Training Camp Notebook: Observations from the Nuggets' scrimmage

SAN DIEGO — Friday was scrimmage day at Nuggets training camp.

The media was allowed to watch the last 10 or so minutes of Denver’s scrimmage at UC-San Diego, which featured two teams and referees. The starters weren’t playing during the portion that was open to the media. Neither were projected rotation players like Christian Braun and Reggie Jackson.

Still, it was interesting to see the end of the bench and the Nuggets’ reserves in action.

Here are my notes:

Julian Strawther shined

Strawther hit a 3 and a floater during the final quarter of action. He played confident and poised basketball too. The game did not seem too fast for him. His height also really stood out. Strawther looks every bit of the 6-7 that he’s listed at, and he plays big.

✅ Julian Strawther from deep.
✅ Julian Strawther floater. pic.twitter.com/pqmcUaKcrq

— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) October 7, 2023

Braxton Key looks like he can contribute

Key is listed at 6-foot-8, but he plays bigger. At 225 pounds, he’s also more of a natural 4 than a 3. He got on the offensive glass for a put-back. He stole the ball near mid-court and turned it into a dunk a few moments later. He had some great passes mixed in too.

Key’s 3-point shot doesn’t look smooth or consistent, but he’s a physical, strong, smart player who could play a role while on a two-way contract this season.

Peyton Watson flashed

Watson had some good moments during the portion of the scrimmage open to the media. He drilled a one-dribble pull-up jumper going to his left. He finished a layup driving to his left and also had a perfect pass to Zeke Nnaji on the roll who finished with a dunk.

Watson did have one bad turnover where he drove into a crowd and tried to force his offense when nothing was there. He’s played really aggressively this week.

I can see why Michael Malone loves Hunter Tyson

Tyson didn’t hit any shots in the few minutes of the scrimmage that I saw, but man that kid plays hard and fast. He does everything with a purpose. He’s always in the right spot on the floor. He plays his role and is always going 100%.

He plays fast but is usually under control. I think he’s still the most likely rookie to get real minutes this season. Tyson’s best play was when he threw a perfect alley-oop to DeAndre Jordan.

Rookie 🤝 Vet pic.twitter.com/onjS1lu43v

— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) October 7, 2023

We’ll see about Zeke Nnaji

Nnaji went 2-4 from the free-throw line during the portion of practice that the media watched. He missed a 3-pointer too, although it does look like he has more confidence in his jumper than he did last season.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of buzz around Nnaji this week, which is disappointing. It’s a huge season for him. We’ll see how the rest of his preseason goes.

Reggie Jackson’s strong week

Jackson’s stock is definitely up after a strong week in San Diego. He’s put in the work this offseason on the practice court and spent pretty much his entire summer in Denver. It’s paid off.

Jackson’s hitting shots and the chatter is that he’s been running his unit well in practices. I’d lock him in as a member of the Nuggets’ second unit, which still seems somewhat up in the air.

Training camp MVP?

Justin “The Fireman” Holiday has drawn rave reviews throughout the week. Rumblings on Friday were that he shot the ball extremely well in the scrimmage and he even logged some minutes with the starters. Michael Malone also mentioned today that he could be a Jeff Green replacement.

This week has served as a signal that Holiday will likely play a role at some point this season. If this trajectory continues throughout the rest of the preseason, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the opening night rotation. Holiday has upped his stock more than anyone this week.

Injury updates

Michael Porter Jr. sprained his ankle at practice earlier this week but looked fine while he was off to the side and even was getting some shots up on another hoop during the latter portion of practice. I wouldn’t expect him to play in the Nuggets’ preseason opener on Tuesday, but he looks fine.

Jamal Murray is dealing with, “a little bit of a hamstring,” Michael Malone said on Friday. He participated in some of the scrimmage and it doesn’t appear to be anything significant.