Every other week, The Denver Post’s Mike Singer answers your questions about the Nuggets. You can submit your questions here. Follow Mike for more daily updates on Twitter.
Is Michael Porter Jr. really someone to get excited about, or is he too damaged to make a big impact? Does he really have Kevin Durant talent?
— John J., Littleton
It’s probably unfair to wonder whether he’s going to be as good as one of the top two or three players in the NBA; let’s let him get healthy first following his second back procedure this past July. At 6-foot-10, Porter Jr.’s size and mobility were always going to make him an elite prospect, but it’s his outside range and physicality that could make him flourish once he begins practicing with the Nuggets. The Nuggets felt that his potential talent outweighed the risk when they picked him at No. 14, and with a deep team, there was no need to rush him into action. The Nuggets haven’t put a timetable on his return. If it were me, and he’s not ready by the All-Star break, I’m not sure I’d thrust him into a postseason race after playing just three games in college. To your point, there is a potentially huge upside with him given how the NBA is becoming more position-less by the season. Once healthy, he could possibly serve as a multidimensional wing threat, a stretch-four or a small-ball five.
Why won’t Jokic shoot the ball? Is he hurt? Lack of confidence? He’s the last guy I want taking the game-winning 3-point shot (Memphis game). Frustrating loss!
— Glenn S., Bailey
As I’m sure you saw, after taking just four shots in the prior two games (Boston and Memphis), Jokic destroyed Brooklyn’s frontcourt for 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting and 21 rebounds. Jokic has had minor stretches before where he hasn’t been as assertive, but he and the Nuggets both know that one or two field-goal attempts isn’t acceptable from him. It’s not that he’s being passive; it’s that his predilection is always to hit the open man when teams throw multiple defenders his direction. This sometimes means he’s unselfish to a fault. Considering that he’s the engine that makes their offense flow, when he becomes less of a threat by not even looking at the rim or attempting to post defenders up, it has an adverse effect on the rest of the offense. Every now and then, he seems to need a reminder of how dominant he can be.
Juancho Hernangomez is getting a lot of crunch-time minutes in Will Barton’s absence and seems to be fitting in well. Is this something that will continue even after Barton returns? What happens to Hernangomez’s minutes? One would think he’s earned a permanent spot in the rotation.
— Matt S.
Will Barton’s return (still at least more than a month away) is going to eat into someone’s minutes, and my guess is it won’t be Juan Hernangomez. With Michael Malone finally making a lineup change, replacing Torrey Craig with Hernangomez, the third-year wing has carved out some invaluable space as a reliable infusion of energy and timely 3-point shooting. Hernangomez (42 percent) leads the team in 3-point shooting while typical snipers Jamal Murray and Gary Harris both remain under 30 percent. As for crunch-time minutes, I’d assume those would likely go to Barton, but with a little thinner bench at the moment, Malone has been deploying his reserves as necessary. If the starters were having an off night, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Malone ride his reserves for most of a fourth quarter, as he has already done this season. As for whose minutes get cut, don’t expect it to be Monte Morris, who has been as steady as any backup point guard in the league thus far. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Morris on the court in crunch time in the near future.