By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets are 35-20 on the year, 4th in the Western Conference. Denver is going to sign point guard Austin Rivers for depth at the position. It will only be a ten-day contract to begin with but if he plays well, Rivers could stick around for the rest of the year plus the playoff run.
Denver’s depth at point guard took a hit on Monday. Starting point guard Jamal Murray left the game against the Golden State Warriors with 50.6 seconds to play with a leg injury. The Nuggets were down 111-104 at the time. It begged the question why were the starters still in the game? The chance of a comeback was slim. Murray was on the defensive end and went down on a non-contact play. The Nuggets lost the game 116-107. An MRI showed he had a torn ACL and is now out for the rest of the year.
The only other point guards on the team are Monte Morris and Facundo Campazzo. Morris has more NBA experience than Campazzo to be the starting point guard, even though Campazzo has extensive experience in European league play. Morris has been in the starting lineup at the position 12 times this season and a total of 30 in his career. Campazzo is in his first year in the NBA and Head Coach Mike Malone inserted him in the starting lineup 4 times this season. Morris is a better scoring point guard with 10.4 points and 3.2 assists per game.
Campazzo is more suited to come off the bench. He brings energy and defense when he is on the court. Campazzo averages 5.1 points and 2.9 assists per game. On the defensive end, Campazzo’s play doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. He defends his man and the shooter he is guarding has to put up tough shots at the basket which are usually missed. Both of them together can get the job done to equal Murray’s production, but if either one of them ends up going down, the depth is pretty much shot.
Denver knew they had to make a move to add another point guard. Austin Rivers is expected to join the team once he passes the NBA health and safety protocols. Rivers is an added boost for the Nuggets. Rivers brings in 573 games of NBA experience while starting 151 of them. He last played for the New York Knicks this year but it lasted 21 games. He averaged 21 minutes per game and had 7.3 points, 2 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game.
The Nuggets can use him as the starting point guard or have him come off the bench. The Nuggets, though, are not signing him because of his regular season knowledge but his playoff familiarity. Rivers played in 45 playoff games in his 11 year NBA career. In those appearances, Rivers averaged 7.4 points, 1.3 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game.
The Nuggets know they can’t replace Murray’s production on the court. Rivers is not a bad option for them. Denver hopes Rivers can help this team make a deep run in the playoffs. They still have title aspirations.
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