With Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic leading the way, the Nuggets look primed to again claim the West.
Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are back for more after winning the franchise’s first championship. But they’re not exactly running it back, with two key bench pieces — Bruce Brown and Jeff Green — having left in free agency. Almost half the league is returning players who accounted for a greater percentage of last season’s minutes than the Nuggets’ returning group.
Denver still has Jokic, Jamal Murray, and the rest of what has been an elite starting lineup (plus-11.8 points per 100 possessions over 1,082 total minutes last season). And that’s enough to give them a good chance to repeat.
What’s new?
- The Nuggets looked for guys who are ready to play in the Draft, acquiring a college junior — wing Julian Strawther — and two seniors — point guard Jalen Pickett and forward Hunter Tyson — via Draft-night trades.
- They lost the guys who ranked sixth and seventh on the team in total playoff minutes, with Brown leaving for Indiana and Green getting good money in Houston.
- The guy who played just 18 total playoff minutes (Reggie Jackson) was given a new, two-year contract.
How far can the Nuggets go?
The West looks to be stronger than it was last season, with all three of the other teams that reached the conference semis having made upgrades. And many will see the Milwaukee Bucks, having acquired Damian Lillard, as the favorite to win the title. But no team knows itself like this one, and the Nuggets certainly have the ability to repeat.
1 player that must take a leap
Peyton Watson. The Nuggets were the 1 seed in the West despite having the league’s 29th-ranked bench last season. But after a long playoff run (in which the bench was much better), it would be nice if they could keep their starters fresh. We know they can trust Christian Braun, but rotation spots 7-10 come with questions and Watson (the 30th pick in last year’s Draft) might be one of the answers.
In-Season Tournament
The Nuggets are in West Group B. Here’s a refresher on how the In-Season Tournament works.
Upcoming free agents
The Nuggets have nine potential free agents in 2024:
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (player option)
- Vlatko Cancar (team option)
- Collin Gillespie (two-way player)
- Justin Holiday
- Jay Huff (two-way player)
- Reggie Jackson (player option)
- DeAndre Jordan
- Braxton Key (two-way player)
- Zeke Nnaji (restricted)
The most important business for next summer will be signing Murray (under contract through 2024-25) to a contract extension. But we can expect Caldwell-Pope (who will be 31) to decline his $15.4 million player option and seek a longer-term deal. Nnaji, meanwhile, has the next nine months to prove that he’s a reliable rotation piece.
Denver’s full roster can be found here.
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John Schuhmann is a senior stats analyst for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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