The Denver Nuggets started the season with the mindset of starting two big bodies in the frontcourt, establishing the twin Indo-European towers of Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic.

As nature has it, one of them has performed better than the other in the eyes of head coach Michael Malone, which has prompted Jokic to step in as the starting center and shifted Nurkic to be his backup.

After starting the season on a roll with performances of 15, 18, and 21 points during the first three games, Nurkic has been inconsistent at best, failing to establish his presence as the big dipper in the Nuggets rotation.

The 7-foot center has seen a big dip in playing time since the last week of November, where his minutes consistently went under 20 a game and stretching into mid-December, where after 11, 13, and 17-point performances, he saw his minutes vanish completely, picking up four straight DNPs prior to a nine-minute stint against the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

“For sure it’s tough,” Nurkic told Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. “I’m 23 years old. I’m not here to sit on the bench. I’m here to play basketball. And it’s a tough decision for me, from a starting spot and 20 minutes to four straight (games of not playing). … You control what you control, and I let my agent do the rest of the stuff.”

The Bosnian international has been quite short of the team's expectation two months into the season, averaging 9.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and a block per game.

“It’s not good,” Nurkic said. “When you (don’t) play, and you feel not part of the team, it’s not fun. Especially when you started from the preseason – how many games, I don’t even know. And you just come to the game (one day) and you’re not in the rotation and nobody tells you anything. So, it’s not in my control. I’m going to do what I can do; come here, work every day hard and be professional like I should be.”

Malone, meanwhile, has been nothing but complimentary of Nurkic’s work ethic. The Nuggets coach wasn't expecting Nurkic to take a reduced role with a constant smile, but says he’s been impressed with how 7-footer has gone about his day-to-day endeavors with the team.

“Nurk has been terrific,” Malone said. “He’s been working his butt off; his attitude has been great. I wanted to reward him (by playing him against Minnesota). Not just playing him to play him, but I knew that he could help us win.”

It remains