DENVER NUGGETS: 53.5 WINS – OVER
Key Additions
- Julian Strawther (draft)
- Hunter Tyson (draft)
Key Subtractions
- Bruce Brown
- Jeff Green
- Thomas Bryant
- Vlatko Cancar (injury)
Rotation
- Guards
- Jamal Murray, Reggie Jackson
- Wings
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Justin Holiday
- Forwards
- Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Julian Strawther
- Bigs
- Nikola Jokic, Zeke Nnaji, DeAndre Jordan
Random thoughts, opinions, comments, declarations, queries, editorials, etc.
- Steph and Joker are the two most fun players to watch in the league
- Joker is now a top 35 player of all time
- The Joker-Murray-Gordon Combo is the best in the NBA since Steph, Klay, & Dray
- Their offense, when humming, is the closest thing to the Beautiful Game Spurs of ‘14
- Michael Malone is a criminally underrated coach
- KCP has become the Danny Green of his generation
- Bruce Brown quietly played more crunchtime minutes than MPJ in playoffs
- Reggie Jackson hasn’t played meaningful NBA minutes in years
- Joker is the best player in the NBA, though we seem to be awfully quick to forget Giannis’ greatness
Last Year – Interesting Stats
- 53-29 was 1st place in the West last year
- 12-11 post all-star break, as they coasted in hopes of being ready for the post season
- 117.6 Offensive Rating was 6th
- 1st place in FG%, 4th in 3P%, 2nd in AST – all due to regress to the mean
- Opponents shot 3rd worst 3pt% vs DEN in the NBA – also due to regress to the mean
Keys to Success
Michael Malone keeps his team disciplined and eager to repeat, becoming the first team since the Warriors of ’16-’17 & ’17-‘18 to win back to back ch’ips, MPJ improves his off the dribble game, Zeke Nnaji becomes a 3PT threat, Peyton Watson and Christian Braun make everyone forget about Bruce Brown, Joker ate healthy in Serbia this summer
Potential Obstacles
“Disease of More” – (Pat Riley’s famous phrase stemming out of the late-80s Showtime Lakers) now that they’ve won, who on the team wants to “get his” (my guess is MPJ), they end up missing Bruce Brown more than anticipated, Jamal Murray deals with nagging injuries and they need more support than Reggie Jackson can provide, Joker gets out of shape this offseason, Cancar’s injury is an under the radar blow to their depth
Hot takes
- Jamal Murray makes his first all star team
- Porter Jr. loses crunchtime minutes to Christian Braun
- Porter Jr. secretly goes on the trade block
- Jokic returns to camp out of shape, takes him ‘til Xmas to lose excess weight
- They make a midseason move to bring in a backup ball handler
STANDING PREDICTION: 4TH IN THE WEST
