The Nuggets Have So Many Lineups To Use

The Nuggets Have So Many Lineups To Use

Hello everybody and welcome back to the channel. It is your boy Shod and today we are here to talk about the Denver Nuggets once again. We are here to talk about their new depth chart and their new rotations and even more specifically than that, what type of rotations I think we’re going to see a lot of this year and which ones I think are going to work particularly well. We’re going to start with the sheer amount of combos that are available now. It’s a lot of names. It’s a lot of names, a lot of combinations that I think work really well. The ones that are highlighted in red, I’m particularly interested in seeing because I think that if these ones in red go well, then my feelings about the team’s championship odds go up way higher. Pickicket, Strawler, Peyton Watson, Don Holmes, Joic. I think like I said, prioritizing athletes and getting a little bit of perimeter shooting. You keep Straw there, you keep Don Holmes depending on what his role is going to be cuz we don’t know how much he’s going to play. But that is a lineup I’m particularly interested in. Uh, a Jamal stagger, which I think should prioritize length and play finishers. A Jamal, Julian, THJ, Don Holmes, Jokic type of stagger, which I think this one in particular, if we’re going three bench, two starters, I think it’s going to work really, really well because it’s a really hyper offensive type of rotation. You pair the the centerfold of a Jokic and Jamal Murray twoman game and then you put a shooter like THJ, you put a shooter like Julian Straw next to them and I think they’re just going to shine. On top of Don Holmes being a pretty damn good shooter in his own right, too. You just space the floor so much with this rotation that I think it’s going to bode really well. Now, the three bench, two starter one specifically, I am really interested in seeing because I think that’s going to be the most used type of rotation when it comes to to the regular season. The one that outside of the starters we’re going to see the most. Jamal, Bruce, Cam, Pwatt, Jokic. This is not a hyperdefensive lineup, but I think we have enough athletes in this lineup and still enough shooting to be able to to work really well with this five. And then there’s one in particular that I think can get really it would only be funky because there’s not an actual point guard on the floor. A Julian Strawther, THJ, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Joic Stagger. I think in a very interesting light could work really well because one, Joic is a pseudo point guard as it is. Two, AG himself has become a better playmaker. So I think he would be able to alleviate some of the missing role of a point guard in a rotation, especially if he doesn’t have to play the backup five anymore. I think with the shooting of the first three, the inside roll or the the cutting ability of uh Cam Johnson of an Aaron Gordon, this lineup could work really, really well. One of the things with these staggers in particular, and I know I didn’t specifically speak about Yonas Valenunis, but his involvement as a certain backup five, not a a pseudo center who was actually a 68 or 69 power forward who’s playing out of position, an actual bonafide center body. I think that adds a lot of certainty to the separate rotations that the Nuggets can run this year because if you look at past years, it’s a lot of it’s a lot more work. Not not a lot more work, but it’s like it’s a little bit harder to try to construct a non Jokic lineup that still doesn’t lack a big man’s presence with the rotations and the rosters that we’ve had in the in the previous year. So having Val there gives Jokic actual actual rest and it also it eases up the lineup building when it comes to figuring out the second unit. And this is something that was specifically said by management. I can’t remember if it was David Adelman himself or someone in the front office, but they said right now it’s an open competition to figure out what the backup unit is going to look like around Jonas Valenunis. And they’ve talked about using him more as a hub, trying to use him as more of a a passer. It’s it’s going to be it’s going to be open competition all season to see who gets those backup minutes. And I think that that competition is going to be really healthy. And I think that we’re going to come out of that with a lot of options, a lot of tools that will be able to be used in specific situations uh on a night innight out basis. The thing that like I wanted to make this video because I was really excited about the prospect of having 10 to 11 actual rotation guys in our bench. And the 10 or 11 number comes from Bruce THJ, uh, Yonas Valenunis plus the starters, that’s eight. And then I was thinking, okay, Don Holmes, if his injury or if his recovery is fine, uh, and then Payton Watson and Julian Strawler, that’s three more on top of that. I think I really love the aspect of having 10 rotation guys on a night in and night out basis because it just alleviates so much and it gives us so much flexibility to to to throw out a niche lineup. And speaking of flexibility, I want to talk about Aaron Gordon because I think this added depth affects him arguably the most on this team. So, as I said before, Aaron Gordon won’t have to play those backup five minutes anymore, the pseudo center minutes, the small ball five minutes like he has had to do in the past couple years, especially in the postseason, which would equal and lead to less wear and tear on his body, especially after this last season where he got banged up pretty bad. He’s becoming a hub in his own right and with that comes a lot more offensive responsibility and we saw it play out with the injuries with the uh the the decrease or the decline in his defensive efficiency this past season. I think because of his increased ability to space the floor with actual three-point shooting and his ability to space the floor with his passing ability now that’s only getting better and better. I think that there is a very slim possibility of Aaron Gordon being able to run the small forward position in some very specific lineups. And this is not something that I think is going to be thrown out on a on a a regular basis. I don’t think it’s something that should be leaned on in any sort of way. But if I’m looking at this lineup, this rotation of guys that we have with the versatility that some of these guys have a i.e. Aaron Gordon, maybe a three-man lineup of Aaron Gordon, Don Holmes, and Yonas Valenunis is thrown out there just for fun in case the team needs to keep some some uh some size, some rebounding, a little bit more defense on the interior in case they need to do that. Aaron Gordon may be able to slot down to that three spot or Aaron Gordon, Don Holmes, Joic, Aaron Gordon, Zeke Naji, Valenunis. I think it would be super fun to see him slot down in position instead of having to slot up. But I think I think it’s possible. I also think that with Yonas’s addition to this team and the forward depth that we now have on the roster, I think there’s a possibility of Aaron Gordon having his minutes matched with Jokic, which I think maximizes the team as a whole and it maximizes Aaron Gordon as well, like to to his his ultimate max. If they could minute match with those two, I would love that. And then in this this last section, I want to talk about overall lineup versatility and some of the more fun lineups that I think could be run at the point guard. We could go Bruce or Julian Charlotte because he’s technically taller even though he’s much worse as a defender. We’ll go Payton Watson. We’ll go Aaron Gordon. We’ll go Don Holmes. We’ll go Joic. Keep length on the floor. Uh uh get people who have active hands. Joic is our best center defender on the on the roster right now. And like I said, using that AG in the three spot in these specific lineups, I think could go really really well. our threes only lineup. If we really just need to come back into a game and start chucking up them threes, Jamal, Julian, THJ, Cam Johnson, Jokic, I think would be a really, really phenomenal five. Even just outside of a threesonly comp, I think this offensively is going to be one of the deadliest fiveman rotations in the league next season. Uh, you can replace Julian Strawther with Christian Brown or another shooting guard on the roster, but I think the Jamal, THJ, Cam Joic, four is going to be incredibly lethal, especially with how Cam Johnson and THJ have been talking about joining this team and how well they each are going to fit alongside the guys already on the roster. I did mention the possibility of a full five bench rotation being able to be used this season and with much more confidence. Uh, so a Bruce, THJ, Pton Watson, Don Holmes, Jonas Valenunis, full five rotation, I think gives me enough confidence to not turn my head away from the screen when this substitution is going to happen. Cuz the last two seasons, man, oh boy. Oh boy. Begging and pleading our coaches to make sure that we do not have a full five bench rotation out there on the floor cuz holy, it gets ugly. Maybe Jaylen Picket gets some bump in there with CB, THJ, AG, Jokic. If Picket is going to play, which I think he’s going to play some backup point guard minutes this year, I would love to see him playing with majority starters. I don’t want to see him being the prime or the solo playmaker out there. Even if it’s just Pickicket and Cam Johnson on the floor, I don’t particular, like depending on who else is around them, of course, but if those are the only two, like if it, let’s say it’s Picket, uh, Strawler, Cam Johnson, Don Holmes, Yonis Valenunis, like I’m I’m okay with that sort of lineup being put out there because I think that they’ll be able to produce enough offense to hold off or just hold whatever it is that they’re trying to hold. Zeke Naji is also a really interesting part of this whole discussion because I think there was a little bit of a shining light toward the end or the latter half of last season where we saw Zeke Naji start sharing minutes with Jokic on the floor in a natural power forward position and we all kind of looked like I see what I see something that could be there. I see something. Zeke Naji has not showed enough to get consistent minutes, but he has showed something, I think, in order to get one last final chance this upcoming season because he won’t have to play the five anymore. So, we will be able to see a full year of Zeke Naji potential backup four minutes. So, I I’m excited to see what he can do with that time and with that opportunity because as I mentioned before earlier in the video, open competition for this second unit. So, there’s a chance for him to shine and be able to get some bump. Uh, and I think if on because on paper you look at Zeg Naji as a a decently switchable 68 69 power forward who can defend at the rim a little bit who if his shot wasn’t so goddamn broke now could hit a three. Um, he’s a hustle guy. He gets after the ball, whatever. I think on paper he would be able to slot in next to a lot of the players on this roster, especially in the second unit, and be able to not look weak out there and be able to actually thrive in his minutes. We have to see it first. Um, right now my confidence is more in Don Holmes than it is with Zeke Naji, which may be unfair, especially because Don just came off of an Achilles injury, but I like what I saw out of summer league. Um, I I just overall am higher on him as a player than I am with Zeke Naji, which is what it is at this running through all of these rotations, I am just really excited with the possibilities that the Nuggets could go out and use. Uh, the the sheer amount of talent that is on this roster, I think, is going to bode really well throughout the rest of the year. And I mentioned it in one of my last videos, but I’m excited that there are names on the roster now. Names that are attached to certain things. And I know a lot of people say you you me included, you got to say like you can’t just go off of names. You got to look at how they actually play. Luckily, the names that we have, the names I’m excited for to have on this roster play exactly how I need them to play in the role that they’re going to be playing in. I love it. I see this group on paper as a team that’s fighting for the one seed or two seed all season long. I think they’re a team that’s going to give the OKC Thunder some trouble now. And um not now cuz they did, but continue to give the Thunder some trouble. It’s going to take some time to adjust. Of course, there’s a lot of new moving pieces on the roster. I am not particularly worried about someone like Cam Johnson because I know that he studies the game very closely. I know that he’s someone who watches film. I know that he’s someone who is going to fit like a glove and that the the system that is already built here. I think he is not going to have that much of a problem sliding into the role that MPJ had on top of having other duties as well, more playmaking duties, more on ball duties. Bruce Brown already knows the system, so I don’t really have to I’m not too worried about him uh adjusting too much. Val’s role, I think, will be pretty straightforward. Depending on what they mean when they want him to be a pseudo point center, which I think is a little much, but they do have a plan to use him as more of a passer. So, we’ll see how that goes, but I think his overall role will be pretty straightforward. TJ is already a a slot type of guy, a a picking a pick and place type of guy. He’s a spot-up shooter. He’s going to be surrounded by players who are going to be eager to make those one more passes that are going to be eager to get him the ball in his favorite spot. So, I’m not really worried about him either. Overall, I’m just very excited. I see this team going very far. We That is very preemptive and very early. Anything could happen and we are still a couple months out from freaking preseason. I’m excited about where this team can go. Let me know what you think. I’ll talk to youall in the next one. Peace out.

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