The Nuggets small-ball identity reached its most painful breaking point in Minnesota, where Denver’s season ended beneath an avalanche of rebounds and paint touches. Rudy Gobert swallowed space near the rim. Julius Randle and Naz Reid supplied more muscle. Jaden McDaniels kept hounding Jamal Murray until Denver’s second scorer could barely breathe.
By the end of Game 6, the numbers looked brutal. Minnesota had beaten Denver 110-98, won the rebounding battle 50-33 and scored 64 points in the paint. The Timberwolves did it while missing Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo and Ayo Dosunmu. Gordon, meanwhile, could not play because of his troublesome left calf.
That loss did not happen because Denver played forty-eight minutes of small ball. The lesson runs deeper. When the Nuggets lose physicality, rim protection and defensive rebounding, their beautiful offense cannot always save them.
Training camp gives David Adelman a chance to fix that imbalance. The answer is not abandoning small ball.
It is giving those minutes an actual identity.
Denver already knows where the problem starts
Denver’s smaller groups have never lacked offensive logic.
The Nuggets averaged an NBA-best 122.1 points per game last season. Basketball Reference also calculated a 122.6 offensive rating, another league-best mark. Those numbers measure different things: points per game counts raw scoring, while offensive rating measures points scored per 100 possessions.
Both numbers still tell the same broader story. Denver could score with anybody.
Defense told another one.
The Nuggets allowed 116.9 points per game, 21st in the league. Basketball Reference placed their defensive rating at 117.4, also 21st.
That glaring drop-off turned certain small groups into a paper tiger. It also exposed the central flaw in Denver’s centerless approach.
Adelman had already started experimenting before the playoffs. In a March win over Portland, Denver used a centerless second unit of Jamal Murray, Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones while Nikola Jokić rested. The attraction was obvious. Denver could switch every screen rather than asking a traditional center to retreat against quicker ballhandlers.
The physical bill remained impossible to ignore. Portland center Donovan Clingan finished that afternoon with 18 points and 13 rebounds, including four offensive boards.
Denver won comfortably. Still, those minutes exposed the trade the Nuggets have to manage.
Switchability helps only until somebody has to secure the rebound.
Aaron Gordon gives small ball its backbone
One rule should anchor Denver’s plan before camp gets serious: Aaron Gordon plays center when the Nuggets truly commit to going small.
Not Spencer Jones. Not five wings trying to gang-rebound against a seven-footer.
Gordon.
At 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, Gordon carries enough strength to battle bigger players without surrendering the mobility Denver wants from a centerless unit. He can switch onto guards, body power forwards and survive stretches against traditional fives.
That versatility gives Denver’s smaller lineups something they lacked whenever the Nuggets tried to manufacture size by committee.
Put Murray, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson and another switchable wing around Gordon, and suddenly that unit does not look especially small.
More importantly, the matchups start working in Denver’s favor.
Imagine Minnesota keeping Gobert on Gordon. Murray can drag Gobert into a high ball screen, where his pull-up jumper punishes deep drop coverage. If Gobert steps higher, Gordon slips behind him toward an open lane.
Stay home on Gordon, and Denver lets Murray attack downhill.
Switch the action, and Gordon gets a smaller defender near the paint.
That is what functional small ball should do. It should force the opponent’s biggest defender into uncomfortable decisions rather than simply removing Denver’s own size.
Gordon cannot pay the physical price every night
There is one catch, and Denver learned it the hard way.
Gordon missed 19 consecutive games last season because of a right hamstring strain. Calf trouble then hit during the first-round series against Minnesota. He missed Game 3, returned later in the matchup and eventually sat out the decisive Game 6.
We saw the physical toll.
That makes Gordon-at-center a weapon, not a lifestyle.
Denver added Marvin Bagley III this offseason, while DaRon Holmes II remains another frontcourt option. Bagley can absorb some of the bruising regular-season possessions Denver does not need to dump onto Gordon.
Let the bigger bodies wrestle with traditional centers in December.
Save Gordon’s small-ball minutes for stretches that actually matter.
That could mean closing quarters, changing the rhythm after halftime or countering an opponent that refuses to remove a slow big. In April and May, Adelman can extend those runs when matchups demand it.
Denver should reach training camp knowing exactly where that line sits.
The non-Jokić offense needs an adult in the room
Once Gordon secures the frontcourt, Denver needs someone to keep those possessions from turning into five players taking turns.
That is where Tyus Jones becomes valuable.
Denver brought Jones back on a one-year deal this summer. Spencer Jones also re-signed, while Bagley and Alpha Diallo joined the roster. Tim Hardaway Jr., one of last season’s floor spacers, left for Miami in free agency.
Hardaway’s departure changes the equation.
The Nuggets cannot replace his shooting merely by stationing another body beyond the arc. Adelman needs movement that creates gravity.
Jones can initiate the first action. Murray can work off the ball for stretches. Braun can cut behind defenders staring at the pick-and-roll. Cameron Johnson can lift from the corner when help collapses.
Gordon ties those actions together.
Picture Murray and Gordon running a high screen. Murray rejects it. Braun cuts through the lane. Johnson drifts toward the wing, forcing his defender to choose between tagging Gordon and surrendering a three.
If the defense survives that action, Jones flows straight into another one.
No reset. No staring at the bench. No ten seconds of dribbling before somebody launches a contested jumper.
That kind of decision-making can give Denver’s non-Jokić offense real structure.
Fast decisions matter more than fast feet.
Small ball will live or die on defense
Denver can build gorgeous offensive possessions all September. They mean little if opponents walk into the paint whenever Jokić sits.
That makes training camp a defensive laboratory.
Adelman enters his second full season as Denver’s head coach after replacing Michael Malone with three games left in the 2024-25 regular season. The Nuggets removed his interim tag in May 2025. Casual fans should no longer view him as the assistant filling in.
This is his team now.
His smaller groups need rules that become automatic. Without them, Denver’s small-ball experiment will keep cracking under playoff pressure.
Murray cannot get stranded on bigger scorers
Denver needs aggressive scram switches.
Suppose Murray switches onto a center during a late-clock pick-and-roll. The possession cannot end with Murray wrestling a player sixty pounds heavier under the rim.
Gordon or Braun needs to exchange assignments before the entry pass arrives.
That movement has to become second nature.
One defender switches. Another peels Murray away. The weak-side wing sinks toward the lane. Everybody rotates when the ball moves again.
There will be mistakes during camp.
Good.
Make them in September.
By playoff time, Denver cannot afford the half-second delay that turns a rotation into a dunk.
Five players have to rebound
The final game of Denver’s season delivered the bigger warning.
Minnesota grabbed 19 offensive rebounds in Game 6 and converted them into 20 second-chance points. Denver finished with only 33 rebounds overall.
That cannot become Gordon’s problem alone.
Braun has to hit somebody before chasing the ball. Cameron Johnson needs to use his size on the weak side. Murray must help finish possessions when the matchup puts him near the rim.
A centerless group should think about the rebound before the shot even goes up.
Denver does not need five elite rebounders.
It needs five participants.
That mentality could decide whether Adelman trusts the lineup for eight minutes in a playoff game or pulls the plug after ninety seconds.
For those smaller units to survive, the rebound has to become part of the scheme rather than an afterthought.
Denver should build two different versions before October
There should not be one magic five-man answer to Denver’s small-ball problem.
The Nuggets need two versions.
The first keeps Jokić at center and surrounds him with maximum mobility. Those groups can use Braun, Johnson, Gordon and another perimeter player while still retaining the best passing big man in basketball.
Calling that lineup “small” almost misses the point. Its advantage comes from replacing positional rigidity with skill.
The second version handles the true non-Jokić minutes.
Gordon plays five. Jones or Murray organizes the possession. Denver surrounds them with shooting, cutting and enough defensive length to switch without immediately creating a mismatch.
Those two templates would give Denver’s small-lineup package something it badly needs: adaptability without chaos.
Matchups decide which version gets the longer runway.
Against a massive offensive-rebounding team, Bagley or another traditional big may make more sense. When an opponent uses a slow center in drop coverage, Denver can unleash Gordon and make that big defend thirty feet from the basket.
Switch-heavy teams create another opportunity. Gordon can seal a smaller defender, force the double and make the defense rotate.
Nothing should feel improvised.
That is the point.
Camp can turn a weakness into a playoff counter
The final score in Minnesota should stay with Denver for a while.
110-98.
Fifty rebounds to thirty-three.
Sixty-four paint points allowed.
Those numbers describe more than one bad night. They show what happens when Denver loses the physical battle badly enough that Jokić’s brilliance cannot repair the damage.
Fixing Denver’s small-ball problem cannot mean racing toward the five smallest players available.
The Nuggets need Gordon’s strength at center, but they also need the discipline to protect his body. Jones can organize the non-Jokić offense. Braun and Johnson can supply size on the perimeter. Bagley can absorb minutes when a matchup calls for conventional muscle.
Above everything else, the defensive rules need to become instinct.
Switch.
Scram Murray out of bad matchups.
Hit somebody when the shot goes up.
Run after securing the ball, not before.
Camp is the time to turn those habits into a system rather than an emergency adjustment. If Denver gets that right, opponents will have to prepare for its small lineups instead of waiting for them to crack.
Then Denver’s small-ball plan stops being something the Nuggets try to survive.
It becomes something Adelman can trust when the season gets tight.
READ ALSO: Nuggets free-throw pressure goes beyond Jokić and Murray
FAQs
Why should Aaron Gordon play center in Nuggets small-ball lineups?
Gordon has the strength to battle bigger players and the mobility to switch onto guards. That combination gives Denver a real anchor when it goes small.
What went wrong for the Nuggets against Minnesota in Game 6?
Minnesota won the rebounding battle 50-33 and scored 64 points in the paint. Denver could not match its size and physicality.
Who can organize Denver’s offense when Nikola Jokić rests?
Tyus Jones can initiate possessions and keep the ball moving. Jamal Murray can also run the offense or work away from the ball.
Why shouldn’t Aaron Gordon play center all season?
The role creates extra physical wear. Gordon already dealt with hamstring and calf problems, so Denver should save those demanding minutes for important situations.
What should the Nuggets work on during training camp?
Denver needs cleaner defensive switches, better team rebounding and more organized non-Jokić offense. Those habits could make small ball a playoff weapon.
Tracking stats and settling debates. If there is a scoreboard, I am watching it.
