DeAndre Jordan’s usefulness to the Nuggets can almost — but not quite — be summarized by Nikola Jokic’s bulleted list.
“To give you advice on and off the court,” Jokic said. “To make fun of somebody. To make fun of him(self). He’s always up to something. To share a glass of wine, too. He’s a really good teammate.”
This time of year, trade out the glass of wine for a handful of crucial playoff minutes when needed, and that list is spot-on.
“Post-All-Star break, you start to become even more locked in on game plans,” Jordan said of his preparedness despite not being in Denver’s regular rotation. “That’s just how the NBA goes. But I think it’s just being a pro. Having to cut my wine off, which sucks. But it’s for a greater goal.”
Intangibles aside, the Nuggets have already required the services of Jordan once in the 2024 playoffs, when Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson both got in foul trouble during the first quarter of Game 1 against the Lakers on Saturday.
Gordon is ideally going to play a lot of backup center for the next two months as Denver pursues a repeat championship. But when his minutes at the four are spent matched up against a whistle magnet such as LeBron James, there will always be an increased likelihood of foul trouble, making it more difficult for Michael Malone to keep Gordon on the floor during Jokic’s rest minutes. Enter Jordan, who appeared in only seven of the last 28 regular-season games.
“I told D.J. as we approach these playoffs, last year every time we called upon him — foul trouble, whatever’s going on in the game — he delivered,” Malone said. “He stays ready. … And I felt that he had a real positive impact (in Game 1). His size, his presence. And that is a great lesson for all the young players in that locker room. You may not be playing, you may not be in the rotation, but things happen in the game where you’re going to be called upon. And if you’re not mentally and physically ready, you’re going to go out there and fail.”
It’s not surprising that in a playoff context, Malone might trust Jordan more than Zeke Nnaji whenever he needs an escape valve. The ninth-year Nuggets coach has always preferred to lean on experienced players (Jordan, 35, has appeared in 64 playoff games entering this postseason). And Jordan is a more dependable defensive rebounder to plant in the paint with Denver’s smaller second unit, especially if Justin Holiday continues to be part of the rotation and Michael Porter Jr. doesn’t stagger for extended periods.
After the All-Star break, the Nuggets’ two most common non-Jokic lineups featured Nnaji and Holiday. Those bench lineups rebounded only 38% of all missed shots in 87 minutes.
Jordan isn’t the All-NBA center he once was, but he still averaged 14.3 rebounds per 36 minutes this season. The best impact Denver’s second unit can have on a playoff game is to minimize Jokic’s absence from the court. In the series opener, Los Angeles tried to capitalize on those minutes by leaving Anthony Davis on the floor. But the Lakers were only plus-two points in the early stint and plus-one in the vital fourth-quarter stint.
“I didn’t know if I was gonna play,” Jordan said. “… In the playoffs, our guys are gonna play a ton of minutes, so whenever you’re out there for two minutes, 10 minutes, whatever it is, you’ve gotta do whatever you can do to keep the lead or cut into their lead. But our second unit is like that. We’re kind of like the suicide squad a little bit.”
As Jokic outlined, Jordan is beloved for his combination of wisdom and humor when he’s not an active participant in games. Watson says he values Jordan’s willingness to provide “the harsh truths” on the sideline or in the locker room, a quality that has rubbed off on young teammates and been redirected back at Jordan. At one point during Game 1, two-way guard Collin Gillespie gave Jordan advice from the bench.
“I remember early on in the season, I was tired on one play, and I ended up kind of lingering around the free throw line when there was a rebound, and (Watson) got my (butt) about it,” Jordan said. “Later on, I was like, ‘I appreciate that. Get on me every time you see me doing something I’m not supposed to be doing.’”
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His taste in wine tends to evolve. Right now, his preferred varietal is from Bordeaux. “White burgundies, I’m a big fan of at the moment,” Jordan added.
But after the All-Star break is when he tries to cut back on his wine consumption — part of his preparation for playoff moments precisely like those eight minutes Saturday.
“‘Try’ is the (key) word there,” he clarified.
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