Mailbag: The Nuggets’ Hot Start Highlights NBA’s Opening Week

The reigning champs have picked up right where they left off. Plus, what to make of the new flopping rules, Chris Paul as a sixth man and more.

Before we get to this week’s mailbag, let’s talk about the biggest surprise of this week-old NBA season:

The Nuggets?

What’s that? Denver? The reigning NBA champion? A team that brought back its starting five? A unit with a two-time MVP (Nikola Jokić), a soon-to-be All-Star (Jamal Murray) and three of the best role players—if you want to call Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavius Caldwell-Pope role players—in the NBA today?

Yes, that Denver.

Through Denver’s first three games, Jokić is averaging 26.3 points, 13 rebounds and 7.7 assists :: Petre Thomas/USA TODAY Sports

Of course I expected the Nuggets to be good. They were No. 1 in my preseason power rankings and will undoubtedly hold on to that top spot when the new ones come out Tuesday. But after being around Denver for a couple of preseason games in Los Angeles two weeks back, I got the feeling the Nuggets could get off to a slow start. They won a championship in mid-June. They enjoyed the offseason, as they should. Among the players and staffers I talked to, there was a belief there could be some early bumps as this team worked its way back into shape.

Yeah … not so much.

Denver opened the season with a double-digit romp over the Lakers at home before squeezing out a win over Memphis on the road. On Sunday, matched up with an upstart Thunder team, the Nuggets won by 33. Jokić is putting up MVP-level numbers, Murray has been efficient and Denver’s collection of young talent (Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji) has thrived in larger roles. The Nuggets have been operating with a top-five offense (no surprise there) and through three games rank sixth in defensive efficiency.

“It’s impressive how sharp they’ve been early this season coming off a championship run,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “They picked up right where they left off.”

Jokić, especially. At media day, he remarked that he picked up a ball only “a couple of times” last summer. While that likely was a little tongue in cheek, the “Summer of Jokić”—which featured bike rides, back flips and fist-pumping in Serbian nightclubs—was well chronicled by onlookers eager to capture video of the 7-foot center. A slow start would have been understandable. Instead, Jokić is averaging 26.3 points, 13 rebounds and 7.7 assists. He’s shooting 61.5% from the floor and a whopping 45.5% from three.

One other thought on Jokić: At 28, he is just entering his physical prime. He’s an NBA champion, a two-time MVP and an overwhelming favorite to win a third. He has a front office that has excelled at finding the right pieces to put around him and a game that should age extremely well. If Jokić maxes out his playing career, there's a case that he won’t just belong on the Mount Rushmore of NBA centers—but of NBA players, too.

On to the mailbag. A reminder: Submit questions anytime on X (formerly known as Twitter) or Instagram. Got more to say? Send me an email at mannixmailbag@gmail.com.

In the Knicks-Celtics opener last week Kristaps Porzingis got a technical foul for flopping, then a tech towards the end. Isn’t that two techs and you’re out? Or do the flopping techs not count? What’s the rule? —@AndrewMLisi

All technical fouls in the NBA are not created equal. Flopping techs are unsportsmanlike techs, like the one players get for hanging on the rim. You can’t get ejected for them and they do not go on a player’s season-long total.

I absolutely love the new flopping rule. It’s not perfect—in that same Knicks-Celtics game, Jalen Brunson was called for a flop after landing on Jayson Tatum’s foot, which should have been called a foul—but for the most part referees have been spot on. Allowing officials to call flops (and techs) in real time is the difference maker. Fines won’t stop flopping, but giving up a point in-game might. And I have to think that being called for flopping and effectively being shamed for a minute while the call is sorted and an opposing player shoots a free throw might have an impact, too. This is definitely a rule tweak that works.

Early thoughts on the Celtics? I saw you on NBC Sports Boston sounding a little skeptical of the offseason, Porzingis especially. Change your mind? —Edward, Milton, Mass.

Look, Boston is legit. Porziņģis has been as advertised. Jrue Holiday, too. And Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remain arguably the best wing combination in the NBA. Derrick White is averaging 20 points and shooting better than 60% from the floor and three-point range.

My concerns with the Celtics were twofold: Can Porziņģis, who has played 60-plus games once in the last six seasons, stay healthy? And do the Celtics have enough frontcourt depth? I’ve been wowed by Porziņģis early. He’s been a reliable three-point shooter, which has opened up the floor for Tatum and Brown. And he’s been a better-than-expected defender and rim protector, averaging 2.5 blocks per game. Joe Mazzulla has been working Porziņģis (34 minutes per game), and he has responded.

The depth still worries me. I view the Celtics through a Bucks-colored lens. Milwaukee has one of the most physical front lines in the NBA, with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. Robin Lopez, another bruising big man, is out there, too. The Celtics right now have two reliable bigs in Porzingis and Al Horford. Luke Kornet played eight uneventful minutes against the Knicks before registering a DNP-CD against Miami. Oshae Brissett, an active 6'7" swingman, gobbled up those Kornet minutes against the Heat and collected five rebounds.

With Porziņģis and Horford, I think the Celtics are better than 13 teams in the Eastern Conference. But the road to the Finals (probably) will run through Milwaukee, and I’d be more comfortable taking Boston in that matchup if it had one more big body to throw at the Bucks. Something tells me Brad Stevens would, too.

Is a successful Chris Paul in a sixth-man role enough to make the Warriors a championship team? —@julioa082

Let me tell you, I loved seeing CP in a sixth-man role Sunday. After starting 1,216 regular-season games, Paul came off the bench for the first time, and, while the numbers in Golden State’s 106–95 win over Houston weren’t gaudy (eight points, seven assists, five rebounds) Paul was wildly effective, finishing a team-high plus-22.

Steve Kerr called Paul’s acceptance of the reserve role “massive,” and he’s right. If Paul resisted, that could have put the Warriors in an uncomfortable situation. Instead, he’s accepted a role that feels perfect for him—and one that could extend his career a few more seasons. As Draymond Green said, “When you’re talking about replacing Steph Curry with Chris Paul, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

“Did I like it? Who likes new things?” Paul told reporters Sunday. “It ain’t about liking or not. It’s new. I don’t hate it. It ain’t a matter of liking it. I like the fact that we won. That was the most important thing.”

As for the question, absolutely—a healthy, productive, willing-to-come-off-the-bench Paul makes the Warriors a better team. The Western Conference is brutal this season, but if Paul can stay that way, Golden State will be a tough out in the spring.