Nuggets Mailbag: Who will be Denver’s third-leading scorer? What’s next for Zeke Nnaji?

Denver Post beat writer Bennett Durando opens up the Nuggets Mailbag periodically during the season and offseason You can submit a Nuggets- or NBA-related question here Hey Bennett will we see much from Julian Strawther or Jalen Pickett this year It seems like they re going to be losing minutes after all those new guys we signed Mark Arvada I authentically think they ll get pretty decent playing time over the lesson of the regular season That doesn t mean they ll be in the rotation for all games But even before the interim tag was removed earlier this year coach David Adelman was very articulate about his belief that Denver necessities to find a way to get to the playoffs without burning out the starters in - Guys like Strawther and Pickett are part of that formula at minimum My guess is that Adelman wouldn t have played -year-old Reggie Jackson games two seasons ago and he won t play -year-old Tim Hardaway Jr games next season That being commented Denver s bench ultimately will be a meritocracy Strawther Encounter and Pickett Sacramento both manifested encouraging flashes late last season but if they play poorly they ll play less The Nuggets should have enough depth for that to be the event now more than last year This is going to be an open competition I hope our young guys understand that Adelman recounted The Denver Post in July There s nothing ambiguous about his approach to this And what s the future for Zeke Nnaji We re paying a lot for a guy who s riding the bench Mark Arvada When you get paid more expectations are obviously loftier See Jamal Murray Nnaji has been held to a higher standard than Denver s other young players in the court of masses opinion since he signed the extension He entirely hasn t been an million-per-year participant Now I do think he deserves particular grace The last couple of years have been awkward to confront mentally while trying to make it in the league Nobody got caught by the shrapnel of Denver s internal strife between Michael Malone and Calvin Booth quite as much as Nnaji whose position was a topic of constant litigation I am curious to see if he can play more freely and produce more consistently with that conflict out of the way On the other hand his position is still being litigated Malone and Booth being fired doesn t necessarily change that The numbers make it seem fairly obvious that he s better suited to play only the four but versatility is how role players stick around in the NBA Nnaji is listed as a forward center on the official roster It s maybe a fair critique to say he necessities to be somewhat capable in both roles to be worth his contract The situation is pretty stagnant for now The Nuggets openly tried to pact him at the deadline last season If he doesn t recoup certain of his value on the court it s complicated to see them finding any takers any time soon He s low on the pecking order in Denver but the new regime could at least be something of a fresh start for him Who s going to be the Nuggets second-leading scorer this year Jamal Murray s been that guy but Cam Johnson looked great with a terrible unit last year and if Christian Braun takes another step up he could be special this year Thanks Mike Denver Don t overthink this one It s Murray medical abiding So I ll pretend you required a slightly different question instead I could see any of Johnson Braun or Aaron Gordon being Denver s third-leading scorer Johnson is the easiest bet considering he averaged points in Brooklyn last season on a similar number of field goal attempts and -point attempts to what Michael Porter Jr took with the Nuggets But Nikola Jokic also tends to cultivate a pretty natural balance of opportunities for various teammates to finish possessions Braun should amount plenty as a cutter and roller in the half-court in addition to his transition leak-outs How opponents guard Gordon on the perimeter will be a key storyline to watch early in the season Will he continue to get open looks after his career year as a -point shooter Or will the majority of his scoring have to be from the dunker spot if defenses start to respect his range It seems reasonable to expect all three of those starters to average somewhere between and points I ll go Johnson third Gordon fourth Braun fifth The good news if you re a Nuggets fan is that all three of them have sturdy team-first reputations Any of them would supposedly roll their eyes at this topic Still it s a fun question to debate especially at the point of the offseason where we ve run out of things to talk about Last year you predicted if there was going to be a seventh different champion in seven seasons it would be Philadelphia Not quite So I ask you now who is preponderance likely to be the eighth different champ in as a large number of years Ed Aurora Geez who predicted that Why would you ever listen to that guy In fairness I wrote that Oklahoma City was the greater part likely Western Conference candidate then acknowledged that I was getting cute with the Philly pick But that s fine I ll own it Ed So the Nuggets Thunder and Lakers are the main contenders disqualified from this prompt I could convince myself that Houston gets over the hump with the addition of Kevin Durant or that Anthony Edwards reaches an MVP level and takes Minnesota to the promised land But for the distinction of preponderance likely I m once again compelled to pick an Eastern Conference contender with an easier path to the Finals Give me the Cleveland Cavaliers Hi Bennett I was looking at your All-Century Nuggets organization and I was shocked Antonio McDyess was rated so low Nene was a solid starter for Denver but McDyess was special when he was here Out-of-the-world athleticism he was well on his way to becoming the next Shawn Kemp or Dominique Wilkins if knee injuries didn t derail his career Ryan M Denver Fair question Ryan McDyess did receive one First-Team vote matter of fact I omitted him from my ballot though a decision that ultimately came down to the st-century cutoff It had nothing to do with his talent We based our votes on the full seasons played this century so far starting with - That means that if you re playing by our rules McDyess a six-year Nugget had only games eligible to be considered for this exercise He was an All-Star in - hence the Third-Team inclusion But bulk of us valued the longevity of players like Gordon and Nene over the higher highs of McDyess If this were a last years project he might ve been on my First Squad as well Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the rest of the roster we chose