To get us through the late-Summer doldrums of the NBA, we’re reviewing teams from around the league and how their offseasons went.
Denver Nuggets
Key Additions:
Russell Westbrook
Dario Saric
DaRon Holmes (will miss season with injury)
Key Losses:
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Reggie Jackson
Offseason Review and 2024-25 Season Outlook:
The Denver Nuggets have arguably the best basketball player in the game in Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets have a star point guard alongside him in Jamal Murray. The Nuggets have Aaron Gordon, a versatile combo forward who is a perfect pair with both stars. The Nuggets have Michael Porter Jr, a sharpshooting wing with great size. The Nuggets are just one season removed from winning the NBA title, and finished last season tied for the best record in a brutal Western Conference. So why does it feel like this team had such a disappointing offseason?
The Nuggets were lambasted for allowing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to walk away in free agency. The Nuggets could have re-signed him, but were worried about a lack of roster maneuverability due to the second apron, and Jamal Murray upcoming next contract. This is one season after the Nuggets lost Bruce Brown in free agency, although that was under different circumstances (the Nuggets were limited in what they could offer, similar to the Kings with Monk this season, but Denver was restricted to a far lower number). The Nuggets are now counting on Christian Braun to step up, but I think it’s fair to have concerns about his ability to do so. I like Braun as a player, but I’m not sure he’s ready to have that big a role.
Denver’s marquee addition in free agency was Russell Westbrook, a dubious fit if ever there was one. Jokic reportedly advocated for signing Russ, and there’s value to keeping your MVP happy, but players are often terrible GMs. Russ could give the Nuggets a spark off the bench that they’ve desperately lacked at times, and maybe Russ finally buys into a lesser role, but I’ll believe that when I see it. Dario Saric is a nice addition that I felt flew under the radar, and should be a useful bench big. Finally, I’d feel a heck of a lot better about Denver’s offseason if DaRon Holmes hadn’t gotten hurt. Holmes is expected to miss the season after tearing his Achilles during Summer League, a devastating injury and a big loss for the Nuggets. Denver was already short on depth, and now enter the season without a player they expected to get significant bench help from. Long term I still love his fit with the Nuggets, but we’ll have to wait another year to see it in action.
The Nuggets should still be a top 4 team in the West, they’re still that good. But they’ll be especially dependent on their roster remaining healthy, and I wonder how much we’ll see them load manage their key players this season. Denver is still a contender, but they enter the season with a lot of question marks.
Why We Hate Them:
I don’t hate the Nuggets. I love that the Kings always seem to step up and play them really tough. I’m a huge fan of Jokic. I’m happy for Michael Malone’s success. Yeah, I can’t come up with a reason Kings fans would hate the Nuggets. Chime in below if you dislike them and share your reasons why.
Michael Malone’s comments about the media and the Lakers and the Nugs sweeping them in 2023 WCFs were a damn good consolation prize for losing that first round. Also, how could anyone hate Jokic? Serbian Thanos vs USA Avengers this summer was epic.
Losing KCP for nothing stings for sure, but it’s one of the reasons I love the new apron rules and hope for parity. It’s almost impossible to field a starting 5, with stars, who are all on their 2nd or 3rd contract. In the new NBA you almost have to have low cost talent in rookie deals, vet minimums, and/or undrafted cheap contracts. Gone are the days of a team like the Warriors having 3 to 4 max players. Building rosters is a bit like Moneyball now. I like it.
I hope all the teams that made deep play off runs and won rings read this and follow it.
I hate that Denver has the 5280 and that the Kings ever have to play them on a SEGABABA. That ain’t right.
Injuries are a big threat to Denver IMO. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter, Jr. are constantly at risk.
Depth continues to be the other risk for Nuggs.
But I agree that of the players who are most fun to watch in The Association- I put Jokic up there with Steph and KD. Luka is off and on because the whinning.
Is whinning good or bad?
I personally don’t like whinning. Players like Doncic and Green do it all the time and get away with it. No technicals where is Fox was to do it he would be on the bench all the time. Just play basketball. In 48 years of coaching none of my players whinned and if they did they knew exactly where they would be. On the bench.
So whinning and whining are bad.
I hope to one day see the Kings survive a playoff race and be able to compete against the Nuggets in a play off series. I spend a bunch of time in Denver during that time of the year. Be awesome to see the Kings head to head with the Nuggets at 5280 live.
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