Vlatko Cancar wants to silence the doubters of the Nuggets' bench

Vlatko Cancar hears the noise. He’s aware of the chatter. He’s conscious of what those on the outside are saying.

“Everybody’s talking shit about the bench,” Cancar said in front of his locker, sporting a grin after the Nuggets’ 124-119 win over the Heat. “But for once in a while, the bench did good, I think.”

I had to follow up.

“Who’s talking shit?” I asked him.

“I think it’s everybody around,” Cancar said. “We can sense that everybody’s been talking shit about the bench. I’m trying to stick up for us.”

There has been a healthy amount of shit-talking about the Nuggets’ bench this season. But it’s been warranted. Denver’s second unit has been unreliable, inconsistent, and just bad for most of this year. On most nights, the Nuggets crater the moment Nikola Jokic subs out of a game. On others, which seem few and far between, the Nuggets are able to survive the minutes when the back-to-back MVP is off the floor. Barely.

Friday’s hard-fought 124-119 win over the Heat was the latter. Denver’s bench outscored Miami’s 50-44 and managed to keep their head above water during the non-Jokic minutes. Four out of the five players that the Nuggets brought off the bench finished with a positive +/-. Cancar tallied 15 points and hit all three of his 3-point attempts. Bruce Brown finished with 13 points and 4 assists. Bones Hyland connected on 5-of-6 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and was a +9 in his 23 minutes despite six turnovers. Christian Braun only saw the court for three minutes and also finished in the positives.

DeAndre Jordan was a -9 in his 12 minutes, but Cancar appreciated his contributions.

“Everybody who came off the bench played well,” Cancar said, still grinning. “Even DJ, his big, clumsy ass had a good game.”

The Nuggets are 23-12 and tied with the Pelicans for the No. 1 spot in the West. By now, it’s clear that their reality is this: If Denver’s bench is just average, the Nuggets are probably winning that night. If Denver’s second unit plays its minutes to a draw, the Nuggets are going to end up on the right side of the scoreboard. That’s all this team needs. The Nuggets’ starting lineup is that good. Nikola Jokic is that dominant. Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are going to score enough points and get enough stops to secure W’s. Denver just needs its second unit’s minutes to not end in total disaster.

“This was the kind of output we need from our bench, where it’s just not always on our starting group,” Michael Malone said postgame.

Cancar has played sparingly across the four years he’s spent in Denver, but now he’s a key member of the Nuggets’ bench. He’s likely going to keep getting minutes with Jeff Green sidelined for at least the next three weeks with a fractured left hand. Cancar has already logged 294 minutes across 24 games this season. That’s a new career high and it’s not even January yet.

Cancar’s consistent. He plays hard. He’s reliable. He’s solid. He has a high basketball IQ on both ends of the floor. He only takes good shots. You know what you’re getting when he’s on the floor.

“Vlatko has proven to be very trustworthy,” Malone said.

He also comes with some flair. You don’t think of Cancar as “flashy”, but he’ll surprise you. Last month, Cancar dunked from one step inside the free-throw line on a fast break. Against the Heat, he pulled off a swooping, Statue of Liberty right-handed slam in transition. Who could forget his half-court buzzer-beater in Dallas. When the opportunity presents itself, Cancar will put on his best Joker impression and unleash a no-look pass that whoever’s guarding the 6-foot-8 Slovenian with a mustache definitely doesn’t see coming.

He’s shooting lights out this season too. Cancar is converting on a career-high 48.8% of his 3-point attempts and has made 8 of his last 10 triples. He’s a capable defender and ball-mover who thrives when the Nuggets are sharing the ball and playing the unselfish style of basketball that was born out of the early days of the Jokic era. Only Jokic and Murray have been in Denver longer than Cancar. He and Porter are the third longest-tenured Nuggets. He has more corporate knowledge of the Nuggets’ offensive and defensive philosophies than most of his teammates. It’s paying dividends now.

“I feel like I was lucky. Lucky,” Cancar said, chuckling about how he was phrasing his answer. “Sitting for so many years, just by watching it, it made me understand the game, as opposed to players who need to actually play to understand the system. I’m just happy that I got adjusted to it pretty quickly.”

I don’t think Malone knows what his go-to bench will look like in the playoffs — let alone next week — but right now Cancar is penciled in for minutes every game. Hyland is a lock to get second-unit minutes as well. So is Brown. Porter or Murray will stagger with that group at times. I think Christian Braun should be in the nightly rotation, but it’s clear that he’s not guaranteed minutes. DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji have been taking turns at backup center as of late, but neither has shown that they’re fit for a playoff rotation. Cancar might be the most reliable Nugget off the bench right now.

He’s hoping his presence can solidify a group that’s been lacking consistency and taken its share of criticism all season.

“It feels nice to continuously get some run,” said Cancar. “We have a stacked team. I’m just trying to take advantage of the opportunity and win games.”