CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Isaiah Wong didn’t learn from his teammates’ mistakes. With eight minutes remaining and the Hornets mounting a comeback, he attacked Nuggets big man Zeke Nnaji on a switch. Both players turned 24 last month, and both are reserves for their respective teams, in and out of the rotation. Mostly out, in Nnaji’s case.
Maybe that puts them on a level playing field on paper, but what Wong seemingly failed to recognize as he drove to the basket was that Nnaji had already flashed his defensive potential against a more established player throughout the game. Miles Bridges averages 19.3 points, and even he was getting swallowed up by Nnaji’s length and physicality at the rim.
Wong’s layup never stood a chance. Nnaji blocked the shot directly back into the ground, a searing rejection that helped renew the Nuggets’ life in an eventual 107-104 win.
“I don’t know why; they just kept coming after me, man. I’m like, ‘OK, give me more blocks. Give me the stats,’” Nnaji joked. “I’m here for it.”
Playing more than six minutes for the first time since Nov. 10, Nnaji finished with six points, five blocks, three rebounds and a steal. Four of his points and two of his blocks were in the fourth quarter as he received extended minutes, seizing an opportunity to play backup power forward with Peyton Watson missing his first game of the season.
“To be honest, I work a lot,” Nnaji said of his time out of the rotation, “and I feel like that gives me confidence and keeps me grounded and knowing what I’m capable of.”
The timing of his may have been serendipitous. The NBA trade deadline is five days away, and Nnaji has emerged as the Nuggets’ most-rumored candidate to be traded — if they can find a team interested enough to take on what’s left of his rookie extension: three more years and $23.1 million after this season. Why him? He’s the only player on Denver’s roster with a trade-eligible salary between $6 million and $35 million. (Aaron Gordon makes $22.8 million, but he can’t be traded this season due to a signing restriction.)
In other words, if the Nuggets want to improve their depth before 1 p.m. MT on Thursday, Nnaji’s $8.9 million cap hit is the only intermediate number they can offer teams when trying to match salaries.
Will he be in Denver at the end of the week? Will he have a new home? Nnaji is trying not to think about it.
“I mean, you’ve just gotta block it out,” he told The Denver Post. “Don’t even look at it. Don’t mind it. Just be in the present. Play your game. If you think about other things, and then you’ve gotta go out there and play, that’s going to ruin your performance, you know what I mean? So you’ve just gotta stay focused and stay locked in.”
Asked about the front office’s communication with him, Nnaji maintained that trade rumors are only that and nothing more. In the meantime, he was the only individual to be crowned Michael Malone’s defensive player of the game on Denver’s entire five-game road trip. After most wins — never after losses — Malone selects one player and bestows on him a gaudy, bejeweled “DPOG” chain. The Nuggets went 2-3 on the road this week, and nobody earned the chain after one of their wins. They gave up 134 points at Philadelphia on Friday.
Nnaji’s five blocks made him the obvious choice in Charlotte.
“Not just guarding Miles Bridges, but we’re switching a lot with that lineup,” Malone said. “I think he was sitting down and guarding a lot of different players.”
Nnaji’s performance was close to the platonic ideal of what he can be in the NBA. He finished around the rim. He held his ground against the physicality of Bridges and the elusive speed of smaller matchups. As a help-side rim protector, he was able to affect more shots than just the five he blocked.
If there was anything to nitpick, it was his lone 3-point attempt, an air-ball from the corner. Nnaji hasn’t made a shot from outside the arc in 11 tries this season, a disappointing tail-off (albeit a small sample size) after his efficient preseason. It’s not for lack of effort; he has gotten in the habit of working on his jumper immediately after every game, including on the road by venturing back out to the main court. Nuggets coaches consistently laud his work ethic.
“I’m not really worried about it. … I already shoot enough outside the (games) to know that I’m comfortable with my shot,” Nnaji told The Post. “When you’re playing defense, it requires a lot of energy, a lot of intensity. When you’re on offense, it requires calmness, relaxedness. I guess I still had too much energy from the other end of the court.”
The contract Denver gave Nnaji 15 months ago has been widely panned. The 22 minutes he played in Charlotte were an example of how can make himself worth the investment.
“I told him this morning, last night in Philly the loudest guy on our bench,” Malone said. “He was up the whole night, cheering his teammates on, encouraging guys, staying positive. And for a guy who has not played in a while, that really stood out to me. … He’s a wonderful kid. It shows that he stayed ready, both mentally and physically.”
Malone on trade deadline
Before the game in Charlotte, Malone offered some insight into the team’s internal philosophy regarding the trade deadline.
“I think Calvin Booth, our general manager — and I probably could say this for all 30 GMs — you have an obligation as the trade deadline approaches, to listen to any and all conversations that are out there,” he said. “Any team (that) has a chance to improve, you’re always going to listen to that. You have to. That’s your job. With that being said, you cannot get caught in the emotions of the season. Prior to this road trip, we’re 12-3 in our last 15, and everything is honky dory. Then all of a sudden, you lose three in a row and you win a game in Philly last night that goes down to the wire.
“But we don’t operate out of fear. We don’t operate out of panic. Because when you do that, you get yourself into trouble. You have to be very calculated in your decisions and your evaluation, and as next Thursday approaches, you take whatever calls may come your way, you have internal discussions, and then you make the necessary decisions along with Josh and our ownership group.”
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