Denver Nuggets: Nick Young a perfect stabilizer in their time of need

Amidst all the Denver Nuggets’ injuries, Nick Young is the perfect piece to fill the holes left in the roster as they look to make noise out West.

Despite currently occupying the third seed in the tough Western Conference with a record of 18-9, all is not well for the Denver Nuggets as the season trudges into its middle portion.

Will Barton, who has been sidelined since Oct. 20 with a hip injury, still remains week-to-week. Gary Harris is expected to miss the next 3-4 weeks after straining his hip seven days ago. Paul Millsap broke a toe on his right foot that is expected to keep him out indefinitely. Even Jamal Murray is dealing with multiple nagging injuries.

A consistent strength of Denver’s roster has been its depth, but no team can continue to maintain its level of production with this many players in suits.

To counter some of these blows, the Nuggets went to the free agent market and did not come back empty-handed, agreeing to a non-guaranteed, one-year deal worth $1.7 million with shooting guard Nick Young, according to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania.

Swaggy P hasn’t appeared in an NBA game so far this season, having last played for the Golden State Warriors while averaging 7.3 points in 17.4 minutes off the bench for the eventual 2017-18 champions.

Since entering the league back in 2007, Young has been known to do one thing and one thing only: Shoot the ball from the outside. As a career 37.6 percent outside sniper, Young should help improve the Nuggets’ bottom third ranking in 3-pointers made, attempted and conversion rate.

It’s said every year, and the 2018-19 campaign is no different: The Western Conference is extremely deep. The Dallas Mavericks are just 3.5 games out of the top spot as the 8-seed. The Houston Rockets sit just six games out with the second-worst record in the conference.

All it takes is one bad week to go from being in a position to host a first round matchup to standing on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

Denver still loses quite a bit going from Harris to Young. The former has developed into one of the best young two-way talents in the league, but there’s a reason the latter always manages to find an NBA home. He’s a terrific veteran floor-spacer who’s played in his share of big-time postseason games. At worst, he’ll likely be of neutral value in the Mile High City.

The Nuggets aren’t looking for Young to replicate that which guys like Harris and Millsap bring to the table. Rather, they’re hoping the swag champion can serve as some effective duck tape while those who are injured heal from their battle wounds.

Once Young is likely sent to the bench, he should still manage to be effective in a similar way to his time in Golden State, running off screens while opening the court for his teammates.

It’s not an ideal scenario, but it was a smart reactionary move that’ll keep one of the best teams in the league afloat for as long as necessary.