Aaron Gordon’s gesture of selflessness may have saved the Nuggets’ season

Considering the Nuggets’ 27-16 record, the season has been a taxing one for Michael Malone and company. The coach has had to experiment with all sorts of different lineups and rotations to try to make his team work, especially with reigning MVP Nikola Jokic off the court.

Jokic is having another MVP-caliber season, and every time he’s on the floor, the Nuggets look like a well-oiled machine. But in the minutes when he is on the bench, the team has had a hard time. They brought in Russell Westbrook to play a 6th man role and he has been great, but mostly when sharing the court with Jokic.

Due to several injuries and the absence of key players, Westbrook has been given many chances to start. He has thrived in the role and has been a great asset to the team. But his success has created a bit of a problem now that the team is fully healthy.

The rotation player who has missed the most games is Aaron Gordon, who was out for two different long stretches with a calf injury. Gordon recently returned to the lineup, but he was on a tight minutes restriction so he came off the bench.

Gordon told Malone he’s fine coming off the bench

The team has been playing their best basketball lately and Gordon coming off the bench as a super 6th man has completely rejuvenated the bench. This fortuitous move has caused the entire roster to fall into place, and the Nuggets have dominated teams for 48 minutes recently.

With Jokic sitting, Gordon is able to come in fresh and put his own unique touch on the game. It’s working out better than anyone could have imagined, but one would certainly expect that once the minutes restriction is lifted, a player of Gordon’s caliber and stature will immediately find his way back into the starting lineup.

But according to Malone, that may not be the case. After Wednesday night’s blowout win over the 76ers, Malone told a story about Gordon’s selflessness, sharing that Gordon actually asked Malone to bring him off the bench because the team was playing so well.

Malone shared that even when Gordon is fully healthy, he would be fine coming off the bench and stated that he wanted everyone to realize what a selfless person Gordon is. Malone wouldn’t commit to anything in the future, but it’s nice to know this is a possibility.

For now, Gordon off the bench has unlocked the best version of the Nuggets. The team looks like a swell, and these new rotations are a big part of that. Having a star player like Gordon willing to make these kinds of sacrifices shows what he’s all about, and could go a long way in getting this current version of the Nuggets to true contender status.