Wind Chimes: Why the Nuggets never waved the white flag this season

Welcome to Wind Chimes, a notebook of reporting, observations and analysis from me about what I’ve seen, heard and talked to people around the team about over the last week.

Why Denver never waived the white flag

Back on Nov. 26, the Milwaukee Bucks walked into Ball Arena and punched the Nuggets right in the mouth. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 24 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. All five Bucks starters scored in double-figures. Milwaukee won by double-digits despite losing the turnover battle 19-8. No one on Denver’s roster scored more than 20 points that night. Aaron Gordon led all Nuggets scorers with 18.

That loss to the Bucks was the fourth-straight game Nikola Jokic missed with a sprained wrist. It was the lowest point of the Nuggets’ season. Denver was 9-10 and a potential Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. return was still months and months away. Naturally, the doomsday chatter started to pick up…

Should the Nuggets wave the white flag?

Should Denver tank?

From talking with those close to the team, I never got the sense that the Nuggets seriously thought about throwing in the towel on this season. It was never a possibility that Denver seriously toyed with.

Here’s why:

One thing about the Tim Connelly-led front office is that they’re very in tune with the basketball fiber of this city. They know how far this organization has come but also how far it still has to go to reach the ultimate goal. They also know how momentous and historic it is to be a Nuggets fan watching Nikola Jokic at this very moment. They know they owe it to the fans to keep pushing forward.

The Nuggets know they owe it Jokic too. Denver understands it has a once-in-a-lifetime player leading its franchise who’s playing at the highest level of his career. The Nuggets couldn’t ask him to go out and fight through double and triple-teams every night while carrying the highest USG% of his career and simply stand pat and accept they won’t contend this season. They couldn’t leave him out to dry like that.

Trading for Bryn Forbes, arguably the best 3-point shooter on the trade market, and signing DeMarcus Cousins were two signs that the Nuggets had no interest in waving the white flag. In fact, the Nuggets signaled the opposite to their fans, the city, and most importantly to Jokic with those two transactions. Denver was still looking to contend.

Since that loss to the Bucks on Nov. 26, the Nuggets are 19-11 with the NBA’s third-best offense and 14th-best defense. With Forbes and Cousins aboard, Denver got its fifth-straight win Sunday — over the same Bucks team that romped the Nuggets in Denver over two months ago — and has won 10 of its last 13. The Nuggets’ bench, which was responsible for two of Denver’s three losses over this recent stretch, looks solidified too.

There’s also the looming possibility that both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. return this season. Murray continues to progress, although a recent bout with COVID briefly paused his rehab, Michael Malone said recently, and likely pushed back his return a bit. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Monday that the Nuggets were granted a disabled player exception worth $2.7 million for “the loss of Michael Porter Jr.” But I’m told nothing has changed in regards to Porter’s potential return this season. Denver simply did its due diligence and applied for the DPE in case Porter had a setback or something of that nature occurred (knock on wood). A non-Nuggets doctor deemed it likely that he misses the rest of the year, and then the DPE was awarded. Porter playing again this season is still very much on the table, a league source told DNVR.

The Nuggets had no plans to tank or throw in the towel earlier this season, and that decision is paying off. With how much uncertainty there is atop the conference, Denver knows there’s an opening for someone to snag an NBA Championship this season. The Nuggets are continuing to push towards that goal.

More Chimes

Getting Bones back on track

Bones Hyland had two of his worst games in the span of three days earlier this month. He shot a combined 0-10 from the field with just one assist in a win over the Thunder and loss to the Clippers back on January 9th and 11th. That prompted a meeting at shootaround on the morning of Jan. 13 between Hyland and Michael Malone.

Here’s what Malone said he told Hyland during that 1-on-1: “You’ve got to get back to using your speed and quickness to get downhill and attack, to make plays for your teammates. And when the ball finds you, shoot it if you’re open. And if you’re not, get off it. On defense, teams are going at you. They’re calling ATO plays and they’re going at you. You can not ever earn the reputation of being that guy. That’s not who you are. You’re a tough kid who’s been through a lot from Wilmington and you’ve got to bring that on the court.”

Hyland responded that night by dropping 17 points (6-12 FG’s, 5-8 3FG’s), in Denver’s 32-point home win over Portland. What followed were more strong showings from the rookie.

Then, over the last 1 1/2 games, another shift in Hyland’s rookie season story. He started to play backup point guard in lieu of Facu Campazzo on Denver’s second unit. The result: an 11-point win on the road at New Orleans and a 36-point win in Milwaukee. Hyland shot 6-13 from the floor over his last two games and handed out 10 assists to three turnovers. It’s a move you felt like Malone didn’t originally want to make, but one that came about after some debilitating play from Campazzo over the last month.

“Me doing that is not saying that we were struggling because of Facu Campazzo,” Malone said after the win over Milwaukee. “That’s not the case at all. It’s just trying something new, trying something different. Early on, the results have been really positive. I’m proud of Bones. Going out there playing with great pace, making plays for his teammates, taking the open shot, guarding,  competing. That’s what you want to see from a young player like that that has so much potential in front of him.”

“You’re seeing a young kid who is, ‘Alright, I came in, I was scoring the ball. Now coach is having me run my team.’ He’s being vocal. He’s getting them organized. I’m just seeing so much growth from Bones Hyland recently, and I’m just so proud of him because that’s not easy.”

It’s another step forward for Hyland but also for Malone. Four weeks ago, Nuggets interim coach Popeye Jones said Hyland didn’t know enough of the plays to log minutes at backup point guard. Now, he’s getting his shot and running with the opportunity.

Of note: the ankle problems that plagued Hyland earlier this season have quieted. After multiple sprains, the Nuggets have been requiring Hyland to wear braces on both his left and right ankles. So far, it’s kept him healthy.

Trade rumblings

Don’t expect the Nuggets to pull off a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline like they did last year, but Denver will still look to further upgrade its roster ahead of Feb. 10, a league source told DNVR.

The Nuggets have one clear area of need: a wing defender.

Bryn Forbes is the shooter off the bench that the Nuggets lacked. I think it’s pretty likely that DeMarcus Cousins is on the roster for the rest of the season at backup center. But that classic multi-positional long-armed wing defender is something Denver is still searching for.

The Nuggets don’t have a ton of assets to flip for a win-now piece. I’m sure Denver would look to move JaMychal Green and the $8.2 million owed to him this season, but I don’t know if there will be many takers. Green also has a player option worth $8.2 million next season. I also don’t think the Nuggets want to trade another future first-round pick unless it can land a big prize. That brings us to Denver’s best two trade chips: Bones Hyland and Zeke Nnaji.

I don’t think Denver seriously entertains trading Hyland. The Nuggets are incredibly high on the rookie. I don’t think the Nuggets want to trade Nnaji either, but I’d deem him more gettable. That being said, Denver views Nnaji as a perfect low-usage, high-efficiency role player to surround Jokic with. He’s an elite shooter — Nnaji is shooting 51% from 3 this season on almost two attempts per game — with a ton of defensive versatility. I think the Nuggets might listen to offers on Nnaji, but I don’t think they’ll end up dealing the second-year forward this season.

A team I’d keep an eye on ahead of the deadline is the underperforming Knicks, who should be one of the league’s big sellers in the coming week. During the Nuggets’ recent six-game homestand, New York had a top scout at Ball Arena. A player he was watching closely was Nnaji.

We’ll see if anything comes of it. I could see the Knicks being interested in Nnaji, but the Nuggets not being too keen on moving him. Just for the record, the Nuggets loved Knicks guard Quinten Grimes in the draft and did a lot of homework on the 6-4 rookie with a 6-8 wingspan out of Houston. Grimes is a really promising defender, is shooting 40% from 3 on four attempts per game this season, and was drafted 25th overall last year, one slot ahead of Hyland. Again, I wouldn’t bet on a 1-for-1 swap involving Nnaji and Grimes happening, but it’s something that crossed my mind.

Question of the Week

Last week I asked for the most memorable sporting event that you’ve seen in person? Here’s what DNVR Member Ben said:

“It’s so interesting how our childhoods shape our sports fandom; growing up in the 90’s. I have much more vivid memories of those championship-winning Broncos and Avalanche teams than I do any Nuggets team (apologies to the ‘93-’94 crew). It wasn’t until I grew up that my love for the Nuggets and basketball, in general, grew to outweigh those teams of my childhood. With this in mind, I have to say the most memorable sporting event I ever attended in person was the 2015 AFC Championship with the eventual-champion Denver Broncos defeating the Brady-led New England Patriots in the final Manning vs Brady matchup. Brady to Gronk on a 4th and 10 and then again for the touchdown on the final drive of the game only for the Broncos to hold on and stop the game-tying 2-point attempt. Can’t put into words the euphoria those almost 80,000 souls at Mile High felt simultaneously. I’ve never hugged and high-fived so many random strangers in my life, weeping as a grown man as we were one step away from reclaiming the Lombardi Trophy and coming full-circle from those Superbowls I remember as a child

To bring this back to the Nuggets, this is why the Jokic era has given me so joy and hope for the future. This is an era that will hopefully imprint those same childhood feelings on the next generation of future Nuggets fans. We already have our MVP, our proverbial Elway, I can only hope the future is as bright as those 90’s Broncos teams and the next generation of fans can remember back to the days when the Denver Nuggets sat atop the basketball world.”

Thanks for that, Ben. I wasn’t there for that Broncos-Patriots classic but can only imagine how special it was. In your answer, you hinted at one of the beautiful things about witnessing sporting events live. Those who were there with you know what it felt like to be in that stadium on that day in that moment. The emotions. The comradery. The joy. And in some cases the disappointment. Those that weren’t never will. That’s just how it is. It’s the beauty of live sports.

A lot of Nuggets games come to mind for me when thinking of my most memorable one. The game I settled on was actually a loss: Game 82 in 2018, Nuggets at Timberwolves.

It was a play-in game and I’ve never felt so much tension in an arena. It was freezing in Minnesota that day. It was freezing inside Target Center. It was a close game from the opening tip until the final buzzer in OT. Nikola Jokic had one of the first signature monster third quarters of his career but fell short in the fourth. I remember watching Josh Kroenke and Tim Connelly walking into the locker room shortly after the loss. I’ll never forget the look on either of their faces.

It was dead quiet visitor’s locker room, but Jokic and Jamal Murray vowed that they’d make the playoffs next season and never put Denver in that position again. So far, they’ve upheld that promise. That game truly helped shape the last three seasons of Nuggets basketball, and I don’t think Denver gets to where it’s been as a franchise without that loss. I truly feel lucky that I saw it live.

Here’s this weeks’ question: What Nuggets player have you had an irrational amount of love for? Who’s the player — past or present — that maybe wasn’t a star, but was always your guy?