An unusual roster

[NuggetsWY]

Taking a look at our projected roster -- knowing Mr. Booth is probably going to change it.
But I have a few thoughts.

1. Is there anyone on any website that actually watches these teams play? They build depth charts and put players in some mighty strange positions.

2. Jokic is less likely to be injured than most because he's not a leaper; but I'd still love to see a 7 ft backup that can provide a solid backup when Jokic does take a game off.

3.a I am a little concerned about our guards off the bench. I'm not overly concerned with a backup PT because Jokic is an excellent PG. But a combo guard in the mold of Mr. Brown would be very nice. I'm not convinced we have that player.

3.b We seem to have plenty of small forwards but I'm not convinced they make good backup SGs. See also 3.a.

4. Maybe it's just as well we are a little thin at guard because finding enough minutes for Holiday & Braun behind Porter might be a challenge.

5. Am I wrong or is this Nnaji's make-it-or-say-goodbye year?

[THE J0KER]

Since the start of the last season, we have had a dominant 5+1 lineup, with Hyland projected to be the 7th man with a notable role and playing time. But after the trade deadline, only the 5+1 lineup was clear, with different PO scenarios who is going to be the established 7th player or maybe "8th man" out of three contenders (Braun, Jackson, Bryant). In the end, we have in the playoff our famous 5+1 lineup with Braun turned into a clear 7th man option, while out of others the only really used player was Jeff Green.

This season we starting again with a projected 5+1 lineup despite we didn't replace from market our 6th man B.Brown. It is natural to expect now C.Braun to see improvement in 6th man role in his 2nd season. But who will also take notable minutes from the bench is hard to say right now. I guess during the regular season where our starters will take 3-5 minutes less playing time than in PO mode several players will take a chance: Watson, Nnaji, Cancar, all three 2023 rookies, Gillespie, Jordan... Watson and Jackson are in the best position, but I guess Malone will be focused on defense and 3pt%, plus playmaking and rebounding skills for the no-Jokic time.

So, in general, I don't expect to see anything unusual during the prime time, but no doubt Malone will put some bizarre experiment during the process of finding the optimal 2nd unit, especially during the regular season when one or two of our 5+1 players will be injured or during garbage time. Maybe some small-ball rotations with 4 guards and guard-forwards, or where MPJ or Gordon playing center when Jokic rests.

[NuggetsWY]

5 + 2 seems set with Braun & Holiday -- both seem best at SF but Holiday's defense will probably slide over to SG fairly well.

I agree with Joker's assessment about regular season playing/evaluating. Hopefully our four rookies will produce at least one player that will be a nice fit at SG-SF. Don't forget to add Watson to our three draft picks this year. All four are a little older than the average rookie these days; so they all stand a decent chance at being in the rotation somewhere. Knowing Malone, their PT will be strongly based upon their defense -- they all seem capable of scoring anyway but we have a lot of offense on our team already.

Perhaps one of them will make a decent PG. My first hope there is Pickett.

[TunaFish]

Hunter Tyson was named to the All-Summer League First Team. Maybe the Nuggets have had an exceptional draft in 2023.

[Coeur]

Can Braun play pG

[TunaFish]

Can Braun play pG

Unlikely. They seem to have settled on Murray backed up by Jackson. I like the rookie Pickett to be next up.

Braun at 6"7" is more suited as a swing guard/small forward. He has some offensive skills that include handling the ball but his strength is at moving without the ball.