What Paul Millsap’s injury means for the Nuggets, and the Western Conference playoff race

Paul Millsap could be out as long as three months after he has surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. That means Millsap could miss close to HALF of the season, which is really bad news for the Nuggets.

Millsap was Denver’s prize signing of the summer on a three-year, $90 million deal. He and rising star Nikola Jokic were supposed to make for a dynamic two-way front court whose passing and three-point shooting would compliment elite post defense. The Nuggets were a pretty safe be to be a playoff team after four straight years of missing the mark.

With Millsap’s injury, their margin of error becomes that much slimmer. They’re down a key veteran, scorer and defender.

The Nuggets are 10-7, and have won seven of their last 10. They seemed to really be hitting their stride. Now they lose a 15-point, six-rebound per night starting power forward who was taking the team to the next level.

Despite Denver’s top-5 ranked offense last season, it wasn’t able to make the playoffs because of its awful defense. As an All-Defensive Second Team member from two seasons ago, that was where Millsap was expected to help most — and he has!

When Millsap is on the floor, Denver allows two points per 100 possessions less than it does when he’s on the court, per NBA.com. That metric was only likely to improve as Millsap finds his way into a new defensive system.

That defensive bonus from Millsap made it slightly more manageable for a team that plays one-way offensive players like Mason Plumlee, Emmanuel Mudiay and Juancho Hernangomez.

The Nuggets weren’t losing anything on offense with Millsap either. In fact, they were better. The team scored three points per 100 possessions more with Millsap on the floor than off. He was making a true impact on both ends.

The Nuggets are stacked with power forwards, but each has his own defensive flaw. It’s going to take a committee to try and hold on to a playoff spot without Millsap. That’s what the Nuggets did to get a 114-98 win over the Kings In Millsap’s first absence of the year.

They started Kenneth Faried, who played 19 minutes, and relieved him with Trey Lyles (18 minutes) and Hernangomez (22 minutes). While all three are questionable defenders, they can score — and Hernangomez and Lyles can space the floor like Millsap did as well. The Nuggets will have to shoot much better every night.

The entire bottom of the Western Conference is really hurting, and the Nuggets aren’t alone.

The Los Angeles Clippers have played without their starting point guard, Milos Teodosic, for all but the first two games of the season, and there’s still no timetable for his return. Danilo Gallinari has missed time too. Regardless, the Clippers stink so far to start the season, and at 5-11, there’s serious cause for alarm.

The Utah Jazz are in no better shape. Without Dante Exum (indefinitely after shoulder surgery), Rudy Gobert (up to six weeks after a knee injury), and Joe Johnson (will have his re-evaluated next week), they’re a mess as well. That banged-up lineup, which lost Gordon Hayward in free agency as well, is a measly 7-11 to start the season.

The Memphis Grizzlies are without Mike Conley for at least another two weeks with an Achilles injury too.

One of those team’s failures could allow the Nuggets a seat at the playoff table sans Millsap. Hope isn’t entirely lost just yet.