 For the first couple months of the season Nuggets fans had to watch their team Stumble around with a bubble hangover Desperately treading water to keep their head above the play-in tournament pool all while Jeremy Grant Ran out to most improved player of the year status with his new team in Detroit It became apparent real quick that while Nikola Yolkic and Jamal Murray were the best players on the team Grant may have been the most important The same way Dremont Green was for the champion warriors while not necessarily being the most talented Jeremy's ability to guard positions one through five and contain the other team's stars is Undeniable the exodus of Grant and Craig combined with Gary Harris's injury and father time catching up to Paul Milsap this Nuggets team just couldn't guard their own shadow before the trade deadline their 113.3 defensive rating put them in almost the absolute bottom of the league at one point And for what felt like an eternity Denver needed MVP performances from Yolkic every night Early this season just to scratch out wins against mediocre teams because they just couldn't stop giving up easy buckets To Yolkic's credit. He did it and the fort was held down But as we return to conversations about whether this team could actually win a championship We have to consider whether the moves they made at the deadline Will be enough the answer Surprisingly might be a yes. Aaron Gordon has been awesome He's been awesome because they don't need him to have the ball in his hands to make an impact in six games Gordon is averaging only two points less per game as he was in Orlando while his usage percentage has plummeted from 23.8 to 17 This means he's giving you the same production with better efficiency It's not just scoring either since being traded the Nuggets are undefeated their best starter Using plus minus on the court off the court as the standard is Aaron Gordon at plus 71 The Murray Barton Gordon MPJ Yolkic lineup is not only the best in the NBA at a plus 34 net rating It's nearly 10 full points better than second place Who maybe you've heard of them is on the best record in the league Utah Jazz To illustrate just how good these nuggets have been because of Aaron Gordon's impact I'm gonna kick it to coach Nick from V-ball breakdown for the X's and O's What's up sports fans? It's coach Nick here and Rob I've got a crazy stat for you of the 31 buckets Aaron Gordon has made as a nugget 16 of them have been assisted by Nicola Yolkic The whole Nuggets offense is about getting Yolkic the ball at the elbow and Gordon cuts from all over the court This time in the strong side corner He gets the slice screen for the nifty over the head reverse Check this one Yolkic dribbles to the elbow triggering the backdoor cut from the wing and the floater of a pass Finds him under the hoop for the finger roll Don't look now, but they've got Gordon as the point guard in the double high post horn set Check the back screen the free throw line and it's over before it began Of course, they also feed Yolkic on the low block watch Gordon wander over the screen for Jamal Murray But breaks that off and boy was that reverse a nice surprise on defense He's been solid and active making life a bit miserable on some of these Kawhi possessions He's big. He's mobile. He's explosive and these plays lead me to believe The Nuggets are going to be able to count on him in the playoffs against the other team's best player If you're in the market, you'd better be buying all the Nuggetstock you can it'll definitely be worth something Take it away Rob. This offseason Denver thought they could put a band-aid on a gash replacing Jeremy Grant with your Michael Green and as they bled out through the first half of the 2021 campaign little did they know it would be a blessing in disguise because it brought them here To that one piece Nuggets fans have always thought they needed to get over the hump Only time will tell if Aaron Gordon is worthy of that distinction But one thing is for sure They are as close as they've ever been