The List: Jerami Grant’s defensive prowess, Paul Millsap’s cutting, and Michael Porter Jr’s rebounding

“The List” is a brand new series that serves as a companion piece for the “Notebook” episodes of the Locked on Nuggets podcast and the DNVR Nuggets podcast. In this edition, I share some notes on both the win over the Los Angeles Clippers last Thursday and the win over the Portland Trail Blazers last Tuesday.

1. Jerami Grant did a great job of jamming the screen against Kawhi Leonard without fouling. This is hard to do and it takes a lot of effort and timing (as well as an incredibly wiry frame). Grant finishes off an impressive defensive sequence by boxing out hard and allowing his teammates to clear the glass.

2. In this clip, watch how Grant does a great job of keeping his hands off of Kawhi, providing space while he contains the drive, and then contesting with high hands after Kawhi picks up his dribble. This is an impressive effort against one of the league’s premiere one-on-one scorers.

3. This is a great example of how attentive Grant is on the defensive end.

4. The Denver Nuggets used a double drag set when Grant and Mason Plumlee shared the court. It’ll be interesting to keep an eye on this set and see how the Nuggets use Grant with Plumlee and how they use him alongside Nikola Jokic. I suspect that they will use him as the roller alongside Jokic.

5. I’m not sure why Paul Millsap stood pat on this possession but I think he’d create a lot more value if he started to cut a bit more.

6. Juancho Hernangomez was in a near identical situation but made that direct cut into the seam.

7. One of the knocks on Michael Porter Jr. coming into the league was that he had a tendency to try a lot harder in situations where he could score than he did on plays that didn’t lead directly to scoring. He’s mostly been pretty good about giving effort in his first two preseason games but you can definitely notice a stronger sense of urgency with him on the offensive glass than on the defensive glass.