Three Nuggets Players Who Need to Improve After First 10 Games

Ten games into the season, the Denver Nuggets are 6-4 and ninth in the West, three and a half games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, and it does not take long to see what is missing once the two stars are set aside.

Point guard Jamal Murray is scoring 26.2 points per game and center Nikola Jokic is putting up 23.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.0 assists, yet the team is averaging 114.5 points after scoring 122.1 per game last season.

Denver won 123-118 at Memphis on Wednesday, but three players need to take a step forward before the schedule picks up.

Forward Aaron Gordon is averaging 11.0 points on 38.0% shooting from the field and 25.6% from three, down from 16.2 points, 49.7% and 38.9% last season.

Over his last three games he is 9-for-30 overall and 1-for-15 from deep, including a three-point night on 1-of-6 shooting in Monday's loss at Houston.

After missing 46 games last season, Gordon says his body is not the problem.

"Physically, I feel good. So I'm less worried about my body out there and now more worried about the wins," Gordon told The Denver Post's Bennett Durando after the Houston loss.

He has shown flashes of his old self, and Denver needs that version back from a player making more than $33 million this season.

Guard DeMar DeRozan signed with Denver in September after Sacramento waived him, but the bench scoring he was supposed to bring has not shown up yet.

He is averaging 10.0 points on 41.0% shooting and is 2-for-14 from three, after scoring 18.4 points per game on 49.7% shooting with the Kings last season, and he missed the Nov. 4 game against Toronto with low back spasms.

Guard Christian Braun is in the first year of a five-year, $125 million deal, and while his scoring has held steady at 12.4 points, his shot has cooled off.

He is shooting 48.5% from the field after hitting 51.9% last season, and he has gone 9-for-28 over his last three games with just two made threes on 14 tries.

He was one of the early risers after the first five games, which makes the drop stand out.

DeRozan looks like the easiest fix to me, because a scorer with his track record will find his spots once he settles into a bench role.

Braun sits somewhere in the middle since his effort on defense helps even when his shot is off, but the Nuggets need more than that from a player on a $125 million contract.

Gordon is the one who worries me, since Denver leans on him at both ends, and his rough shooting was a big part of the loss at Houston.

Forward Cameron Johnson showed what that help can look like with a season-high 23 points at Memphis, while guard Julian Strawther is still out with a left knee sprain.

The Nuggets visit New Orleans on Saturday before hosting Phoenix on Monday and Boston on Wednesday, and if Gordon, DeRozan and Braun each add a few more made shots, I believe this team can climb into the top six in the West.