It is once again the time of year when we roll out our Stiffy Awards for the Denver Nuggets. The annual tradition honors those who contributed to Denver’s season in the most positive ways….and some in the not so positive. We follow the typical NBA awards, but with a twist that we also announce the opposites of the awards. So we will crown the MVP of the Nuggets, and we will also crown the LVP of the Nuggets and so on and so forth. A reminder to all, this is meant to be fun natured. Everyone of these players is an elite athlete who has reached the absolute pinnacle of their profession, that in itself is an accomplishment that is far greater than what 99% of people will do.
Most Valuable Player: Nikola Jokic
Duh. Easiest award to hand out. Somehow Nikola continues to get better despite already being the greatest player on earth. He became the first Nugget ever to average a triple double in a season and only the third player in the NBA ever to do it. He also averaged career highs in scoring average, assists, steals, 3pt %, 3 pt makes and triple doubles. He ended up second in league MVP voting, despite putting together a better season than any of the three seasons where he won MVP in the past. Denver was 4-8 this season without Jokic on the court, and 46-24 when he played.
Honorable mention: Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray
Least Valuable Player: Dario Saric
Oh Dario, we hardly knew ye. The Nuggets were abuzz at media day about the addition of Dario Saric to the roster. AG in particular expressed how excited he was to have a skilled big man off the bench like Dario and how much he would change the dynamic for Denver. That…uh…did not happen. Saric started the season as the backup center in the rotation and that lasted for five games before he lost the role to DeAndre Jordan. From there Dario got a couple of spot starts in November when Nikola was out, didn’t play at all in December, got a couple games coming off the bench when Nikola was once again out injured in January, and that was it outside of a couple garbage time appearances. He played a grand total of 210 minutes in the season which, at a $5.16 million annual salary, works out to him getting paid $24,610 per minute on the court. In case you’re wondering, Nikola’s salary per minute on the court this season was $19,998.
Dishonorable mention: Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson
Most Improved Player: Christian Braun
Last summer Nuggets fans were irate at Calvin Booth for deciding not to pay Kentavious Caldwell-Pope $22 million a season and instead Braun was elevated to a starting role. In hindsight, it goes to show why even bad GMs are oftentimes still far savvier than the masses. KCP ended up being one of the worst contracts in the league, requiring the Orlando Magic to overpay for Desmond Bane because the Memphis Grizzlies wanted a truckload of picks if they were taking back KCP’s contract in the deal. Meanwhile, Braun flourished as a starter playing next to the core four. His stats naturally were going to go up given the fact he went from a twenty minute per game player to a thirty-three minute per game player, but he also became a much more efficient player as well. He went from 55.4% true shooting in ’23/’24 to 66.5% this season. He increased his scoring average per thirty-six minutes by three points, reduced his turnover percentage from 9.2% to 8.1% and went from .100 win-shares per 48 minutes to .144. All in all, it was one heck of a year for Christian and couldn’t have come at a better time as he is set to negotiate a contract extension this Summer. Which is kind of ironic because he’s probably going to cost the Nuggets more than the $22 million per year that KCP got.
Honorable mention: Aaron Gordon, Jalen Pickett
Least Improved Player: Hunter Tyson
Hunter Tyson was another media day darling. The story in camp was he couldn’t miss a shot and that he was going to be a deadly bench weapon for the Nuggets. That appeared to be the plan for former coach Michael Malone about two weeks in the season as Hunter started seeing regular minutes off the bench in November. It lasted for about a week or so and then Hunter was relegated to garbage time and a once in a while opportunity off the bench when someone was hurt. He regressed in scoring and despite shooting better overall from three (31.1%), his total FG% dropped from 40% to 37.5%. Without gaining the ability to stretch the floor or really be a threat on offense at all, Hunter became unplayable with a bench unit that was already starved for shooting. The effort was always there but beyond that there wasn’t much to get excited about beyond that. Hunter now finds himself going into a crucial Summer to make the most of what might be one last chance to stick in the league this upcoming season.
Dishonorable mention: Zeke Nnaji, DeAndre Jordan
Sixth Man of the Year: Russell Westbrook
When Denver brought in Russell Westbrook last offseason there was mixed reception. Russ is obviously known as one of the most dynamic players in NBA history, but his game wasn’t aging gracefully. There were rumors about him not getting along in various locker rooms and, even though it was more than a decade ago, fans in Denver haven’t forgot Westbrook and his boisterous attitude running roughshod all over the Nuggets in the playoffs in 2011. The risk was minimal though, Russ came in on a veteran minimum contract and the Nuggets needed a playmaker off their bench. Denver got far more than they could have asked for with Westbrook this season. Yes, at times his mistakes were mind numbing, but at the end of the day he was an effective sixth man, veteran leader and two-way guard. He often closed games for the Nuggets when he was playing well and brought an edge to the roster that was sorely lacking after the departures of KCP and Bruce Brown in consecutive years. Russ recently declined his player option for next season so it remains to be seen if he was a one and done in the Mile High City. Regardless, the year he had for Denver went about as well as anyone could have expected and he was a bargain at his salary.
Honorable mention: Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther
Fifteenth Man of the Year: Zeke Nnaji
If the sixth man of the year is the guy who helped you the most off the bench then the 15th man of the year is the guy who helped you the least. We could go Dario here again, but Zeke Nnaji also once again gave the Nuggets little help off their bench. His lack of productive play was compounded by a myriad of issues for the Nuggets bench bigs: DaRon Holmes went down during game one of Summer League, Vlatko Cancar dealt with a lengthy knee injury midseason and Dario proved unplayable. Despite having a plethora of opportunities to make it into the rotation in his career and coming up short, Zeke once again found himself staring a chance to get real rotation minutes in the face and he once again fumbled it. There was no appreciable improvement in really any aspects of his game and he put up his weakest effort on the glass thus far in his career. Completely unacceptable from a guy who is supposed to play the 4/5. His extension will kick in this upcoming season so unless Denver salary dumps him he’ll be back again next year, though I don’t know how anyone can expect him to be a regular rotation contributor given how his career has gone thus far.
Dishonorable mention: Dario Saric, Vlatko Cancar
Rookie of the Year: Trey Alexander
When Holmes went down that eliminated any chance of the Nuggets having a rookie on a full NBA contract this season. They did however have three rookies playing on two-way contracts: Trey Alexander, Spencer Jones & P.J. Hall. None of those guys really made an impact at the NBA level this season, but Alexander shined in the G-League. He averaged over 26 pts, 5 rebs and 5 asts while shooting 42.8% from three. That led to him being named to the G-League All-Rookie Team, the All G-League Team and finally, he was crowned the G-League Rookie of the Year. Obviously, expectations built on G-League performances should be tempered, but Alexander 100% showed he’s a step above most everyone in the NBA’s developmental league. Don’t be surprised if his big year in Grand Rapids ends up earning him a full NBA contract this season.
Honorable mention: No one
Stiff of the Year: DeAndre Jordan
As a reminder, the term Stiff, at least in the context we use it, was coined by legendary Nuggets head coach Doug Moe. Moe described Stiffs as not necessarily the most athletic or talented players, in fact they generally have some of the least raw talent on the team, but through their effort, hustle and being a positive influence in the locker room they make a difference on the team despite their talent deficiencies. DJ doesn’t quite fit the description, he’s had a ton of raw talent and athletic ability throughout his career, but as he’s aged he’s been far more relegated to a “Stiff” role. With all the struggles Denver had with their backup bigs this year, Jordan once again was called on to be the steadying presence at center off the bench for Denver, and once again he performed that role admirably. You won’t find a single teammate who has something bad to say about him and he continued to be a mentor to young players, a role Denver has struggled to fill in the past. DeAndre exemplified being a Stiff in all the best ways this year and therefore is the winner of our prestigious Stiff of the Year award.
