Denver Nuggets: Best Move They Did, Didn’t Make
The Denver Nuggets continued to build a deep roster this offseason through the draft and free agency. What was the best move they made? And what move didn’t they make?
The Denver Nuggets are the exception to the rule in the NBA. Every offseason teams move draft picks and clear cap space for a run at a superstar, because stars win titles.
Without two or three players in the league’s upper echelon, a team isn’t going to win big. That’s old knowledge that every team in the league knows.
Yet the Denver Nuggets have spent this offseason the same way as they have for years: building quality depth while other teams go all out for stars. They have put together a roster 15-men deep, depth only the Utah Jazz could shake a stick at.
Which offseason move was their best? And where did they miss out?
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Best Move They Made: Drafting Jamal Murray And Juan Hernangomez
Denver is the rare lottery team with no holes in its lineup. Above-average players litter the rotation, with a mix of win-now veterans and young players with upside at every position.
Since trading Carmelo Anthony the Nuggets have zigged when the rest of the NBA zagged, loading their roster with rotation pieces. Rather than fight 29 other franchises for a star, they’ve cleared the roster of weaknesses.
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That allowed them to draft for value over need, and the Nuggets soaked up value with both of its picks early in the draft. The two most valuable commodities in the league are positional versatility and shooting.
Denver took two players who, in addition to being the best players available at the time they were picked, bring versatility and shooting to the team.
Jamal Murray entered the draft as a 19-year-old guard out of Draft University, also known as Kentucky. The highest Wildcat taken, Murray put up 20 points a game as a freshman, second in the nation among point guards.
Playing off the ball alongside Tyler Ulis, the high school point guard flexed his shooting wings, shooting 40.8 percent from long range.
With last year’s lottery pick Emanuel Mudiay running the point, Murray has the versatility to play alongside him much as he did at Kentucky. If Mudiay is hurt or Murray comes off the bench, he has playmaking skills to grow into a starting point guard.
While he was maligned during the pre-draft process for his lack of defensive ability, his effort was displayed on the biggest stages and his athleticism holds hope for the future.
Murray is young, and will not step into the league as a fully-formed player. But that upside is part of his value, the ability to grow into an even greater player. A sharpshooting 2-guard with playmaking abilities, a la C.J. McCollum in Portland, is a reasonable goal for him.
Something far greater could emerge as well. For New Orleans, a team desperately in need of upside players, to pass on him for a 22-year old Buddy Hield allowed Denver to make the right pick.
Juan Hernangomez doesn’t have the extreme upside Murray does, but his size and shooting raise his floor as well. With his ability to play the 3 or the 4, Hernangomez fits the modern mold for a forward.
A 7’2” wingspan provides the possibility of elite defensive ability to go alongside his offensive game.
Denver’s most accomplished player is Danilo Gallinari, a combo forward with range and a diverse offensive skill set. As he hits free agency next summer the Nuggets now have another option should Gallinari walk, an option that is 21 years old and still developing his game.
Versatility. Shooting. Upside. It’s hard to go wrong when packaging those attributes together, and Denver wisely picked such players in the draft. While teams around them fold when beset by injuries, the Nuggets have built the depth to withstand them.
If things break right for Murray and Hernangomez, they may have built much more than that.
Best Move They Didn’t Make: The Blockbuster Trade
Denver’s approach seems solid, amassing a full roster of good players without a rotational hole. Playing 41 games in the altitude of Denver with enough players to constantly be running and moving ensures a certain threshold of wins, as does the ability to keep rolling when injuries hit.
As the young players grow, the Nuggets will become a good team. If they banked on the right young players, they could see stars develop before their eyes and become a great one. But no one currently on the roster is a lock to become a star.
The bottom line in the NBA is that without a star, you can’t win a championship. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan — to win it all, you need a player who stands above his peers.
Even the 2004 Detroit Pistons had Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace; two fringe Hall of Famers and a perennial Defensive Player of the Year.
With young depth behind their veterans, the Nuggets have the pieces to make a blockbuster trade for a star. That’s not to say one was available, or that the asking price was reasonable, but the Nuggets have the goods to pull the trigger.
If the end goal is a star in Denver, the Nuggets didn’t accomplish that goal this offseason.
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Kevin Love would have been a possibility had Cleveland not won the title; even so, the Cavaliers would have been wise to listen to offers. Gallinari, Will Barton, and a pick for Love could be the framework for a trade both sides would benefit from.
A similar structure could have been presented to the Los Angeles Clippers. With Lob City’s meter running out next summer, the Clippers could have moved Griffin for a true stretch-4 and some backcourt help.
Chicago was said to be fielding offers for Jimmy Butler, an elite defensive wing who could fit onto any roster. If the Bulls agreed to rebuild, the Nuggets have draft assets and young players that could have accelerated the process for Chicago.
If they wanted to run it back, then Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, Will Barton, or Darrell Arthur could be play-now veterans packaged with future assets.
Finally, the Nuggets could have phoned up Sacramento, home of perennially disgruntled star DeMarcus Cousins.
The Kings have maintained they have confidence in new head coach Dave Joerger, but with all the drama Cousins has kicked up the last few years they most likely would listen to an offer.
Denver has young players in the backcourt and on the wing, places where Sacramento could use long-term assets. They have the pieces already in place to fill Cousins’ spot when he moves on.
For the Nuggets, they would have a true star-level player on the team, with a coach who came the closest of anyone to getting Cousins to buy in.
In the end Denver was patient this summer, and that isn’t a bad thing. But if other teams were willing to answer the phone, the Nuggets should have been calling. No weaknesses is a nice idea, and it will win them some games in the regular season.
Next: Sacramento Kings: Best Move They Did, Didn't Make
But to win a title, the Nuggets need a star. Where that star comes from is still to be determined.