The Denver Nuggets have a depth issue and Russell Westbrook was at the core of their issues on opening night.
After losing another key part of their starting lineup this past offseason, there were major questions for the Denver Nuggets heading into the start of the season. Particularly centered around whether the team would have enough depth to reemerge this season as a championship contender. In the Nuggets' season-opening loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, their bench or lack of depth was a major issue for the team.
I'm not sure that's the only reason they lost to the Thunder as the team overall had a bad night, but the bench was easily the biggest problem of the night. That includes Russell Westbrook who was signed this offseason with the intent of adding a key veteran piece to the bench. In his regular-season debut for the Nuggets, Westbrook finished with just six points on 2-10 shooting from the field and 1-6 shooting from 3-point range.
The bench overall absolutely has to be better if the Nuggets want to retake their claim as a contender in the West, but the argument could be made that it has to all begin with Westbrook. He was signed for this very situation. And if it isn't Westbrook who steps up, it's hard to envision who will.
The Denver Nuggets have little flexibility
The problem for the Nuggets is that they have virtually zero financial flexibility with little hope to "solve" this issue in-season. Unless an unforeseeable situation takes place across the league, it's hard to imagine the Nuggets making any upgrade to their bench this year. That means the onus for the team turning it around will fall on the shoulders of Westbrook and the rest of this young group.
And if their showing in the season opener was any indication, Denver will certainly have a depth issue for the rest of the season. Finding consistency from the bench unit will ultimately be the issue for the Nuggets. I'm sure there are days when the bench unit does show out and puts on a strong performance for the team. However, if I had to guess, there are probably going to be more days where they show more and more inconsistency. That's often the case with an unproven group of players.
But that's where the value of Westbrook could come. As the team's veteran leader off the bench, he will need to step up to be that much-needed sixth man. At least in the season-opener, he wasn't that for the Nuggets.