Nuggets Get Weird Early, Start Two-Way Forward Bryce Hopkins Against Pelicans

The Denver Nuggets are rolling out a starting lineup on Saturday that sounds like a 2K auto-generated roster glitch. According to Underdog NBA, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic are officially being joined by two-way contract forward Bryce Hopkins against the New Orleans Pelicans.

With Cam Johnson dealing with an injury, head coach Michael Malone is being forced to get weird immediately. Hopkins stepping into the starting five for a team with championship aspirations in game two of the season is objectively hilarious, unless you happen to be holding a Denver futures ticket.

The Nuggets desperately need a spark after a brutal 96-84 opening-night loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver shot the ball like they were wearing oven mitts on Thursday, posting a miserable 91.3 offensive rating while scoring just 84 points in a modern NBA game.

Murray looked completely out of sync in the opener, finishing with just six points on 2-of-11 shooting in 37 minutes. Gordon was the only starter who remembered how to score, dropping 20 points and pulling down six boards to keep things from getting completely out of hand.

Now, anyone looking at the prop market has to factor in Hopkins, a guy who was just fighting for a roster spot, suddenly sharing the floor with a three-time MVP. This is the reality of the modern NBA salary cap. You pay your stars, and suddenly you are one rolled ankle away from starting a guy who probably still has his training camp name tag on.

The Pelicans are 0-2 and desperate, making this a weirdly high-stakes rock fight for the first week of the season. We will see if Hopkins can actually space the floor or if Jokic just has to turn into a full-time point center to keep the offense alive.

If Denver drops to 0-2 at home with this makeshift rotation, the panic meter in the Mile High City is going to break off its hinges.