Welcome to Layup Lines, for Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to receive it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Do you have any feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this short reader survey. This is Mike Sykes

Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you had a wonderful Halloween and have a great weekend ahead of you.

It’s still very early in the NBA season, so it’s probably not the best time to overreact to the slow starts of all the teams that right now aren’t as good as we think they should be. The Denver Nuggets are certainly one of those teams. Denver is 2-2 through four games so far, but could easily be 0-4 after winning two overtime games against poor competition early in the season.

That’s not the part of their season that concerns me the most. It honestly has nothing to do with the game on the field. Rather, I think the front office’s mentality today should raise eyebrows among Nuggets fans.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reports that the Nuggets had a chance to grab Paul George this offseason, but passed up the opportunity. Why? Because grabbing George would require Denver to give up younger players to go along with the salary requirement.

Here’s Shelburne with more.

In short, the Nuggets are reluctant to give up young pieces, even if it means adding a proven All-Star-caliber piece to the core of the championship lineup.

Here’s the deal. Paul George is certainly not a gamble to help the Nuggets win a championship. He was an All-Star last season, but it’s been years since he’s been an All-NBA caliber player. He will be 35 years old by the end of this season and his next contract would be very expensive. The Nuggets are wary of the NBA’s second platform, as are many other teams in the league.

BEWARE OF THE APRON: How the NBA’s second platform breaks down your favorite teams

But the thing is, when you have arguably the best player in the NBA by your side, sometimes you just have to go for it. Sometimes that means going after a player like Paul George. Sometimes it means keeping expensive players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope around. Sometimes it means letting go of younger guys who could become something to try to make things happen now.

Jokic is 29 years old. He is in the midst of his prime and is coming off a third MVP season in four years. Getting him the best help possible should be the Nuggets’ biggest priority. That could mean you don’t have to wait for Julian Strawther or Payton Watson to bust out.

The Nuggets want to have their cake and eat it too. It’s the whole “two timeline” approach the Warriors tried, but much worse. For Golden State, Jordan Poole had at least developed into a starter. Jonathan Kuminga was a lottery pick. James Wiseman was brimming with potential.

The Nuggets don’t really have those players. At best, the names on the roster are complementary pieces that can make big contributions in small roles this season. At worst, they won’t matter at all.

Those are the players Denver is currently betting on. And after such a slow start to the season, it appears the risk far outweighs the reward.

Wemby does Wemby things

Speaking of a slow start to the season, Victor Wembanyama has certainly made it this year.

That slow start is over after he played his second career five-on-five game on Thursday night. He finished the Spurs’ game against Utah with 25 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals and five blocks.

According to Stat Muse, he is the only player in NBA history who is under the age of 22 and plays five-by-five. He also joins Hakeem Olajuwon and Andrei Kirilenko as the only two players in league history to play more than one five-by-five match at a time. Pod of Fames Jim Miloch.

This guy is about to break the NBA.

Shoot around

— We debated Bronny James cutting the nets after his first basket. This is hilarious.

— Speaking of that first basket, LeBron was unmoved. Cory Woodroof has more on it.

— Robert Zeglinski ranked the best rivalries in the NBA today.

— Wemby refusing to say Chet Holmgren’s name because of their rivalry is pretty wild.

That’s a turnaround, folks. Thank you very much for reading. Have a nice weekend. Peace.

-Sykes ✌️

This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Nuggets are wasting Nikola Jokic’s time