Eight burning questions heading into the Nuggets season (Nos. 5-8)

As the Nuggets kick off a new season on Wednesday night, they’ll finally be able to get out from underneath the shadow of their five-game Western Conference Finals loss against the Lakers just 87 days ago, which some would argue was a missed opportunity. Although the shadow of disappointment may disappear, every new season creates new questions. In Denver’s case, some old ones are still lingering, as well, just waiting to be answered.

Here are the first four of my eight burning questions as we embark into the Nuggets 2020-2021 season:

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No. 8: Will Gary Harris find his offensive game before it is too late?

One of the most-puzzling storylines surrounding the Nuggets is the decline of Gary Harris’ offensive production. In the guard’s first three seasons, he made noticeable jumps in his point-per-game average as well as shooting percentages. By year four, Harris had again made a jump in his point-per-game average from 14.9 (ppg) to 17.5 (ppg), despite some drops in his field goal and three-point percentage.

Harris’ offensive struggles can likely be attributed to his injury history, specifically within the last few couple of seasons as he has battled through hip and groin issues. As a result of missing so much time, finding his fit offensively and confidence may have also contributed to the decline we’ve seen. While Harris has been tough to watch at times offensively, his impact is felt with his defense that continues to be among the best in the NBA at his position, as he proved in the playoffs versus Utah. The silver lining here for Harris’ trek back to being consistently productive on offense is that he’s not a focal point of the offense, so anything he can add on that end of the floor will be an added bonus.

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No. 7: Can Will Barton and Harris stay healthy?

Both Harris and Barton have missed at least 15 games each of the last two seasons. Barton missed significant time in the 2018-19 season due to a core muscle injury that sidelined him for close to half of the season. When he did come back, he could never find his rhythm offensively, especially in the playoffs. Last season, Barton had to leave the NBA bubble with a knee injury.

While Harris was able to return late in the Utah series and make an impact, the Nuggets could have really used Barton in the next two rounds, as he provides Denver another scoring option, a ball-handler and a body to throw at the star wing-players the Nuggets had to face. If these two can remain relatively healthy and available (specifically come playoff time), it would be a huge boost for the Mile High Crew.

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No. 6: Will Michael Malone handle Bol Bol’s playing time the same way he did with Michael Porter Jr.?

One of the biggest talking points surrounding the Nuggets last year here in town was Malone’s handling of Porter’s playing time. We know MPJ’s minutes were cut at times due to his mistakes defensively, so will this be the case with Bol who, like Porter, is not the most-polished defensive player? If we go off last year’s handling of MPJ and the last few preseason games, I’d say the answer to this question is most likely yes.

In three preseason games, Bol averaged just under 12 minutes per game. When you dive deeper into that number, you’ll find that average was boosted thanks to the 23 minutes Bol got in the final preseason game due to a JaMychal Green injury. In the first two preseason games Bol played just 12 minutes combined and was one of the last Nuggets to get into the game both times. Despite limited minutes, Bol did make the most of his time on the court, as he scored at least 10 points and grabbed a minimum of six rebounds in two out of the three contests.

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No. 5: Will the Nuggets success in the NBA bubble playoffs translate into the normal NBA playoff setup?

No one can take away what the Nuggets were able to accomplish in the playoffs, surviving two 3-1 deficits to advance to their first Western Conference Finals appearance since the 2008-09 season. However, part of me does wonder how much of their playoff success was a result of some of the necessary modifications made in the bubble like no travel, neutral courts with no fans, etc. Would the Nuggets have been able to survive one, let alone two, 3-1 deficits had they been on the brink of elimination in Utah or L.A.? I have my doubts.

On the other hand, one could also argue that the Nuggets may not have gotten to the point of being down 3-1 on two separate occasions had they been able to play at altitude, in front of Nuggets Nation. Regardless, this is something I will be very curious to see play out next postseason.

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Coming tomorrow… The four biggest questions heading into the 2020-21 season