r/denvernuggets

The Denver Nuggets are pivoting and have their eyes directed on six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan who remains a free agent in demand for contenders, league sources tell me.

https://www.threads.com/@chrisbhaynesnba?hpir=1&http\_ref=eyJ0cyI6MTc4NzE4NDczMTAwMCwiciI6IiJ9

This is the Denver Nuggets bench for next season after trading Peyton Watson and not getting a player back.

They are still in the 2nd apron.

I personally gotta go Hakeem just every so slightly because of how dominant he was two way.

Altitude Sports unveils a new Denver Nuggets broadcast team of Noah Reed and Katy Winge, with new studio analyst and NBA vet Jason Richardson.

The Nuggets have been in cap hell for a while now and thanks to both also have simultaneously zero assets to improve the team.

This move gives us at least a first round pick back in return and gets us on a path to something resembling financial flexibility down the line.

The Nuggets aren’t a top end contender, but I don’t think any of us believed they were. Wallace and Tenzer have had nothing to really work with to put a team together and 95% of that is the fault of Booth.

Nikola Jokić has recorded a triple-double in 24.2% of his games (regular season and playoffs). That is the highest career percentage in NBA history.

The only player in league history with a higher rate at any point in his career was Oscar Robertson (at any point during his first nine seasons in the NBA).

Top 10:

Nikola Jokić - 24.2%
Luka Dončić - 17.5%
Oscar Robertson - 16.7%
Russell Westbrook - 15.4%
Magic Johnson - 15.3%
Wilt Chamberlain - 10.8%
Domantas Sabonis - 9.9%
Josh Giddey - 9%
Ben Simmons - 8.5%
LeBron James - 7.9%

I'm in the USA and would like to watch these games. Especially these warmup against France if it'll be Jokic v. Wemby

Call me an idiot or a homer but I think this year's team(assuming we retain P Wat) and if we're healthy is almost perfectly constructed to complement Jokic. I know that's a lot of ifs but which contender doesn't have those?
-OKC's future also heavily relies on IF Jalen Williams can stay healthy and IF chet can finally beat his mental demons against Wemby.
-Spurs' future heavily depends on the health of a 7'6 big
-Knicks contention heavily depends on how much losing their backup big could hurt them since Towns has the worst foul discipline in the league.

Look at how the roster is constructed, Objectively it has very little weaknesses on paper:

-Jamal Murray has the best 2 man game and chemistry with Jokic of any duo in the league.

- AG is one of the most versatile defenders in the league and would be a perennial all defense selection if he was healthy, Braun is a solid POA defender, Alpha Diallo was just the Euroleague DPOY, Spencer Jones, Peyton Watson and Cam Johnson are all solid wing defenders. Joerger is a solid defensive coach that coached the grit and grind grizz for several years. This roster has a better construction defensively compared to last year to complement Jokic's weakness at protecting the rim.

- The roster has 8 proven ~40% 3P shooters. This is why losing THJ won't hurt nearly as much as everyone seems to think it will, his abilities were largely redundant with the rest of the roster.
The only real weakness on paper is the lack of a backup C but Jokic has won a chip with DJ as a backup C so it isn't nearly as big a weakness compared to other teams.

Compare this to some of the other teams that have better odds,
-76ers have an abysmal defense, Jaylen Brown and Lebron are two of the worst offball defenders in the league, Tyrese Maxey is average at best, and Embiid has objectively been a worse defender than Jokic since his knee got obliterated the only good defenders on their roster are Edgecombe and Dean Wade. Their starting 5 also entirely consists of average and below average 3 point shooters. There is no rational argument for why they should be above the nuggets and the reason is entirely hype.
-The raptors have poeltl as their starting C and their floor general is Immanuel Quickley.
- The celtics front court is paper thin
- The pistons lack a secondary creator and their shooting is mediocre at best.

I'm not saying we're a tier 1 contender on the level of the spurs okc or knicks, but IMO we should be the 4th best team on paper after those 3.

Am I wrong for thinking that?