Why the Denver Nuggets should sign Jeff Withey

Three months ago in the second part of my Denver Nuggets offseason to-do list series I wrote about three team needs the Nuggets would be prudent to address this summer. The first was somehow getting rid of J.J. Hickson, which of course didn’t happen and as I pointed out in my most recent Ty Lawson trade analysis piece is already a detriment to the Nuggets’ roster flexibility. The second was for Denver to sign several defensive-minded role players, which they kinda-sorta-but not really-accomplished in a somewhat roundabout way by re-signing some of their own free agents. And finally I argued how the Nuggets needed — perhaps more than anything else in free agency — a backup center to block shots and protect the paint, the excerpt of which I’ve copied and pasted below:

At one point last season the Nuggets had perhaps the best trio of centers in the entire league in Nurkic, Timofey Mozgov and JaVale McGee. Yet by February only Nurkic remained. Ergo the Nuggets finished as one of the least productive teams in the league with regards to paint protection and blocked shots. And as any diehard NBA fans well knows, unless you have LeBron James this is a recipe for disaster.

If there’s one need the Nuggets absolutely must address in free agency this summer, it’s backup center. Luckily for Denver the free agent class of 2015 might very well be the most center-rich crop of free agents we’ve seen in years. The list of available centers and shot-blocking power forwards includes Marc Gasol, Brook Lopez, Al Jefferson, Greg Monroe, DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Roy Hibbert, Enes Kanter and the above mentioned Tyson Chandler, Robin Lopez, Jason Smith, Omer Asik and Brandan Wright. Put simply: There’s absolutely no reason the Nuggets shouldn’t be able to land at least one of these guys given their dearth of current shot blockers and abundance of cash to spend this summer. If this need goes unaddressed the Nuggets will undoubtedly suffer the consequences next season as guys like LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook will have field days against Denver on a nightly basis.

So please, Tim Connelly, sign a backup center. Do it for the team, do it for the fans, do it for the mental health of the writers like myself who watch this team night in and night out, because if there’s one way to give an advantage to your opponent in today’s NBA, it’s a lack of paint protection.

While Nikola Jokic looks like he’ll turn into a valuable backup center or power forward down the road — perhaps even a starter at some point — he’s simply not ready to assume this role come late October. As we saw during Summer League, Jokic is still miles away from grasping the fundamental concepts of NBA basketball he’ll need to master before making an impact at the next level. He’s also only 20 years old and somewhat spindly which certainly doesn’t bode well in projecting his level of production this upcoming year. While Jokic deserves a fair serving of minutes his rookie season it would be greatly beneficial for the Nuggets, both with regards to the team and Jokic’s sake, to stagger his playing time and ease him into the rotation as he’s just not ready to contribute at a high volume right off the bat.

The only other backup center option on the Nuggets’ roster at the current moment is Joffrey Lauvergne. While I think I speak for most fans in saying I’m incredibly high on Lauvergne and can’t wait to see what he’s made of this upcoming year, I also understand this will be his first full 82-game season in the NBA and he too won’t be without his fair share of growing pains. But most importantly, Lauvergne isn’t a center. He’s neither a shot blocker. Lauvergne is a power forward who specializes in rebounding, man defense and hustle. He is not someone who will fly from one end of the key to the other to perform a high-flying weak-side block — and neither is Jokic for that matter.

This leaves the Nuggets with essentially one paint-protector on the entire roster: Jusuf Nurkic. Though Nurkic should see a massive increase in playing time he alone cannot defend the entire interior of the Nuggets’ basket, especially considering he’ll likely see bulk minutes alongside Kenneth Faried and will thus be forced to atone for much of Faried’s defensive deficiencies.

My question then becomes: When Nurkic is sidelined, or god forbid injured, how exactly do the Nuggets plan on protecting the paint? How exactly do they plan on containing Tim Duncan and LaMarcus Aldridge? How exactly will they deflect LeBron James and James Harden when they come barreling down the lane with the speed and girth of a freight train? For that matter, how exactly are they even going to prevent average NBA centers with nonetheless imposing stature and length from finishing over top of the defense?

The fact is, Denver’s lack of paint-protecting bigs was one of the team’s biggest needs entering free agency and it has yet to be resolved. Nurkic is really the only player on the Nuggets’ roster adept at blocking shots. And if the Nuggets decide to tackle the upcoming regular season with only one shot-blocker on the roster it will undoubtedly come back to bite them in the rear end down the road just as all major weaknesses do in the NBA.

Luckily for the Nuggets, time has not yet expired. Though the best free agents have already been signed, there are still a few worth investigating…

Like, for example, Greg Stiemsma. Though he’s no offensive juggernaut (to say the least) one thing Stiemsma can do is play defense and block shots. He’s the epitome of a journeyman, having played with a different team both overseas and domestically nearly every year since going undrafted in 2008, however he recorded six blocks in his first NBA appearance with the Celtics in 2011 and has remained in the league doing the same thing ever since.

There are a handful of other available free-agent bigs like Kevin Seraphin, Earl Barron, Joel Freeland, Ryan Hollins, Nazr Mohammed, Greg Smith and Ekpe Udoh, however most of these guys are either disinclined to block shots or capable of blocking shots but entirely incapable of playing NBA-level basketball in every other facet. There is, however, one free-agent big still available whom I particularly like, who just so happens to fit in directly with the Nuggets’ newly established culture and as you might have guessed his name is Jeff Withey.

Withey was a second-round draft pick two years ago and has been with the New Orleans Pelicans ever since. Stuck behind Anthony Davis, Omer Asik, Ryan Anderson and Alexis Ajinca, Withey has never really been able to work his way into the Pelicans’ rotation and therefore had his qualifying offer rescinded — making him an unrestricted free agent — this past July.

The trend of being overshadowed has unfortunately plagued Withey most of his career. Even at Kansas he was stuck behind Cole Adlrich and the Morris twins as an underclassman before finally getting an opportunity to start his junior year. That season Withey went on to help Kansas reach the NCAA title game, breaking Joakim Noah‘s tournament record for blocked shots all while being named Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year and setting the single-season conference record for blocks in the process. His record-setting defensive performances continued his senior season as he was named co-National Defensive Player of the Year in route to setting a conference record for career blocked shots.

The most productive month of Withey’s brief career came in April of his rookie season when he averaged eight points, four rebounds and well over two blocks in 21 minutes per game. During that same stretch he even had a 17-point game (seen above) against the Phoenix Suns. Withey’s minute distribution has always been sporadic with the Pelicans but last year when he received at least 15 minutes of playing time Withey averaged 11 points, six boards and a block per game — not too shabby for a second-year center when called upon at random.

Though his NBA career hasn’t quite panned out the way many suspected, it’s important to note Withey is still young and often times big men hit their stride at a later age. Also, Withey is a legit 7-footer with an expansive reach to pair with nimble athleticism and a defensive mindset. His offense will likely never blossom into anything other than dunks, put-backs and the occasional 10-foot jumper, however Withey’s defense should more than makeup for his deficiencies on that end of the floor.

I’m not gonna sit here and tell you Jeff Withey is the key to all the Nuggets’ problems. I’m not even gonna argue he’d make a difference if signed. What I can say is that in the event Nurkic goes down with an injury, in the event the Nuggets are getting absolutely decimated inside the paint come January, Withey would at least be able to come in and provide some much-needed rim protection the Nuggets’ otherwise won’t have. He’d at least dissuade Denver’s opponents from constantly crashing the paint and would at least make them think twice about driving the lane or finishing with a thunderous dunk. And in a league where simple mismatches can be the determining factor between wins and losses on a nightly basis, the Nuggets need all they help they can get — even if it’s a third-string shot blocker like Withey.