Few things expose the strengths and weaknesses like a two-deep.
Those 10 players, the first and second units of an NBA team, tell all there is to know about where the improvements must be made, particularly after Thursday’s NBA draft.
Post draft, the Nuggets’ initial two-deep isn’t revealing much more than a crowed roster all around: Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson at point guard; Gary Harris and Will Barton/Jamal Murray at shooting guard; Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler at small forward; Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur at power forward; Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic at center.
Missing is rim protection and additional perimeter defense. They addressed shooting needs in the draft.
“I don’t think we have any specific needs,” Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said. “When your team has struggled to contain the ball like we did, and struggle to make shots, I think those are two areas that we need. But I don’t think its positional. Its more of those areas can’t be where they are. And we can’t expect to win games if we’re deficient in those two areas.”
Hello, free agency.
On Friday, phase two of the Nuggets’ offseason begins, and it will be defined by this comment from Connelly, made minutes after the draft.
“The offseason officially began this evening,” he said. “We’re not where we need to be. I fully expect some more movement.”
The Nuggets can go about this in a couple of ways.
Offensively, they’re going to have to ask themselves if they want to run the offense through Danilo Gallinari again. He was the team’s leading scorer last season and the most consistent offensive player. He would be the No. 1 option again next season. But the Nuggets did have some success offensively when he was injured, averaging 104.6 points on 45.6 percent shooting in the 23 games he missed to end the season.
The answer to that question will dictate whether he returns or not.
Defensively, given the lack of true rim protectors on the market outside of Miami center Hassan Whiteside and Toronto’s Bismarck Biyombo, the Nuggets’ best route to add quality interior defense would be through trade. So, think of players such as Philadelphia’s defensive swiss army knife, Nerlens Noel, who multiple media outlets reported was on the block before the draft.
“I sound like a broken record and we never get deals done, but we’re naturally pretty aggressive,” Connelly said. “I think we’re more often than not the callers, not the callees. The league is strange right now. There’s a degree of risk aversion that makes deal-making difficult. I think we’ll continue to explore those things.”
Organically, the Nuggets’ perimeter defense gets a big boost with Wilson Chandler’s return. He missed the entire regular season after hip surgery, and, in effect, is a free agent the Nuggets already have on the roster.
Beyond that, there are several intriguing options on the wing in free agency. Expect Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore to be connected to the Nuggets, among other teams. He’s got history with Nuggets coach Michael Malone – both were in Golden State together — and is the prototype long, athletic, defensive-minded forward that the team needs.
Bazemore also is a good 3-point shooter. Along those same lines is Charlotte forward Nicolas Batum. He’s a player the Nuggets have liked in the past and is a free agent after playing one season with the Hornets.
Chandler Parsons played last season with Dallas and is searching for a max deal, according to ESPN.com and RealGM.com. If that is the case, the sharp-shooter might be too rich for the Nuggets, who are unlikely to hand out a max contract to anyone this summer.
