By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets will be missing an important player on their team. Power forward Paul Millsap is out 3 months after surgery to his left wrist. Denver now needs to replace a big part of their lineup.
Millsap is in the 1st year of a 3-year $90 million contract he signed this summer. He was one of the top defenders for the Nuggets in the early season. Millsap averaged 29.7 minutes as the starting power forward. In those minutes he scored 15.3 points, 1.3 blocks, and 6.2 rebounds. Millsap was able to score down low and hit the 3-pointer. On defense, he made it difficult for opponents to score baskets because of his ability to block the shot or rebound the ball. Those rebounds helped Denver with fast break points.
The Nuggets will now look at Kenneth Faried to play a larger role on the team. Faried has been a starting power forward for the Nuggets from 2012 to 2017. Faried isn’t a big scoring threat with 5.5 points scored per game this season. He will not be able to hit the 3 pointers like Millsap. Faried still plays defense and blocks shots. He is averaging 3.6 rebounds and 0.2 blocks per game.
If Faried struggles with Millsap out, Darrell Arthur will have a chance to play. Arthur in his career averages 6.6 points, 0.6 blocks, and 3.6 rebounds per game. He will be the backup to Faried for the next 3 months.
The Nuggets know how big of a loss Milsap is. They have depth on their roster to replace him. If the Nuggets start to slide in the standings and the power forwards aren’t doing their job, they could always make a trade to solidify the position. Hopefully the Nuggets won’t look back at the season and realize the reason they missed the playoffs was the injury to Millsap. Denver has plenty of time to figure out who will be the power forward.
How big of a loss is Paul Millsap for Denver? Who you feel should start at the power forward position?
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