Will Barton started, Jerami Grant impressed, and Michael Porter Jr. stole the show in Denver’s preseason opener. The DNVR Nuggets staff reacts

Will Barton opened the preseason with the starters – does he have the unofficial poll position in the race for the starting job on the wing?

Brendan Vogt: It’s unlikely that Malone would admit it, but I inferred as much from the decision to start him. Barton was the definitive starter prior to a significant injury last season, and given the lack of an obvious answer at the three it’s reasonable to expect Malone to fall back on the veteran. There’s still a chance that Denver’s most potent offensive lineup includes ‘Thrill’. 

Adam Mares: I am taking Michael Malone at his word that the spot is truly up for grabs but I do think Barton has a slight inside track. He’s the most experienced and he’s the one who has proven to be a consistently good rotation player, something none of the other three options have done for a full season. Barton has his warts but if he gets back to full strength, he might convert some of the haters this season.

Harrison Wind: Yes, but my read on the competition is that it’s still open. I keep going back to what Michael Malone had to say about the position this week: “It’s going to be about team fit. What player is going to give that group of starters the best chance to go out there and get us off to a great start?” No one fits as seamlessly with Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic as Will Barton no matter how good Torrey Craig’s jumper looked at training camp, and that’s why he’s currently atop the depth chart.

Jerami Grant excelled in his first game with the Nuggets, and thanks to his versatility we saw flashes of newfound lineup flexibility in Denver. To what extent do you expect to see Malone experiment in the regular season?

Vogt: Not a whole lot. Mason Plumlee is still a really good player and the type of player that Malone trusts—he will play him when he can. Grant next to Jarred Vanderbilt was a fun look, but Vanderbilt is likely another season away from significant minutes in the rotation. Grant’s addition does give them the ability to go small though should they want to, and I expect we’ll see more of that than the previous iterations of the Jokic era. 

Mares: I think he’ll experiment a lot. When you have a good team, you can afford to tinker with the lineup from time to time and see what works. I suspect that the Nuggets will be very good and will have plenty of games with a small cushion to test out different combos. And Grant will be a big part of a lot of that tinkering. He looked incredible in his preseason debut with the Nuggets and he hasn’t even gotten to share the court with Nikola Jokic yet.

Wind: During his time in Denver, Malone has never had a player like Grant at his disposal, and you get the feeling he’s genuinely excited about all the ways he can deploy him this season. Paul Millsap is an incredible defender but the versatility Grant brings to that end of the floor goes beyond what Millsap can do at his age. Grant can guard all five positions, and I speculate he’ll play a fair amount of small ball center on second units, spend lots of time next to Nikola Jokic and even guard some small forwards on occasions. He’ll play with Mason Plumlee too on the second unit, which I still think will be Denver’s default bench frontcourt.

We gave Michael Porter Jr. an A in our post game grade on the DNVR Nuggets podcast last night, but we were admittedly grading on a curve. What will an “A” game look like from MPJ by mid-season? 

Vogt: It’s not necessarily the big 20+-point game that would earn an A from me—it’s flourishing within a contained and defined role. At media day, Porter Jr. explained that the coaching staff is encouraging him to utilize his size and focus on defending and rebounding in a smaller offensive role. If he’s defending hard, crashing the glass, moving well off ball, and spacing the floor as a shooter, than he’s doing what Denver needs from him.

Mares: I don’t think the numbers will jump off of the page but if he is contributing 20 minutes per game, shooting 38% from behind the three-point line, and fitting in to the team dynamic then I think that would be an A from me. His defense will take time. Defending in the NBA is a lot more complex and nuanced than the casual fan realizes so learning all of the reads will take years but if he can play 20 mpg and shoot 38% from three then he will help the team a lot.

Wind: If he takes what the defense gives him, doesn’t force his own shot, exploits mismatches, knocks down his open looks, plays within Denver’s team dynamic and doesn’t get played off the floor defensively. That last area will probably provide the steepest learning curve for the rookie. It’s so difficult to play defense in the NBA, let alone as a rookie, so there will be a lot of teaching moments for him on that end of the floor. But Denver’s coaches are trying to hammer home to Porter that he has the tools to be an elite defender one day.

Jamal Murray didn’t look his best in the preseason opener, but he is entering the preseason in great shape and at seemingly full health. Do you expect him to start this season any stronger than typically does?

Vogt: It’s well documented that reading too far into a preseason game is a fool’s errand, but it’s admittedly a little disappointing given Murray’s opportunity to shine sans Nikola Jokic. Nonetheless, I expect to see an improved Murray on both ends of the court when the season starts, and I think this is the year he finds his groove early. The Nuggets have so much talent around him, and it appears he’s fully healthy as opening night approaches.

Mares: I certainly expect it since he is earning $170 million and has proven to be capable of playing very well in playoff settings. So I think it is fair that everyone expects that of Murray. But Tuesday night certainly wasn’t very encouraging. We’ll chalk it up to what it is, a meaningless preseason game, but I hope to see something new and improved out of him at some point over the course of the preseason.

Wind: The Nuggets certainly expect him to and Malone has definitely relayed that message to Murray. After last season ended Denver’s coach and his point guard looked at how he shot the ball in October and November and it wasn’t pretty. Murray shot 28% from 3 in October last season and then just 33% from distance in November, an average of 23.6% from 3 across both months the year before and didn’t hit a field goal in October (in three games) his rookie year. “All-Stars don’t play this poorly in October and into November,” Malone told him. Murray didn’t make any huge adjustments to his summer workout routine but did say he became more efficient. Murray also placed a priority on coming into camp healthy, which he didn’t last year. He’s healthy now, which should translate to a stronger October beginning in a few weeks.