The Denver Nuggets have reloaded

The Denver Nuggets have had two disappointing endings to their two seasons since winning the 2023 NBA championship.  After blowing a 20-point lead to the Minnesota Timberwolves in game 7 of round 2 in 2024, Denver got the doors blown off of them this past year in game 7 of round 2, against the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder.  Thus, this summer they made big changes to their roster, trading Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first round pick to the Nets for Cameron Johnson, trading Dario Saric to the Kings for Jonas Valanciunas and signing Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. to 1-year deals.  I think they got better, but how much better and does it even matter?

The first thing they did this summer was make David Adelman the full time coach.  That was a good decision, he did a really good job during the playoffs and Nikola Jokic got more comfortable to give his opinion on things.  I also think the roster improved.  Cam Johnson is a better player than Michael Porter Jr. and a significantly cheaper option that gives Denver a lot more flexibility.  Johnson is able to play off of the dribble in a more effective way than Porter Jr. has.  Health has been an issue for Johnson throughout his career and he isn’t a defender who is going to be locking anyone down but he can contribute at a high level.  His three point shooting has been at 39% in each of the past two seasons so he isn’t as good of a pure shooter as Porter is but his ability to create his own shot and even create offense for others is something that will help Denver a lot.  Valanciunas is the best backup that Nikola Jokic has had since the team traded Jusuf Nurkic.  A really reliable player, JV isn’t going to light the world on fire but off of the bench he can fill a solid role in the playoffs playing 10 minutes a game to give Jokic rests and he can make spot starts during the regular season to lighten Jokic’s role.  Bruce Brown returns after being a key piece on the 2023 championship team.  A really versatile player, Brown gives Denver more lineup options.  He can run as a backup point guard and has shown ability to be a solid screen setter who can make good passes out of the short roll.  Tim Hardaway Jr. revived his career last year with the Detroit Pistons and brings the ability to be a pure shooter to Denver.  The Nuggets need a guy to be a floor spacer to make catch and shoot threes off of the Jamal Murray and Jokic pick and roll.

The Nuggets are relying on a bunch of young players to carry the load behind Nikola Jokic.  Jokic, himself, is the best player on the planet.  I don’t need to talk about how good he is, he is the best playmaking center ever.  He is the reason Denver will always be in the mix to win the title.  Jamal Murray had an up and down season, like he has for a lot of his career.  Averaging a career high 21.4 points per game to go along with 6.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, Murray peaked during December, January and February averaging 22.5 points per game over the three month span.  That is the Jamal Murray Denver needs to compete in the Western Conference this season.  Aaron Gordon had the best three point season of his career, shooting 44%, up from the 32% he had during his first 10 seasons of his career.  That number was probably an outlier but if Gordon can be in the high 30s, Denver would certainly sign up for that.  He has flourished with Jokic and is a perfect fit next to the 3-time MVP.  Christian Braun had the best year of his short career last season, becoming the full time starter as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departed.  A very versatile player, Braun’s athleticism is one of his best attributes to his game.  If he can shoot 40% or above he could be in line for a big payday next summer if he and Denver don’t sign an extension before the October deadline.

The bench certainly added veterans but they are still reliant on the young players that the since fired Calvin Booth drafted.  Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, DaRon Holmes II, Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson are a group of players the Nuggets are hopeful one or two of them can break through and become real contributors.  Neither Pickett nor Tyson have been able to carve out a real role in the Nuggets rotation, though Pickett has been given more of an opportunity than Tyson has.  Holmes missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL.  I am interested to see how his game translates to the NBA because his three ball got better as his college career went on.  Strawther and Watson are the two guys that I think have the best chance to get a role on this team because we have seen those players be in the rotation in previous seasons.  Both guys have the same problem, they need to make more threes.  Watson has been a bad three point shooter during his career and Strawther hasn’t been much better.  Whoever can start making more threes will be the guy who gets a rotation spot.  Watson’s defense and athleticism make it easier to play him, he is a freak athlete but again, a bad three point shooter.  It will be interesting to see what new full-time coach David Adelman does.

The Nuggets are one of the better teams in the Western Conference.  While the Thunder have established themselves as a tier above everyone else, at least entering the season.  I think that Denver is in the 2nd tier of the Western Conference with the Timberwolves and the Rockets.  They have the best player in the conference and his sidekick is a perfect fit with him.  Murray will need to have a big season but I have every confidence he can do just that.  The depth on their roster has improved and I think that they got more versatile on offense.  With Jokic being as good as he is, he can take a roster that might not be as good as the Thunder and present a real challenge to Oklahoma City in a playoff series, as we saw in May.

The Denver Nuggets had disappointing endings to each of the last 2 seasons.  As a result, they made big changes this summer, replacing Michael Porter Jr. and getting deeper.  A lot of their season hangs on the play and health of Jamal Murray and they’ll need him to perform.  However, they do have Nikola Jokic, who is the best player in the world so he can cover a lot of the holes Denver might have on the roster.