Mark Knudson’s Three Strikes Blog: Strike One:
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Who needs to be the Nuggets second best player?
STRIKE ONE: This is the era of the “big three” in NBA hoops. Ya gotta have three superstars in your line-up if you want to contend for an NBA title. Not even LeBron James can defeat that rule.
The Denver Nuggets have one current All-Star in the line-up in Nikola Jokic. He’s Denver’s first All-Star selection since Carmelo Anthony in 2012 (might explain the lack of play-off appearances over most of that time.) The Nuggets have a couple of former All-Stars in Paul Milsap and the struggling Isaiah Thomas…but neither displays all-star form anymore. Milsap – when healthy – does a lot of very good things for the Nuggets, and is a valuable piece as the team heads toward the play-offs. But is he the second piece of a “big three?”
Probably not.
For Nuggets fans, it’s pretty easy to turn your eyes toward young up and comers Jamal Murray and Gary Harris. Both have the potential to become All-Stars. But they both play essentially the same position, shooting guard. Murray is the designated “point” guard in name only, and Harris has been often injured this season.
Both/either Murray or Harris could be the third of a Nuggets “big three” in the future. But neither is as of yet even a number two.
For Denver to contend for an actual, real-life NBA championship, someone else – another front court player – has to emerge as a true star and the number two guy in a “big three” collection.
Hello Michael Porter Jr.
He is the great unknown. The mystery man. The highly touted first round draft pick who played less than one-half of one-game of college basketball at Missouri due to injuries. Even so, he was the Nuggets top pick last summer (he fell to them at #14) on potential alone. He’s spent all of this season on the injured list, recovering from lower back surgery. His name has slid to the back of the minds of Nuggets fans while the team enjoys a banner season. There’s been no pressure, no urgency to get him on the court because, well, he hasn’t been needed.
That’s not the case moving forward.
The Porter that was so highly sought out of high school two years ago, the one with the gigantic upside, needs to not only get on the floor, but blossom into the superstar many believed he was/is destined to be if Denver is going to make a serious run in the Western Conference Finals…and beyond.
We aren’t talking about this season. This year’s magic carpet ride should get Denver a top-four play-off seed, home court in the first round of the play-offs, and a chance to finally break the decade-long drought of winning a play-off series. That would make it a sensational season regardless of when they get eliminated this spring. It will also set the stage for bigger and better things next season.
Bigger expectations as well.
It won’t be good enough just to win a first round play-off series next season. The expectation – especially with the anticipated changes coming to the roster of the defending champion Golden State Warriors – will be to make a serious run at the franchise’s first NBA championship.
They need Porter to make a big splash in the biggest pool in the world if they’re going be a true contender.
Wanna argue? Hit me up on Twitter @MarkKnudson41. Coming Wednesday: Congressional candidate thinks our priorities are misplaced. Is she right?
