By Demetrius Jacobs
One sure thing going into camp is that whichever big man comes out the other side as the starter, they will have had to earn it. Coach Shaw has made it clear that nobody is entitled to anything, and the Nuggets big men JaVale McGee and Timofey Mozgov wouldn’t have it any other way. They’re ready, and they know that rookie Jusuf Nurkic is waiting in the wings if they don’t bring their A-game.
JaVale McGee is a 7-foot freak of an athlete. He’s an above the rim player and a dunking machine. Whether it’s a quick baseline spin, or monster put-back, his offensive antics get the Pepsi Center faithful in an uproar. However, his offense isn’t all there is to his game. McGee is a solid defender.
An athletic body and a long wingspan enables him to come out of practically nowhere to block shots and send them sailing into the crowd, or grab a rebound that seems impossible for most big men.
In 2012-2013, McGee played in 79 regular season games, tying a career high, but unfortunately went down after just five games last season due to a stress fracture in his left tibia and missed the remainder of the season.
Timofey Mozgov is the only Nugget to have played in all 82 games last season. The ironman of the Nuggets big man core, he is also coming off the best season of his five-year career, averaging 9.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, both career highs. He accrued 10 double-doubles and had five games where he scored 20-plus points and two games with 20 or more rebounds including a ferocious 23-point, 29-rebound showcase in a win vs. Golden State on April 10, 2014.
Jusuf Nurkic was acquired in a 2014 NBA Draft night trade with the Chicago Bulls that also brought fellow rookie Gary Harris to Denver in exchange for former Nugget forward Anthony Randolph and draft rights to the Nuggets pick Doug McDermott. At 6-11, 280 pounds, Nurkic is going to be exciting to watch develop.
Named the MVP of the FIBA Europe Under 20-Championship Division B twice for the Bosnian Nation Team, including 2014 where he averaged 21.4 points and 12 rebounds per game, he has the building blocks in place become a legit NBA center.
Rest assured, this is going to be an exciting camp as these giants battle for the right to hold it down in the middle for the rest of this deep and talented roster.