(All stats and records through Jan. 15; for report cards for all 30 teams click here.)
Offense: 106.6, 11th Overall
Defense: 110.1, 29th Overall
W-L | Pct. | GB
15-23 | ..395 | 18
Conf.: 9-14
Div.: 4-6
Home: 8-11
Road: 7-12
FRONTCOURT: C
Personnel isn’t the main problem. The Nuggets have several quality veteran forwards (Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari), and have gotten a career year (16.4 ppg) from the newly vegan Wilson Chandler. Young bigs Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic have been caught in something of a playing time logjam.
BACKCOURT: C
Led by second-year point guard Emanuel Mudiay, third-year guard Gary Harris and rookie shooting guard Jamal Murray, the Nuggets backcourt has a ton of raw talent. Time will likely pay big dividends as this core develops, but in the meantime the growing pains are evident.
DEFENSE: F
Now see, I’d like to consider myself a generous grader, but when a team is battling for the worst defensive rating in the NBA — and as you can see above, Denver and the Lakers have been trading places in the basement — there’s not much to say in their defense.
BENCH: C
Lots of talent, but aside from thirtysomething vets Jameer Nelson and Mike Miller, there’s lots of youth. Besides the aforementioned forward logjam, players like rookie Malik Beasley haven’t been able to get time either. Right now, player development should be paramount.
COACHING: B
Mike Malone has already called out his team’s lack of leadership, for which he subsequently apologized. But for all of his ability to connect with his roster, the one thing that Malone can’t teach is experience, which is what the Nuggets need above all else.
OVERALL GRADE: C
Right now the Nuggets are probably outperforming expectations, and are hanging around within sniffing distance of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoff race. While they figure out rotations and try to get everyone healthy, the Nuggets are learning about the rigors of the NBA season and the long schedule. For now they may not have the stamina to fight for a postseason spot, but in a few years the Nuggets may strike gold.
Lang Whitaker has covered the NBA since 1998. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here or follow him on Twitter.
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