Beale Street Bears is continuing their series of taking a look at the Memphis Grizzlies opponents around the league. This time we take a look at the Denver Nuggets to see how they match up against Memphis.

Former Memphis Grizzlies player Darrell Arthur had an interesting comment for the press the other day.

We can be a contender for sure, right up there with Golden State.



Now comments like this aren’t that unusual for teams competing for the playoffs year in and year out, but Denver hasn’t been to the playoffs since the 2012-13 season and weren’t even above .500 last season.

That doesn’t mean the Nuggets haven’t been improving during their absence. The Nuggets have improved their record in each of the last three seasons. They have a promising young big man in Nikola Jokic, All-Star power forward in Paul Millsap, an exciting young shooting guard in Gary Harris and former Memphis Tiger Will Barton as the shooter off the bench.

What they don’t have is a solid small forward or point guard situation.

Wilson Chandler is the only true small forward on the roster. Chandler is a solid player averaging 15.7 PPG and 6.5 RPG last season. Chandler’s biggest weakness has been his health missing large chunks of seasons early in his career. However, Chandler has averaged over 70 games a season the last three years, so perhaps the 30-year old veteran has put those issues in the rear view mirror.

The question is who will play when Chandler comes out? Danilo Gallinari, last season’s leading scorer for the Nuggets, is gone. Denver could go small and move Barton down to play the position. Or they could go big and experiment with Kenneth Faried instead. No matter which move they choose, it’s a dangerous experiment.

The bigger issue is at point guard where Jameer Nelson appears to be the starter. The undersized, 35-year old veteran has lost a step and was never a strong defender to begin. Behind him was once promising and now questioned Emmanuel Mudiay. He has the physical tools to be a dominating guard, but his shooting diminish those skills. Mudiay hit 37.7 percent of his field goal attempts last season and only 31.5 percent from the arc.

Denver will be stronger this season and should compete for the playoffs, but until they find a way to fill the holes in their lineup, a championship seems far off.

What must the Memphis Grizzlies do to stop them?

Advantage for the Grizzlies

Mike Conley is on the cusp of All-Star status. He took the next step last season in the playoffs when he averaged 24.7 PPG in the playoffs. Denver will be hard pressed to contain an aggressive Conley with Nelson who’s smaller, slower and older. Mudiay could get physical with Conley, but he isn’t an offensive threat at all. Conley will be able to focus on using his speed to get separation on his shot.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ depth at SF should give the Nuggets fits as well. If Parsons, Evans and Ennis are all healthy, the Grizzlies can wear Chandler out and force the Nuggets into match ups that they aren’t well-suited for. Of course, health is the major issue here. Will Evans and Parsons be the players they used to be?

Finally, the Memphis Grizzlies have Marc Gasol. He has looked to be in excellent shape playing with the Spanish national team this summer. If Gasol can add some quickness to go with his defensive intelligence and outside shooting, he could be a tough matchup for the shorter Jokic. At 6’10”, Jokic relies on his speed and agility to be effective. A quicker 7’1″ Marc Gasol could negate him even worse than he did last season.

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Advantage for the Nuggets

Power Forward is a problem for the Memphis Grizzlies. Paul Millsap, who Denver acquired this summer, is a strong power forward. It’s looking more and more likely every day that JaMychal Green will return to Grizzlies – which helps. However, the Grizzlies’ lack of depth will cause problems, because the Nuggets have one of the deeper power forward positions in the league. After Millsap, the Nuggets have promising Juan Hernangomez coming back for his second season and Kenneth “the Manimal” Faried as well. The Nuggets also have third-year man Trey Lyles and rookie Tyler Lydon.

The Memphis Grizzlies could be in trouble at Shooting Guard as well. Gary Harris had a solid season averaging 14.9 PPG, hitting 50.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 42.0 percent of his 3-point shots. Harris also had a 16.52 PER all while being a secondary option on offense. Harris looks to be the main beneficiary offensively now that Gallinari is gone. Will Barton and second-year former Kentucky Wildcat Jamal Murray back up Harris. This gives the Nuggets solid depth at a position that the Grizzlies find themselves suddenly thin at after McLemore’s injury.

Wayne Selden showed flashes of solid play last season and dominated Summer League. However, being a Summer League All-Star doesn’t always translate to NBA success. Behind Selden is Troy Daniels, a sharpshooter with limitations and question marks. Can Evans still play shooting guard after three knee surgeries? Can Mario Chalmers return to the level he showed prior to tearing his Achilles heal in March 2016?

Closing Comments

Denver is expected to compete for the playoffs as an up-and-coming team in the West. Memphis is expected to falter after the losses of Randolph and Carter plus the expected departure of Tony Allen.

Pre-season hype doesn’t always follow suit during the season. Denver needs to work Paul Millsap into an already crowded power forward position. The Nuggets also have serious questions at point guard and small forward.

Denver has plenty of young depth, but it isn’t spread evenly around the roster. Will this force the Nuggets to play small ball more than ever this coming season? Small ball works best with a dominant ball-handler, and the Nuggets don’t really have one of those.

The Memphis Grizzlies have gotten younger. Have they gotten healthier in the process? If so, the Memphis Grizzlies could be one of the real surprises around the league this season. It just depends on the Grizzlies ending their bad luck with injuries.

Neither team seems to have an advantage over the other right now. Both teams could make the playoffs, or both could miss the playoffs as well. In a head-to-head matchup, it seems close as well. A season split wouldn’t be shocking at all.