Denver Nuggets: Can they maintain this level of defense?

Do the Denver Nuggets have what it takes to maintain this top 5 defensive ranking?

The Denver Nuggets‘ defense is currently ranked 3rd (101.4 DRTG) in the NBA, which is up from 23rd in the 2017-18 season (109.9 DRTG). They have done it against some quality opponents with wins over the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans, but they will not be able to maintain this level of defense for an entire NBA season.

Right now the Nuggets are a gritty hungry young team. They are using last years disappointment to fuel this early season run but they have some defensive flaws.

Although Nikola Jokic has improved on the defensive end he does not provide what you need from a center in the modern NBA. He cant defend at the rim and he lacks the athleticism and foot speed to switch out on smaller players in pick and roll. The fact that he is such an amazing talent on offence allows him to be playable late in games but the holes in his defense will catch up with them.

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Paul Millsap is the teams defensive stud upfront. He has the versatility to guard three positions, and contests drives to the hoop. In their loss to the Lakers Millsap spent time guard LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma and at times found himself switched onto Javale McGee. As good has he is Millsap can’t make up for the faults of the other front court players.

At 6-foot-4, Gary Harris is undersized for the shooting guard position but he is a hard nosed player. Harris a player in the same vein as Draymond Green, both coming out of that Michigan state system where Tom Izzo routinely coaches up great defensive teams.

Harris back-court partner Jamal Murray is solid but may not have the ability to contain the murderers row of point guards that he will have to match up with on a nightly basis in the western conference.

Will Barton is a good enough athlete to be a solid defender but he lacks the size to guard some of the top small forwards in the league. Barton will miss at least the next six weeks after having hip surgery, his replacement is second-year man Torrey Craig who has shown flashes but in a limited sample size. The loss of Wilson Chandler will be felt as he was one of their best defenders and had the versatility to guard big wings as well traditional fours.

Isaiah Thomas has been injured for so far this season but if they plan to give Isaiah major minutes with the second unit, the bench will struggle to stop opponents. Two years ago Boston did a great job hiding IT on defense, unfortunately the Nuggets don’t have the players to do the same. Monte Morris has done a wonderful job filling in for IT and Denver needs to keep him in the rotation once guys get back from injury.

Over his career Mike Malone has not shown himself to be a coach who gets the most out of his team on the defensive side but guys do buy into him and work hard for him. If he can keep coaching them up, the Nuggets will most likely find themselves in the middle of the pack when it comes to defensive ranking. That paired with a Top 10 offensive should be good enough have Denver competing for home-court advantage in the playoffs.