Denver Nuggets: Breaking down Paul Millsap’s underrated impact

Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap is playing as though he wants his summer option picked up. As it turns out, he’s hitting his stride at exactly the right time.

Who provides vocal leadership for the 2018-19 Denver Nuggets? Who is the squad’s sheriff, raucously charging the end goal while herding teammates along?

Is it All-Star center Nikola Jokic? Only if he’s leering aggressively towards an official. (More specifically, Tony Brothers, who as of Saturday has now issued all three of Jokic’s career ejections.)

No such vocal leader comes to mind? How about milder team drivers…calm, mature alphas whose words are heeded? Take Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, or Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos, for example.

Still nobody on Denver’s roundball squad? Most would agree, actually.

The Nuggets, for all intents and purposes, lack traditional leadership. What they do have, however, is one of the NBA’s best behind-the-scenes tone-setters.

Paul Millsap doesn’t give speeches, or shout at teammates. He doesn’t overshadow coaches in huddles, or pick fights with opposing teams. His impact is different.

Millsap gently ushers Jokic away from Tony Brothers — probably sparing Jokic further punishment — and then proceeds to knock in the game-winner, pushing Denver to a 102-100 win over the Indiana Pacers.

He lifts his production during the late-season grind, helping the Nuggets weather a segment that sees teams like Golden State sluggishly lose to the Phoenix Suns at home.

He transfers his calling card defense onto the flimsily-built Nuggets of old, completely transforming one of the league’s most charitable defensive units.

Millsap rarely says…but he frequently does. Talk is cheap, after all.

Millsap will never be worth his $30 million in the eyes of critics. Many Nuggets fans could never recognize his voice without a face and jersey number attached. But Millsap’s twist to this Nuggets squad is unique and irreplaceable. He’s still one of the league’s better two-way forwards, even as he ages.

Analysts squabble over identifying the Nuggets’ No. 2 guy. Is it Jamal Murray? Offensively at times, sure. What about Gary Harris? His two-way talent is undeniable, but his season has been inconsistent at best. Will Barton is impactful, but can be unsteady.

In reality, Denver’s second support beam should be Paul Millsap.

It’s Millsap who leads the Nuggets defensively. What Jokic is to the offense is Millsap’s impact defensively. His 104.4 defensive rating trails Gary Harris, but his scrambling efforts cover for many teammates nightly. Since the All-Star break, Millsap has averaged 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.

As alluded to earlier, the Nuggets were awful defensively when Millsap arrived two years ago. Now that he’s healthy, his stopping efforts have lifted the entire squad. Denver’s defensive rating is 108.0, good for 10th-best in the NBA — not exactly championship-caliber, but alas, no longer an Achilles heel.

Offensively, Millsap has averaged 16.2 points per game on 53.0 percent shooting since the All-Star break. Much of his Mile High tenure has been role-playing around Jokic. Have we finally caught a glimpse of Millsap’s offense unleashed?

As the team lackadaisically stumbled onto the home court to play the lowly Dallas Mavericks Thursday, Millsap sensed a problem. The squad’s energy had disappeared into the thin Mile High air. His response? He led the Nuggs with a season-high 33 points, and Denver pulled out an undeserved 100-99 win.

On Monday’s Altitude broadcast, Scott Hasting referred to Millsap as “Mr. Fourth Quarter.” It was his four-point play that would later slam the door on the Boston’s Celtics comeback.

As for Millsap, this killer stretch was just another week in the life. Not all heroes wear capes, you know.