Trevon Brazile shouldn't be starting, and the Rookie of the Year talk after one gaudy box score is the kind of overreaction that makes NBA discourse exhausting two games into an 82-game season.
Buried under a 23-point comeback and a huge night from Jamal Murray: a 35th overall pick who was unwanted enough on draft night that San Antonio took him and immediately shipped him out scored 17 points off the bench and drained the go-ahead three in overtime as Denver rallied from down 23 to beat New Orleans 141-135. That's a terrific performance that shows the kid can play, though it's still just two games into his career.
Nuggets beat media deserve some blame for this question even existing. They've been building the Brazile hype since his preseason stretch, through a strong Summer League run and a start in the preseason finale, and now into the regular season, because a feel-good role-player story is easier to write every week than "Aaron Gordon played solid, unspectacular minutes." There's nothing wrong with noticing a good player. The leap from "good player" to "should start over a veteran who is already Denver's entrenched power forward" after one breakout night in an overtime track meet against a team that fell to 0-3 is the issue. New Orleans let a bench rookie get comfortable in overtime, and its defense falling apart late matters more than anything Brazile did on offense.
Rating
RatingThe starting question isn't complicated. Aaron Gordon is Denver's starting power forward, he's healthy, and nothing about how this game unfolded suggests the coaching staff is benching him. Brazile has started exactly once all year, in a preseason finale, when Gordon sat out to rest. He's getting real minutes right now largely because of other people's bad luck: Cam Johnson's ankle injury scrambled Denver's small forward rotation and forced the staff to go hunting for combinations, and Brazile happened to be the best option standing. It's an injury story. Treating it as a demotion for Gordon does him dirty for no reason.
The Rookie of the Year contention is even sillier to anoint off this. Those races get decided over a full season on usage, consistency, and opportunity on a competitive roster. Brazile plays behind Gordon on a team deep enough to erase a 23-point deficit with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray doing the heavy lifting. He isn't going to get the shot volume a real Rookie of the Year campaign requires, however efficient he looks in a given stretch. A hot shooting night in a track meet against a team still hunting for its first win is a highlight. It won't carry a campaign.
RTGBrazile looks like one of the better value finds in this draft class. Coaches don't usually trust a rookie that fast, and Denver's staff does. That's what we know right now. Anyone selling you a starting job over Gordon or a Rookie of the Year campaign off two games is selling a hot take. Denver fans demanding it this early are arguing with the calendar.
