutes. Let’s use this crossroads to sit him down some and give Jamal Murray a shot at the point. Murray has struggled lately but he already has shown more potential in his rookie season than Mudiay has in 1.5 years. Even if he’s not the point long-term, getting Murray involved in some different actions as a playmaker might pay off down the road. Remember “Point Giannis” at the end of last season? I’m exaggerating, but still. No one seems to want that eight-seed right now, so it affords Denver the luxury of throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Joel: At this point, Denver should tank by trading some veterans. Giving larger roles to developing players, and swinging for the fences in the 2017 draft will create a better opportunity to build a more structurally sound team from the ground up than making a playoff push. Granted, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that just getting the eight seed, even for a near-certain four-and-out, will put butts back in seats (good for both player morale and finances), and could legitimize the perception of the team becoming more competitive, thus strengthening the organization’s ability to attract and retain free agents. The inescapable problem these arguments don’t address, however, is that as things stand, the Band-Aid solution of adding a star player to this as-yet fundamentally flawed team would be like adding a new coat of paint to a house with a cracked foundation. It won’t fix the deeper issues.

T.J.: While the trade for Paul Millsap is absolutely something the Nuggets should continue looking into the better route could be trading off veterans and preparing for the 2017 Draft. Being that the Nuggets are having trouble even hovering around .500 in a year that the bottom half of the western conference is as weak as it has been, does not bode well for the future. The Nuggets, as it stands currently, will be drafting in the ninth and 22nd spot in the draft. With an abundance of talent up and down the first round teams may be willing to trade back giving the Nuggets a fantastic opportunity to package together assets to move up and select the prospect they want.

Jusuf Nurkic has gone from starting the first 25 games of the season to completely out of the rotation to emerging as the Nuggets go-to backup center. What thoughts do you have on his season and his inspired play recently?

Dan: I love how he’s played recently. I’m just bracing myself for the next meltdown. Nurk is so much fun to watch when he’s on, but Denver may have to get honest with itself and realize this team may not be a fit for him. Nurkic is actually the player I’d be most aggressively shopping if I were in Connelly’s shoes. He’s young, talented and could be another team’s center of the future. In Denver, that man is Nikola Jokic. Rather than further Balkanize (pun intended) the frontcourt, let’s see if the Nuggets can get a first rounder or other nice asset for Nurkic and part ways. If nothing else, it’d be fun to see him return to Pepsi Center for revenge games. Elbows flying everywhere!

Joel: Nurkic might be the most frustrating player on the Nuggets roster in the sense that, more than any other player, he seems to hold himself back from reaching his potential due to a mentality which we could charitably call fragile, but would perhaps be better described as just immature. Let’s face it: He pouts and whines a lot. And while I am empathetic to the fact it must be frustrating for him to move from starting to coming off the bench, he seems to sometimes respond to that adversity with a kind of self-defeatist mindset rather than taking it as a challenge to (as Steve Hess would say) get better. That said, Malone playing Faried at center extensively, when that so clearly is a recipe for failure, does nothing to help boost Nurkic’s confidence, either. One can only hope Nurkic will take his “prove them wrong” motto to heart, and work hard to be that Bosnian Beast that should utterly dominate opposing backup frontcourts, and leave Malone with no sensible option but to play him.

T.J.: Nurkic has had a tough road throughout this season so far. Going from earning the starting center position to start the year to being out of the rotation completely as Kenneth Faried logs all of the backup center minutes must have been rough. While Nurkic has not helped his situation I do think that he is a significant upgrade over Faried for the backup center position. In his last four games, Nurkic is averaging 12.3 points, seven rebounds, and two assist in just 21 minutes of action. Going forward it is obvious the Nuggets do not see Nurkic as a future pillar of the team and have been “openly shopping” the Bosnian big man but if he can buy into a bench role he could punish second units while he is still in Denver.