What the Thunder and Spurs have that the Nuggets lack | NBA Insider
Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:
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Whether it’s Oklahoma City or San Antonio, the Western Conference is going to be represented in the Finals by a team that does some things much better than the Nuggets.
Here are the three biggest things the Thunder and Spurs have that Denver lacks before the conference finals start Monday in Oklahoma City:
Point-of-attack defenders
The Thunder are the prohibitive favorites to repeat for a handful of reasons. There’s back-to-back Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but San Antonio and Denver both had MVP finalists with Victor Wembanyama finishing third and Nikola Jokic second. Oklahoma City also has elite depth and coaching, but what separates the Thunder from the rest of the league is their stable of point-of-attack defenders.
Cason Wallace, Lu Dort and Alex Caruso do a lot of the dirty work that allows Gilgeous-Alexander to be at his best as an offensive engine. The Thunder’s depth allows their defensive specialists to play physically on the perimeter. Christian Braun doesn’t have the same luxury in Denver.
The Spurs also have better perimeter defenders than Denver, thanks to Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell.
The Thunder finished the regular season with the league’s best defensive rating (106.5) ahead of Detroit (108.9), which earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and San Antonio (110.4).
Denver owned the league’s best offensive rating (121.2), but the Nuggets’ defensive rating, 116, ranked 21st, the worst of any playoff team.
Elite rim protection
There were prolonged stretches of Denver’s first-round exit where it looked like the Timberwolves were running layup lines. That doesn’t happen when Victor Wembanyama or Chet Holmgren — the winner and second-place finisher for Defensive Player of the Year — are on the court. Oklahoma City and San Antonio tied for fifth in the NBA with 5.5 blocks per game. Denver finished 28th. The Nuggets’ leading shot-blocker, Peyton Watson, was unavailable in the postseason after averaging just over one block per game in the regular season. As jaw-dropping as some of Watson’s blocks have been, he’s not positioned in front of the rim to deter drivers.
Rudy Gobert’s rim protection prevented the Nuggets from getting easy buckets, something the Timberwolves didn’t experience until the second round. Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid, Ayo Dosunmu and Terrence Shannon Jr. all had success finishing at the rim against the Nuggets.
Denver hasn’t had a player to average two blocks per game in the Jokic era. The last player to do so was JaVale McGee back in 2012-13.
Cheap production
The conference finalists are getting big-time production from players still on cost-controlled contracts. Jalen Williams, Wallace, Jared McCain and Ajay Mitchell played well for the Thunder this season on their rookie contracts. The same goes for Wembanyama, Castle, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant in San Antonio. Braun and Watson were Denver’s biggest contributors in similar situations. The Thunder and Spurs will continue to benefit from their young, cheap talents next season, while Braun and Watson, if he’s still a Nugget, will play next season under much more expensive contracts. Julian Strawther is in line to be Denver’s most productive player still on his rookie deal next season.
What I’m Thinking
If Jokic allows it, a couple of gap years might be the Nuggets’ best path toward a second championship.
It’s a ruthless route that comes with a lot of risk, but the Spurs and Thunder will be too stacked for the next few seasons. By the time they have to start paying their young stars the market rate, Denver’s current core will be aging out of their prime.
The Nuggets will continue to be a playoff team without major changes, but it’s hard to call them contenders while the Thunder and Spurs are only getting better.
Jokic is the only untouchable this season. If Denver can turn some of its other veterans into younger, cheaper contributors or draft picks, Denver can reset its championship clock and salary situation.
Trading away some fan favorites and enduring an expedited rebuild won’t look good for the next couple of years, but it’s the best way to surround the best player in franchise history with younger, two-way players who can keep the championship window open longer than the current version — as long as Jokic agrees.
What They’re Saying
McDaniels, a villain in Denver after criticizing the Nuggets’ defensive personnel, had plenty of nice things to say about Wembanyama after the Timberwolves’ season ended.
“Wemby is probably the greatest defender I’ve ever played against. Him being so tall, so long, it was hard to get to the rim,” McDaniels said. “That’s pretty much the most part. I was able to get to my spots but playing Wemby, he’s huge. He’s so tall. He’s the greatest defender I ever played against.”
It appears the rich are getting richer ahead of the Western Conference finals.
“It’s good I haven’t had to rush back from my hamstring stuff at all,” Thunder star Jalen Williams said in a vlog post before the Thunder swept the Lakers. “I’m actually taking extra days now than what was even originally planned, because we’re up 3-0. So, there’s no point in possibly going into this series and possibly hurting myself before we have to play the Timberwolves or Spurs. I’m about to go into another series healthy.”
What I’m Following
- Williams is not on Oklahoma City’s injury report heading into Game 1. Thomas Sorber, who missed the entire season, is the only player listed on the Thunder injury report. The Spurs listed De’Aaron Fox (right ankle soreness) and Luke Kornet (left foot soreness) as questionable.