Denver Nuggets: Reasons To Be Excited For 2016-17

After a transition year for the Denver Nuggets, Michael Malone’s squad is ready to compete for a playoff spot in 2016-17.

Up and down. Positive and negative. Young and … younger. These three phrases truly encapsulate the 2015-16 season for the Denver Nuggets. The more accurate phrase in my opinion: transition. Coach Michael Malone has alluded to this in his press conferences and even as a competitive guy, he has had to temper his expectations in favor of development of the Nuggets’ key pieces.

Take Emmanuel Mudiay‘s three most recent games: 27 points on 10-for-23 shooting from the field and an incredible buzzer-beater against the Philadelphia 76ers, 13 points on 5-for-23 shooting from the field in the next two games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

The development of the team has shown strong recently even with the up and down performance of Mudiay. Jusuf Nurkic scored a career-high 19 points in 24 minutes Monday night against the Clippers.

Nikola Jokic is hitting a bit of a rookie wall, but in his 25.4 minutes per game in the month of March, he’s averaging 3.3 assists, numbers only matched by Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol this year.

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Gary Harris is ranked third among shooting guards in field goal percentage, sandwiched right in between Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins.

Granted, his volume isn’t at the level of those aforementioned players, but coinciding with the injury to Danilo Gallinari, the Nuggets’ first option on offense, Harris has upped his averages to 15.4 points per game on 12.1 field goal attempts and an obscene 49.1 percent from the field, which would rank first among qualified shooting guards.

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Even Will Barton, who had himself a poor January and February, has recovered his efficiency in the month of March, shooting 44 percent from the field and a solid 37.8 percent from distance. The Sixth Man of the Year candidate has demonstrated the offensive capabilities to lead the Denver bench mob, evidenced by his outstanding 2015-16 season.

No bench player is averaging the combination of points, rebounds, and assists that Barton is averaging for the Nuggets, according to Basketball Reference.

It’s safe to say that the 2014-15 season under Brian Shaw was an abject failure, but Malone has done an admirable job this season at preaching the fundamental necessities of every championship caliber team: strong defense, dedicated team concept, defined roles and finding a star to lead them.

While the wins and losses do not bear much improvement, the atmosphere surrounding the team breeds new hope. With all of the tumultuous activity, the Nuggets still find themselves within a glimpse of the playoff picture, a mere five games back of the eighth-place Houston Rockets. This is one of the many reasons to be excited for the future.

The Nuggets have exceeded their win total last season (30) with eight games left, despite having one of the youngest starting lineups in the NBA sans Gallinari (average age of 22.2 years) and one of the most injured teams in the NBA, according to Man-Games Lost.

Here are some of the reasons why the Denver Nuggets are on the rise for next season:

1. Age and Experience

Mudiay is 20 years old; Harris, Jokic and Nurkic are all 21. Barton is the elder statesman at 25. Even Joffrey Lauvergne has demonstrated potential at times at 24. All have started at times and have played massive roles in wins for Denver over the course of this year.

All will be under contract for at least two more seasons and the Nuggets have the ability to retain each, as all of the aforementioned players except Barton will be restricted free agents.

All of the above players (except for Nurkic due to injury) have garnered plenty of experience this year, and each should be ready to take the next step in the coming year, but not without some help.

2. Veteran Reinforcements

Wilson Chandler did not play a single minute this year. Nurkic didn’t play a minute until January and has had trouble recovering from his offseason surgery. Gallinari did an admirable job of leading the young troops up through the All-Star break, until sustained a severe ankle injury. Jameer Nelson has spent time nursing his wounds this year and has never truly been healthy.

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These injuries have led to major rotation minutes for players such as Kostas Papanikolaou, Sean Kilpatrick, JaKarr Sampson and Alex Toupane. With all due respect to this quartet, they are hardly world beaters.

Next season, all of these players are set to return. It’s hard to imagine a fully healthy roster, partially because it hasn’t been seen in Denver in a very long time. Next season, though, the Nuggets should have a fully stocked roster for Malone to utilize, along with some more talented bodies by way of the draft.

3. Boatloads of Draft Picks

According to Tankathon, the Nuggets are expected to have a lottery pick ranging from seventh to 11th, in addition to two picks just outside the lottery in the 15-18 range. In addition, the Nuggets have the draft pick swap rights with the New York Knicks this year, meaning that they can select from whichever pick is highest, while the other is sent to Toronto due to the Andrea Bargnani deal.

Tankathon projects the Nuggets to have an 11.1 percent chance at a top-three selection after this year’s draft lottery with their current odds, so while they aren’t great, the odds to land multiple high caliber players in this upcoming draft are very strong.

While players like Ben Simmons, Brandon Ingram, Jamal Murray, and Buddy Hield are the talk of the town, other players are slated to be high quality contributors for a long time. Two personal favorites, Timothé Luwawu and Denzel Valentine, would be well within reach, and they would provide the Nuggets more dynamic players on the wing to surround Mudiay, Harris, Jokic, and Nurkic.

4. An Aggressive General Manager

While Tim Connelly had a relatively quiet offseason this past summer, he’s a tireless worker in the draft process, and his results speak for themselves. He drafted and traded for the entire young core on the Nuggets roster, and each player has paid major dividends. Now, Connelly will be looking to make a bigger splash.

With so many accumulated assets and newfound cap space due to a new television rights deal, he has created a roster ripe to make a big deal.

Whether it’s to trade up in the draft for one of the aforementioned huge names (Simmons, Ingram), take a chance on an international star at the top of the draft (Dragan Bender), make a trade for a big name (Blake Griffin or DeMarcus Cousins anyone?) or sign a big-time free agent, the roster could use some consolidation.

The frontcourt is about to be very crowded. Nurkic and Lauvergne are under contract through the 2017-18 season, while Jokic and Kenneth Faried go to free agency after the following season. What of Darrell Arthur though? What of any possible draftees or free agents?

Connelly has stated that his biggest goal is to return the Nuggets to their winning ways, and while patience should certainly be preached, there are ways to accumulate more talent without winning too fast. Take the Phoenix Suns for example.

They were a team with a bright, bright future centered around the pairing of Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, but they won too quickly, changing the narrative and the expectations of a team that was not ready. Now, they are back at the bottom of the barrel looking for ways to fix their disastrous season.

The Nuggets can certainly prioritize winning, but not at the expense of their long term prospects, which brings me to the last piece of the puzzle.

5. A New Identity

There is no questioning who the new face of the Nuggets organization is. After Carmelo Anthony departed, the Nuggets lost their star, but not their face. George Karl became the face of the organization as a coach who preached the concept of team before self.

His fast-paced offense pushed the Nuggets to a 57-25 record in his last year, and when he was let go, the identity left with him. Shaw struggled to give the Nuggets an identity, but Malone has done the opposite. In the face of adversity, the young team has rallied behind its coach and never quit, even during such a difficult year in the win/loss column.

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The Nuggets will continue to search for a star player or hope that one develops from the current group, but as of now, the face of the franchise is Malone, a hard-working, basketball-loving, passionate coach who preaches attention to detail, strong defense, efficient offense, and taking pride in beating the opposition.

An example of Malone’s excellent grasp on the players cannot be seen any stronger than his treatment of Nurkic. It was widely expected that Nurkic would be handed back his starting position once he regained 100 percent health. This would not happen, as Nurkic has only received a bench role, and even received a string of DNP-CDs due to being unable to fully participate in practice.

Malone never gave in to the pressure of the fan base to see the young Bosnian in a larger role. He knew this was a teachable moment for not just Nurkic, but for the entire team and the entire city. Malone is the one in control, and the players that deserve to play and are making the effort to be complete professionals are the ones that will be featured come tip off.

Coach Brad Stevens of the Boston Celtics has commanded his troops in a similar way, and even though they struggled in their first year with Stevens at the helm, they landed a quality player in Marcus Smart, made a quality trade for Isaiah Thomas last year, and are now fighting for a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference in Stevens’ third season.

Malone has similarly struggled in his first year, but with the added improvements through the draft and time for the new team concepts to become old habits, Malone’s Nuggets will likely take a turn for the better very soon.

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Overall, the Denver Nuggets are a team brimming with potential. With two possible All-Rookie First Team players in Mudiay and Jokic leading the new charge on the court, veterans like Gallinari and Faried playing the role of the steady hand, a coach to push them forward, and a front office to add to the talent pool, the future looks bright in the Rocky Mountains.