Grading Denver Nuggets' Final 15-Man Roster

The Denver Nuggets are looking to bounce back this year, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Denver finished with a 36-46 record but could have had a much stronger campaign had the team managed to stay healthy.

Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, Nate Robinson and JaVale McGee all went down with season-ending injuries at some point in 2013-14. A healthy core to go along with the addition of Arron Afflalo, who played with the team just two years prior, should put the Nuggets back into postseason contention.

Denver has a deep roster, which will cause a problem for some of the other playoff hopefuls in the Western Conference. Coach Brian Shaw has a gifted group of players in front of him; it’s up to him to figure out how to turn that talent into wins.

Read on to get a full breakdown of the Nuggets roster and how the team fares at each position. 

Point Guard

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Starter: Ty Lawson

Backups: Nate Robinson, Erick Green

If the Nuggets are going to make the playoffs in 2014-15, they will need Ty Lawson to play in all 82 games. Lawson is the Nuggets' scariest offensive weapon, leading the team in both points and assists per game a year ago. Expect him to make the Denver Nuggets his team, providing leadership that they desperately need.

Lawson had an off game offensively against the Pistons on Wednesday, racking up just three points and five assists. However, one would be foolish to consider this game a sign of things to come after he led the team in both categories last season. He is still Denver’s best player and will have a very strong year if he can avoid getting injured.

The backup point guard duties in 2014-15 will fall to Nate Robinson, who was starting to jell with the Nuggets before undergoing season-ending knee surgery in January.

After being critiqued his entire career for being a selfish and inefficient player, Robinson had actually shot .471 in his last month before getting injured. He was 1-of-4 in six minutes and looked more like his old self in the first game of the season. The Nuggets will need him to play more like he did back in January if they want to make the playoffs.

Erick Green doesn’t figure to see the court much, unless the Nuggets demote him to the D-League to give him more playing time.

Grade: B

Shooting Guard

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Starter: Arron Afflalo

Backups: Randy Foye, Gary Harris

No new player on the Nuggets roster will have a bigger impact this season than Arron Afflalo. The eight-year NBA veteran brings experience, scoring and defense to a talented but young Denver roster.

With many questions marks on the team, Afflalo is one of the few players the Nuggets can count on night in and night out. He was very impressive against the Pistons on Wednesday evening. Everything seemed to click when he was on the floor, as the Nuggets were plus-19 in Afflalo’s 40 minutes of action.

He was particularly strong in the third quarter, where he accumulated 10 points and knocked down two big threes. In addition, Afflalo played excellent defensive on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, holding the Pistons shooting guard to an abysmal 3-of-19 from the field.

Randy Foye has been demoted to backup shooting guard in 2014-15, after starting 78 games a year ago. He was serviceable in his role last season but wasn’t enough of a force on either the offensive or defensive end to earn his spot in the starting lineup for this campaign.

Foye will still be a solid second option off the bench who can bring scoring and veteran leadership to a young Nuggets squad. He shot 38 percent from beyond the arc, so he will be a valuable part of the second unit.

Like Green, Gary Harris will struggle to see the court, as he lacks any kind of discernible NBA skill that will help him to leapfrog Afflalo or Foye in the depth chart. However, unlike Green, Denver is invested in Harris, as he was a highly regarded draft pick in June.

Grade: B

Small Forward

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Starter: Danilo Gallinari

Backups: Wilson Chandler, Alonzo Gee

Danilo Gallinari returns to Denver’s starting unit this year after missing all of 2013-14 with a knee injury. He was an offensive force for the Nuggets back in 2012-13, but it may take him a while to return to form early on.

Gallinari looked rusty in the opening game, as he made only one field goal in 18 minutes of action. However, he was still somewhat effective on the offensive end, getting to the line twice and knocking down all four of his free-throw attempts.

With Gallinari out last season, Wilson Chandler was the primary small forward for the Nuggets, starting in 55 games. Chandler is not nearly the offensive talent that Gallinari is, posting an unimpressive player efficiency rating of 12.5 last year.

Chandler is better suited for a backup role and should become a more efficient player with the decrease in workload. In 2012-13, a season in which Chandler started just eight games, he shot 46.2 percent from the field and a career-high 41.3 percent from beyond the arc.

Chandler struggled coming off the bench on Wednesday night, going 1-of-6 from the field and accumulating two turnovers. Like Gallinari, it may take a few games for Chandler to adjust to his new role.

The third small forward on the roster is Alonzo Gee, who struggled with the Cleveland Cavaliers after losing his starting duties to Luol Deng last season. With Gallinari and Chandler taking up the bulk of the minutes, expect a similar role from Gee in 2014-15.  

Grade: B

Power Forward

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Starter: Kenneth Faried

Backups: J.J. Hickson, Darrell Arthur

Kenneth Faried was rewarded for his great play in both the NBA and FIBA World Cup with Team USA by getting a four-year, $50 million contract extension. He will still have to improve his scoring and defense to live up to the new deal, but he has the talent, athleticism and excellent work ethic that could make him the Nuggets' star of the future.

Faried was by far Denver’s best offensive player in the season-opening game against the Pistons, posting a line of 22 points, 17 rebounds and four assists. He even showed some versatility in his game, knocking down two mid-range jumpers—a shot he has struggled with in the past.  

J.J. Hickson will miss the first five games of 2014-15, after being suspended for violating the NBA’s drug policy. He will assume the backup power forward duties, after having an excellent campaign a year ago.

Hickson averaged 11.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in 2013-14, bringing energy, toughness and scoring off the bench. Expect him to be the Nuggets' spark plug once again this season.

If Faried goes down or Hickson misses additional time, Darrell Arthur is more than capable of filling in as the backup power forward. In Wednesday night’s victory, Arthur chipped in two points, four rebounds and three assists, playing quality defense along the way.  

Grade: A-

Center

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Starter: Timofey Mozgov

Backups: Jusuf Nurkic, JaVale McGee

After finishing strong at the end of last year, Timofey Mozgov has continued his success by having one of the best preseasons on the Nuggets roster, leading the team in both points and rebounds. Mozgov struggled to score early on in his NBA career but appears to have a much more polished offensive game at age 28.

On Wednesday’s opening match against Detroit, he was one of the best players on the floor.  The Russian center had 13 points and 11 rebounds and made key plays down the stretch, including a giant block with just over a minute left in the game that all but sealed the win for Denver.

Another player who impressed on opening night was rookie Jusuf Nurkic. The 2014 16th overall pick looked strong down low, putting up five points and seven boards in 13 minutes of action.

Denver will need another center behind Mozgov to score down low and contain the opponent’s big men. If Nurkic continues to play like he did in the first game, he will have a prominent role this year.

The enigmatic JaVale McGee doesn’t appear to be in Brian Shaw’s good graces after seeing little action in preseason play with 11.3 minutes per game. Unless a key injury occurs, he may be stuck riding the pine for the majority of 2014-15. McGee played the fewest minutes among Denver’s centers in Wednesday’s game with nine. And after watching Mozgov and Nurkic’s performances, it may stay that way for a while.

Grade: B