Los Angeles Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets Staples Center 7:30 p.m. PST January 26, 201509 TNT/ FOX Prime Ticket Video of the Day This should cure your Monday blues. 1. Is Jusuf Nurkic a genuine chance at Rookie of the Year honors? Charlie Yao, Roundball Mining, (@skitalicious): First team NBA All-Rookie is a better overall goal for Jusuf, who didn’t get an early enough start for a run at ROY. Nurkic is a very exciting prospect as a two-way center but it would be unwise to anoint him as a star talent already. He needs to be out there, but the Nuggets should take his development seriously and exercise patience. At just 20 years old getting his body right for the speed of the NBA and a starting role is a major undertaking that can’t happen overnight. Once he’s done that and gained a better understanding of positioning and playing without the ball, I think he can be great. I’m very excited about him. Patrick James, (@patrickmjames): Do they give out Rookie of the Year honors for per-36 numbers? Because 15.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks sound pretty deserving to me. That said, Nurkic is still relatively unknown outside of Denver and League Pass circles. And as I understand them, these awards tend to be more narrative based — meaning we all need to hear a lot more about him (and soon) for it to be a real possibility. Law Murray, (@LawMurrayTheNU): No. Now, can Nurkic make one of the All-Rookie teams? Certainly. He has shown that he can rebound and block shots quite well. But Nurkic has struggled since moving into the starting lineup this month, shooting 39 percent from the field while averaging nearly a foul every five minutes. He’s only 20, and with youth comes inconsistency. 2. Who’s the next to go in the Nuggets rebuild that’s not officially a rebuild? Yao: The entire roster could, and should be for sale despite the Nuggets’ claim they have no appetite for a rebuild. Like he did with the draft and Timofey Mozgov, Connelly is just waiting for teams to make him an offer he can’t refuse. If those offers don’t come, the Nuggets seem content to wallow in mediocrity but the one guy I believe they’re determined to move is JaVale McGee. It’s a tall order but I believe the Nuggets are making every effort to move him, as opposed to just waiting for offers on everyone else. James: What makes this so hard to predict is that there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to what Denver’s trying to do. Absent a plan for the future, it’s hard to determine what the next step will be. My guess is anyone not named Nurkic or Lawson is a potential trade piece, but that brings up another question: What’s the core of this team? Murray: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and it would be an upset to see small forward Wilson Chandler in Denver throughout the rest of his contract. Chandler is a better shooter than he used to be, but he doesn’t find time to do much else. Denver’s real problem is that they have over $20 million a year tied up in two players who can’t stay on the floor in forward Danilo Gallinari and center JaVale McGee. 3. Who out of those guys in Question 2 could help the Clippers? Yao: Wilson Chandler. He would immediately be the team’s best wing defender, a hugely important piece for the upcoming war in the Western Conference playoffs. The Clippers league-leading offense wouldn’t suffer much from losing Jamal Crawford with Chandler on board, who seems tailor-made as a secondary outlet for Chris Paul next to JJ Redick. He is so ideal for what the Clippers are trying to add, having brought on Dahntay Jones and … Austin Rivers for defensive help. James: OK, so I didn’t technically name anyone in my last answer. But the answer to this question is obviously Wilson Chandler — for length, toughness, and the requisite 3-and-D game L.A. so desperately needs. Chandler could fill the Clippers’ biggest need. The question is just whether the non-rebuild is real enough to make Chandler affordable. Murray: Chandler would be a decent fit on this particular Clippers team. He’s not immediately an upgrade on Matt Barnes at small forward, especially considering the fact that Chandler is injury prone and has never shot the three as well as Barnes is this season. But Chandler can score and rebound, plus he will only be 28 in May.
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