"But Russ got fans, man.": Julian Strawther on the Russell Westbrook experience, staying a pure shooter, and more (exclusive)
How do the Denver Nuggets keep their championship window open?
It doesn’t just depend on the health and dominance of their two-time MVP (Nikola Jokić), dynamic point guard (Jamal Murray), lethal scorer (Michael Porter Jr) and effective defender (Aaron Gordon).
It also hinges on whether the Nuggets can develop their young players to offset key departures of their 2023 NBA title team, including an effective defender (Bruce Brown) and reliable two-way player (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope). One of those players is Julian Strawther, who has had a significantly enhanced role during his second NBA season.
“He's a very important piece coming off that bench,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
That’s because the Nuggets have valued Strawther’s potential as a two-way player both with making outside shots and defending perimeter players. As Denver can attest, that presence hasn’t always been enough.
The Nuggets labored through a 126-122 loss to the LA Clippers on Sunday despite Strawther scoring 15 points while shooting 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep. Denver (10-8) enters Tuesday’s NBA Cup Group Play game against the Golden State Warriors (12-7) in ninth place in the Western Conference standings partly because of inconsistent depth around Jokić and Murray.
Nonetheless, the Nuggets have become mostly encouraged with Strawther’s trajectory. He has averaged 8.9 points while shooting 45.4% from the field and 41% from 3 in 20.7 minutes off the bench thus far. That marks a stark improvement from when Strawther averaged 4.5 points while shooting 36.9% overall and 29.7% from deep in 10.9 minutes per game his rookie season.
“We always talk about the non-Nikola minutes. When Julian is out there, you need him to continue to be aggressive and be efficient and play both ends of the floor,” Malone said. “Very good team defender, and we just got to keep encouraging him and helping him as his continues to develop.”
Strawther spoke with Sportskeeda about his growth, playing with Russell Westbrook and more.
Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been condensed and edited.
What do you take away from jumping into a bigger role this season?
Strawther: “The coaching staff and the team have kind of thrown me into the fire. So just being able to make mistakes and have the trust from my teammates and coaches have been huge. Everybody has been helping me get through the ups and downs. I’m trying to find some consistency now.”
In what ways have they helped you?
Strawther: “A bunch of these guys have been through the same thing that I’m going through in terms of the inconsistencies and not knowing what each night is going to look like. So it’s just about going off their past experience and listening to their wisdom.”
How have you grappled with the push-pull with this theme: Feeling like you can learn from your mistakes and the pressure that they are relying on you and other young guys to address their depth?
Strawther: “For sure. We’re looking to win a championship. We’re not just looking to be a regular-season team. So we’re using the regular season as an opportunity to find my feet and just be able to be a contributor when the playoffs come around.”
What have you, Christian [Braun] and Peyton [Watson] tried to do to bridge the gap with the team losing key guys the past two years with KCP [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope], Bruce Brown, Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith and Jeff Green?
Strawther: “Obviously, we don’t bring that same veteran-type of savvy. But we bring a lot of energy. That’s our key to the game – bring as much energy as we can, whether we’re making mistakes, playing through them or flying around. We’re encouraging our guys and trying to be a reason that guys are smiling.”
Malone praised you a lot for your off-season work and being in the gym all the time. What did your work with your shooting and everything else entail?
Strawther: “It was just honing on my offensive game to try to be more well-rounded and be more than just a shooter. So I was working on my ball handling and being able to carry secondary ball-handling duties when Jamal is getting hounded by guys. That was the main focus of my off-season work. A lot of the stuff was live reps with coaches and guys guarding me so I can read the game. Instead of just telling me a drill and doing that, I had to make reads and see it with my own two eyes so I could actually translate it into an NBA game.”
And with your shooting, you’ve said in another interview you think the key is to focus on the mechanics and fundamentals. What did you try to hone in on with that?
Strawther: “Just trying to make every shot look the same. When you’re a great shooter, it’s kind of easy to get lazy with your mechanics and think that every shot is going to go in just because you’re a great shooter. So just being able to be responsible with your jump shot and shoot it the way you meant to shoot it.’
Not to be so obvious about it with ‘Basketball 101.’ But what do you think are the key mechanics that go into a shot?
Strawther: “For me, it’s definitely about keeping a good base and holding the follow-through. I feel like that’s the most elementary and beginner thing. They teach you to hold your follow-through. But it’s something that a lot of guys struggle with naturally. They’re just flicking their jumper and not bringing their follow-through down. So it’s about being able to hold it and stay on balance.”
In the course of 48 minutes with a fast-moving game and various defenders, how easy have you found it to forget about those things?
Strawther: “Exactly. It’s about being able to focus on that. If you can get into where every game rep is a practice rep, that’s when you’re an elite center.”
What’s the Russell Westbrook teammate experience like?
Strawther: “You know exactly what you’re going to get with Russ. What you see is what you get. He’s energy all the time. He’s vocal and a leader. He’s been big-time for us.”
You said in one of your post-game interviews that Russ is like a celebrity with you all. What’s the scene like with that?
Strawther: “It’s funny. (laughs). I got a year with playing with Joker under my belt. Joker is the best player in the world right now. He moves so quietly that you would just think he’s an average guy. But Russ got fans, man. I’ve never seen people like that. There’s a million Russ jerseys in every arena we go to. There are a million people asking for pictures outside of the hotel. That’s the Brodie.”
How has he impacted you so far?
Strawther: “It’s cool to see because Russ ia a guy that I grew up watching on my TV screen or even playing 2K using Russ in the video game. I used to be able to see him. It’s no different than the real game. He always has so much energy. It’s fun.”
How has Jokić been as a leader?
Strawther: “Jokic is exactly what everybody sees him as. He doesn’t do too much. He comes to work and gets it done. There’s no crazy stories or anything. He just comes in and gets his work done.”
You’ve talked about how this locker room is very empowering What does Jokić and Jamal do to set that tone?
Strawther: “Those two guys lead by example with the best of them just with their work ethic and the way that they carry themselves and how humble they are. That’s the main thing with those two guys. We have great leaders that lead by example. It’s their routine. They come to the facility and do the same thing every day. Whether it’s after a good game or a bad game, they’re staying level headed.”
Malone seems to always mix a message of holding guys accountable and making them feel empowered. How has that approach worked overall?
Strawther: “It’s good. I feel like we find a good balance. Obviously, Coach’s job is to coach. But we also have a bunch of guys that are willing to be coached. So it ends up working out well. At the end of the day, the best teams are ones that are players-led and internally strong. We’re spending so much time away from our own families. So this is our family. So to have guys that you genuinely like having around is huge.”
After coming off your injury last season and getting more trust from the coaching staff, what were the turning points that helped you get to where you are now?
Strawther: “I think the injury was huge for me just because I was able to sit back and watch the game and be a student of the game. It helped me slow down the game some. I feel like when you’re a young guy, the game moves at a million miles an hour. So being able to watch it and learn something, I’ve been able to slow down a bit right when I got back from my injury in February or March. That now allows me to trust my work and make the reads that I’ve worked on. It makes the game a lot easier.”
Looking at the big picture of trying to win an NBA title, what’s it going to take get there knowing how crowded the West landscape is?
Strawther: “For us, it’s about getting back to our roots and our values as a team. We just have to play defense, especially in transition. And do the little things. I feel like we have so many talented guys and star players. The talent is always going to be there. But it’s a matter of if we can come out here and do the little things every night.”
Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.