Once the forgotten man in Denver's frontcourt, Kenneth Faried again proves his worth

DENVER — After the Denver Nuggets keyed in on Paul Millsap this summer and signed the 32-year-old to a four-year, $90 million contract, swung a draft-night deal and snagged power forward Trey Lyles — a player the Nugget’s organization holds in high regard and re-upped Mason Plumlee with a hefty free-agent contract, Kenneth Faried entered the regular-season as a bit of an afterthought.

But that was to no fault of the self-proclaimed ‘Manimal.’ Faried was coming off a productive season where he started 34 of the 61 games he appeared in, shot 55 percent from the field and paired with Nikola Jokic to form Denver’s most-efficient two-man combination on Denver’s roster.

Yet, Faried, who’s been name-dropped in trade rumors for the better part of three years, didn’t have a defined role in Denver when the year started. Nuggets’ coach Michael Malone doesn’t want to play Faried alongside Mason Plumlee and muck up the paint with two non-shooters and the big man he plays best next to — Nikola Jokic — will spend most of his minutes next to Millsap.

After the Nuggets’ 96-79 win over Sacramento Saturday, Faried’s role is suddenly clear.

His 18-points on 7-10 shooting, eight rebounds, two steals, and one block in 22 minutes are obvious, but it was how Faried changed the game when he threw his warmups to the side and checked in for the first time at the start of the second quarter. The Nuggets trailed the Kings, who landed in Denver early Saturday morning after going toe-to-toe with Dallas Friday night, 18-17 after 12 minutes and looked lackadaisical, lethargic and lifeless.

Enter Faried, who led the Nuggets on a 9-0 run to start the quarter and helped Denver outscore Sacramento 25-16 in the period. In the ten minutes he logged during the quarter, Faried altered the outcome of Saturday night’s matchup.

“I thought Kenneth Faried was a game-changer tonight,” a chipper Michael Malone said after the win. “His energy off the bench was fantastic.”

Faried put out a typical Manimal-like performance against the Kings. He zeroed in on De’Aaron Fox for a patented Faried chase down block even signaling to Will Barton mid-play that he was about to take flight into the Denver sky.

“It’s just instinct,” Faried said. “It’s just like a rebound for me.”

Speaking of rebounds, Faried finished with eight — four of them on the offensive glass.

“Kenneth’s energy is infectious,” Malone said. “He runs the floor, he rebounds he gives you extra possessions, he finishes around the basket. The plays  that he makes, not a lot of other guys can make.”

Faried logged 23 minutes against Sacramento and finished a +10. He also played ten of those 23 minutes alongside Jokic — his ideal frontcourt mate. Those two were a +10 and tallied a 136.8 Offensive Rating, and a 75.0 Defensive Rating — good for a 61.8 Net Rating. That’s fitting because it was the most efficient two-man combination that Denver played Saturday night.

“I just did my job pretty much,” Faried said from his locker decked out in designer-brand glasses and a jean jacket lined with rhinestones. “I went out there, did what I had to.”

On a Nuggets’ roster that’s loaded with talent from Millsap, to Jokic, Barton, Gary Harris, Wilson Chandler, and Jamal Murray, Faried’s energy goes unmatched. No one else brings the same fire that Faried does on a night in, night out basis, and because of that, Saturday night’s win won’t be the last time this season where Faried proves his worth within a stacked Denver rotation.