Early Results of the Nuggets New Bench

The story of the Denver Nuggets this season has been a tale of two teams: the one with Nikola Jokic on the floor and the one with him on the bench. When Jokic sits, the Nuggets post a net rating of -13, a mark that would place them at the bottom of the league. When Jokic is on the court, the Nuggets have a net rating of 10.2, which puts them atop the league—ahead of contenders like the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors. Jokic’s minutes see the Nuggets post an offensive rating of 115.8 and 105.6, both top-five marks in the league. Once he’s off the court, the Nuggets have the worst offense in the league and the fifth-worst defense. 

Simply put, the Nuggets are one of the best teams in the NBA with Jokic in the game and the very worst team when he isn’t. 

This enormous disparity in play is largely due to the Nuggets abysmal bench play. Injuries to Michael Porter jr. and Jamal Murray have forced key backups like Jeff Green and Monte Morris into the starting lineup, leaving the Nuggets bench without some of its most important pieces. From the eye test alone, the bench unit clearly suffers from a lack of shooting and a poor inside presence. The numbers don’t paint a pretty picture either; of all NBA second units, the Nuggets are nineteenth in points per 36 and dead last in rebounds per 36. The Nuggets bench shoots 40.7 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three, both well below league average. Of all players on the current roster, Vlatko Cančar is the only non-starter with a positive net rating. Cančar is also going to be out for at least 12 weeks after undergoing surgery on his foot earlier this month.

Clearly, the Nuggets bench needs more firepower, and that is just what the front office went looking for ahead of the trade deadline. Last week, the team dealt P.J. Dozier, Bol Bol, and a 2028 second-round pick in exchange for Bryn Forbes, essentially giving away two players unlikely to see the floor again this season and receiving a knockdown shooter in return. Then, the Nuggets signed Demarcus Cousins to a 10-day deal, hoping to find the backup five that they’ve been missing since Javale McGee left in free agency last summer. Both moves look poised to bring some much-needed relief to the Nuggets second unit.

So far, the results have been mixed. Nobody can complain too much about a 3-1 record, even if those three wins came on back-to-back games against the lowly Detroit Pistons and a Brooklyn Nets team missing Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. However, the bench play has been inconsistent over those four games. In Forbes’ first game as a Nugget, the second unit managed only 17 points in a close loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Things looked encouraging at first, with Forbes dropping a quick 7 points in the first quarter alone. He went on to shoot just 4-13 from the field and finish with only 9 points. Still, the first quarter was encouraging, showing that Forbes could be the shooter off the bench that the Nuggets desperately need.

Things looked great against the Pistons on January 23, when the bench dropped a healthy 41 points to add to the Nuggets 117 point total. Forbes chipped in 12 points while going 2-5 from three, a mark much closer to his career 41 percent three-point shooting. He was the first man off the bench, and his shooting seemed to fit well alongside Jokic’s gravity in the paint. In his first game with the Nuggets, Demarcus Cousins struggled from the field, going just 1-7 from the field, including 0-3 from three. Some of his misses seemed far off the mark, and his two points certainly don’t jump off the box score. However, he contributed a healthy 6 rebounds to a second unit that has struggled on the glass. He also made his presence felt against a young Pistons team, setting a number of impressive screens that got his teammates good looks.

In their rematch against the Pistons two days later, the Nuggets seemed to fall back into old habits. The second unit managed only 24 points, and both Forbes and Cousins shot poorly. Cousins rebounded well in his minutes, grabbing 7 boards, but the starting lineup was once again asked to pick up the bench’s slack to secure the win.

Finally, in a game against a Nets team missing four of its five starters, the Nuggets bench showed up in a big way. Buoyed by 25 points from Austin Rivers, the second unit dropped an efficient 51 points. Demarcus Cousins was excellent in the first half, dropping 11 of his 13 points before halftime while shooting 2-3 from three. In an unusual turn of events for the Nuggets, the starters lost the lead during the second quarter. Down by eleven at half, Denver made a run with their starters to take back the lead at the start of the third quarter. Then, the bench managed to keep the Nuggets ahead going into the fourth. Unfortunately, Demarcus Cousins was ejected less than one minute into the final frame. The good news is that Cousins’ replacement was the reigning MVP. The Nuggets rode Austin Rivers’ hot shooting to the victory, with Jokic making some clutch free throws to finish with a near triple-double.

Bryn Forbes may have shot just 1-3 from three and 2-6 from the field, but he looked good against the Nets. The Nuggets don’t have a player on their bench who can sprint off downscreens straight into an efficient three-pointer, a one dribble floater, or a kick out to the open man. Forbes has the potential to be that player, an outside threat that is sorely lacking on the Nuggets roster. Nikola Jokic has said as much:

“We know that we cannot make shots, and the whole league knows that we cannot make shots.”

Adding a threat like Forbes doesn’t just improve the Nuggets attack from beyond the arc—it opens up whole offenses, pulling defenders away from the rim and creating driving lanes, or freeing up Jokic to throw easy skips for wide-open looks. Unless the past five seasons have been a fluke, Forbes will find his shot soon and become a key piece of the rest of the Nuggets’ season.

Even though Demarcus Cousins had a strong offensive performance against the Nets, his ejection is concerning. The Nuggets can’t afford to give up points to technical free throws, and they really can’t afford to lose their backup center. Cousins is expected to butt heads with the refs and opposing players, but considering the stage he’s at in his career, it’s time to reel it in. He’s not a stellar defensive center, and his shooting hasn’t been very steady over the past few games. Maybe with an advocate like coach Michael Malone in his corner, Cousins can find a bit of the all-around production he had earlier in his career while staying on the court long enough to give Jokic a breather. Ultimately though, Boogie’s performance as a Nugget for the past three games has provided more questions than answers: Can he defend? Can he make his threes? Can he keep his cool? He has a couple of games left on his 10-day contract to try and answer those questions, but the Nuggets have a tough decision to make with him regardless.

Until Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. come back from injury, the Nuggets have little chance of contending for a title. However, if they can climb up the standings in the meantime, they’ll be poised to make a push in the playoffs. If Forbes and Cousins have proved anything over the past week, it is that the Nuggets have a chance to improve their bench play and be a strong team even when Jokic isn’t on the floor. Whether or not that chance becomes a reality is a different story.

For more NBA coverage, click here.