Each weekday, our DNVR Nuggets crew will be tackling one question about the Nuggets season in a round table format. Members, leave the questions that you’d like to see our writers answer in the comments section below and Harrison, Adam and Brendan will address them on an upcoming episode of the DNVR Nuggets Podcast.
Which Nuggets player would benefit most from the season returning?
Adam Mares: Michael Porter Jr.
This is our fourth round table and the fourth time my answer has centered around Michael Porter Jr. but think for a second about the string of bad luck this young man has endured. First, after spending most of his teenage years as the top prospect in the country, he suffers a back injury just minutes into his freshmen season in college. He has back surgery and misses almost all of that season, then misses his first season in the NBA as he recovered from a second back surgery. Now, in his first season back after two years off, the NBA cancels the season just as he was getting going.
Players develop the most between the ages of 18 and 25 so for Porter to basically miss a majority of the first 3 years of that range is really disheartening. People often say that what Porter need is time but time alone what allow him to reach his potential. What he really needs are repetitions. Live game, practice, workout, training. All of the things that help a player become the best version of themselves on the basketball court. For the third season in a row, Porter’s development appears stunted by something completely out of his control.
Harrison Wind: Gary Harris
After his offensive struggles last year were attributed to injuries, this season was supposed to be Harris’ resurgence. It was supposed to be the season when Harris returned to the efficient and multi-faceted offensive player that he was from 2016-18 when Denver’s shooting guard averaged a 57.8 EFG% across two seasons and was one of the more dangerous up-and-coming two-way wings in the league.
That didn’t happen. Much like last season, Harris struggled to score efficiently this year (he recorded a 49 EFG%, his lowest since his rookie season) and shot just 33% from 3-point range, a tick lower than the 34% he shot from distance during his 2018-19 campaign. Like he did a season ago, Harris again couldn’t finish at the rim. He shot only 59% from less than 4 ft. this year, a mark which placed him in the 39th percentile among wings, per Cleaning The Glass, and was even worse from floater range (5-14 ft.), hitting only 26% of his shots from that distance.
But post-All-Star break Harris came alive. It was never about how many points he was scoring per game this season, and with a healthy Will Barton plus a stocked rotation, Denver didn’t need Harris to score anywhere close to 17 or even 15 points he averaged in 2016-17. It was about efficiency, and over his last 10 games Harris averaged 11 points on 53% shooting from the field and 58% from 3-point range. He started attacking the rim and paint with confidence and began to seek out contact around the rim again. Harris was trending up and was a threat again on the offensive end of the floor which was going to be an added bonus for the Nuggets come playoff time.
A postseason run similar to how Harris had been playing post-All-Star break would have flipped the script on his season and boosted his stock around the league if Denver wanted to think about moving its two-guard this summer.
Brendan Vogt: Jamal Murray
Through (almost) four seasons, we have yet to see a leap from Murray that indicates he will grow into a max contract caliber player. The big knock on him, consistency, remains with the regular season seemingly in the bag. We’ve seen some growth, but his impact still comes and goes.
Since returning from injury post-All-Star break, there was a small adjustment in his approach. He looked “shot-ready” from three, letting it fly without hesitation when defenders dropped on a screen or were slow to close out. He looked aware of the next step in his maturation and committed to a process of that growth.
Lost too is another opportunity to test himself at the highest level in the postseason. Last season’s run highlighted both his shortcomings and brought out the best in him. Sure, there were nights when Derrick White played Murray off the floor, but on other nights he was outplaying Damian Lillard, proving to himself and the rest of us he belongs.
Murray was entering a crucial phase in his career with the right mindset, but, suddenly, that’s all on hold.
He looked ready to take off. At the very least, we were about to gather crucial data points on him as a player. He needs that runway back.
