Denver Nuggets 2024-25 season preview: Are Nikola Jokić and Co. fading as title contenders?
The 2024-25 NBA season is right here! We’re breaking down the largest questions, best- and worst-case eventualities, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 groups. Get pleasure from!
DENVER NUGGETS
2023-24 end
Offseason strikes
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Additions: Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric, DaRon Holmes II
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Subtractions: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson, Justin Vacation
The Massive Query: Can the Nuggets stem the tide of attrition?
The Nuggets have Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. and … who else precisely? Don’t get me improper: That’s an unbelievable high 4 — the inspiration of a crew that received the championship in 2023 — however the rotation round them has taken hits over the previous two summers.
Bruce Brown and Jeff Inexperienced left for extra money after the title run, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did the identical this previous offseason. None of them is a game-breaker, essentially, however added collectively they’re sufficient to wage a struggle of attrition. With out Brown and Inexperienced, Denver couldn’t extract the worth it might have hoped from Christian Braun and a set of rookies to keep away from a second-round playoff exit.
Now what? Does the lack of Caldwell-Pope tug them farther from competition?
Allow us to decelerate for a second. The Nuggets nonetheless boast Jokić, the very best participant alive, an offense unto himself and a strolling 50-win season, as long as he stays wholesome. They’ve Murray, whose pick-and-roll partnership with Jokić varieties essentially the most deadly offensive mixture within the league. Porter is a flame-thrower from the height of his 7-foot wingspan, whereas Gordon possesses untold power and athleticism.
Throw in anybody, and that group will trigger loads of issues, because it did final season, once they outscored opponents by 14.5 factors per 100 significant possessions with out Caldwell-Pope within the lineup with them.
However are they sufficient to navigate the Western Convention gauntlet, a lot much less defeat whoever emerges from the East? Definitely not if Murray nonetheless must get a deal with on his well being. He advised reporters on media day that he has no limitations from the knee harm that value him all the 2021-22 marketing campaign or the illnesses that contributed to his poor performances in final season’s playoffs and the Olympics.
The Nuggets are all the time one harm away from fielding a fair thinner rotation. There may be one large title who joined them — former MVP turned 36-year-old journeyman Russell Westbrook — however he brings with him his personal set of issues. He’s the worst high-volume shooter in NBA historical past and a detriment to any defensive scheme. He’s additionally an extremely explosive playmaker within the open ground. The lot of it has led him to a single playoff sequence victory up to now seven seasons, regardless of a string of All-Star teammates.
Maybe extra essential is the continued improvement of Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther. That was additionally final season’s plan, when Watson and Strawther supplied nothing in a second-round loss to Minnesota. It’s one factor to count on Braun to contribute; he was a beneficial piece of their title crew. It’s one other to require a number of prospects to help directly.
However once more: Jokić and Murray will present the house essential to excel, if anybody is able to seize his function. They are going to create open pictures, reward cutters and rescue broken-down possessions. There might be rising pains. At what heights Denver’s youth stands at season’s finish will dictate whether or not this season ends just like the earlier season or the one earlier than it. It’s inside their attain. Bear in mind: A blown 20-point lead in Recreation 7 towards the Timberwolves is all that stood between them and a return to the convention finals.
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Finest-case state of affairs
Denver’s funding of a most contract for Murray is a mirrored image of their confidence in his well being. He and Jokić barnstorm the league, and everybody else raises their recreation. Porter contributes extra than simply his shot. Braun seizes his spot as a fifth starter. Westbrook injects some ferocity into the bench. As Gordon advised reporters on media day, everybody on the Nuggets ought to really feel compelled to “[hold] up my finish of the discount.” That discount? With Jokić in his prime, he provides his crew a title shot each season.
If every thing falls aside
Murray can not keep on the ground or is diminished when he’s on it. We see no marked enchancment from Denver’s youth. Westbrook injects chaos into the bench as a substitute. The reported rumblings that head coach Michael Malone and the entrance workplace “aren’t precisely seeing eye to eye” change into a distraction. The Nuggets are proven one other second-round playoff exit. Possession doesn’t see the purpose to investing one other $80 million into Porter by means of the 2026-27 season, and Denver hits a reset button round Jokić and Murray.
Fantasy spin
Somewhat than gush over Jokić being among the best fantasy belongings within the recreation, let’s speak about Murray. The market would not appear involved about Murray’s well being or lackluster performances within the 2024 playoffs and Paris Olympics. I want I shared their optimism, however I am fading Murray’s fifth-round ADP.
Gordon is a participant I have been concentrating on in factors leagues. He is been thriving within the dunker’s spot for Denver, and it is unlocked his capability to build up varied fantasy stats by means of scoring, rebounding and producing assists. — Dan Titus
2024-25 schedule
Jokić has averaged 53 wins a season over the previous six years. That’s the usual for the sport’s greatest participant, and he ought to hit that mark once more — with or with out superior depth. Take the over.
