More changes are coming to the Nuggets' struggling second unit

Here’s a bit of insight into just how much Michael Malone and the Nuggets have relied on their starters this season.

The Nuggets’ starting five — Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic — is playing on average 20.9 minutes per game. That’s three minutes per game more than that lineup averaged last year and 3.8 minutes per game more than the Raptors’ starting five, the second-most played starting lineup in the league, is averaging per game this season.

This wasn’t what the Nuggets had in mind when Michael Malone sat at the microphone on Media Day and talked about how pacing his top players for a 110 not an 82-game season would be a top priority this year. But Malone’s hand was forced early on this season. Denver’s bench has been brutal, forcing Malone to confide in his starters and Tuesday’s loss against Atlanta further illustrated just how much the Nuggets’ second unit has struggled to open the year.

In the Nuggets’ 125-121 loss to the Hawks, Denver led by nine points at the end of the first quarter, a lead which had been mostly built by its starting five. Five minutes into the second quarter the Hawks cut their deficit to one and on the game’s next possession, after Jokic and Murray checked back in, took their first lead of the night.

Malone came into this season with a 10-deep rotation in mind and has been largely playing two units this season, his starters and bench separately. The Nuggets’ primary bench lineup, which has usually consisted of Monte Morris, Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig, Jerami Grant, and Mason Plumlee, has been outscored by 8.1 points per 100 possessions. With Beasley dealing with an illness, Malone has deployed rookie Michael Porter Jr. in his place but that combination has only logged a grand total of two minutes over Denver’s last two games.

Against Atlanta, the Nuggets tried to blend its starters and bench in the second half and found some success with a couple different lineup combinations. But the Nuggets’ starters still had a taxing night. Gary Harris, who was one of the starters that logged time with the second unit, played “40 freaking minutes,” as Malone put it after the loss. Expect more changes to the bench unit moving forward based on Malone’s postgame remarks.

“I think instead of just having five starters and five bench guys, I’ve got to mix and match and have one of our better players on the floor at all times just so we have a scoring option and scoring punch and somebody that can maybe carry us a little bit.”

“I’ve got to do something to help our second unit.”

Here’s what that quote could translate to: Jamal Murray may play heavy minutes alongside the Nuggets’ second unit for the time being.

Why Murray? He’s obviously still Denver’s starting point guard and will log considerable time alongside Jokic, Millsap, and the Nuggets’ first five, but he also fits the bill as someone who can provide a ‘scoring punch’ and has found success with the second unit before.

Flashback to last season. Injuries begin to ravage the Nuggets’ starting lineup beginning in their home opener when Barton goes down with an adductor injury that would sideline him for the next three months and Craig is elevated into Denver’s starting five. The Nuggets then rely on a bench unit made up of Morris, Beasley, Trey Lyles, Plumlee and Murray for the next several months, a lineup combination that had a lot of success.

That lineup ended up logging a total of 168 minutes last season — good for the Nuggets’ third-most used lineup on the year — and outscored the opposition by an average of 5.2 points per 100 possessions. Murray flourished in an off-ball role while Morris ran the second unit. That lineup posted a healthy 108.4 Offensive Rating despite Lyles shooting just 25.5% from 3 and a stout 103.1 Defensive Rating.

The Morris-Murray backcourt pairing shined in limited minutes against Atlanta. Malone played his two point guards together for a season-high seven minutes and the Nuggets outscored the Hawks 17-7 when they shared the floor. Last season, the Nuggets outscored their opponent by 90 points in 656 minutes with those two on the floor.

“They’re very comfortable on the court together,” Malone said of Murray and Morris. “They like playing with each other as well.”

If the Nuggets wanted to play this year’s version of their top bench lineup from last year, a five-man lineup of Morris, Murray, Beasley (or Porter), Grant, and Plumlee gives Denver more spacing and another top-flight scoring option in Murray to pair with a second unit that has struggled to score the ball this season. That lineup with Beasley has logged less than a minute of playing time together this season. With Porter its played just three minutes.

Grant and Plumlee isn’t the most ideal front court combination from a spacing standpoint with Grant shooting just 25% from 3 this season but there’s some reason to believe that he can turn it around. Last season Grant shot 39% from 3 and hit on a combined 36% of his ‘open’ (when the closest defender is 4-6 feet away) and ‘wide open’ (when the closest defender is six-plus feet away) triples per NBA.com. But he’s been ice cold from distance this season even when there hasn’t been a defender close by.

Per NBA.com, 31 of Grant’s attempted 3s this season, or all but one, have been of the ‘open’ or ‘wide open’ variety. He’s only converted on eight (26%) of those attempts. That data can be a bit wonky but after reviewing all of Grant’s long-distance attempts this season it’s clear that most of his looks come without a hand in his eye.

Thursday’s opponent, the Brooklyn Nets, bring the 26th-ranked defense and a thin rotation to Pepsi Center. The Nets could be down Kyrie Irving (right shoulder impingement), who’s questionable, and Caris LeVert who’s already been ruled out.

It’s a prime opportunity for the Nuggets’ bench to get back in rhythm and for Malone to experiment with new lineup groupings. Because the lineups Denver has rolled out on its second unit so far this season clearly haven’t worked.