Denver Nuggets: 5 keys to making the playoffs in 2017-18

5. Win the division

The Nuggets narrowly missed out on the playoffs after a last second leap-frog by the Portland Trail Blazers. To make matters worse, the Blazers’ own playoff push was the result of a them fleecing Denver in a trade for Jusuf Nurkic.

After a failed experiment of keeping Nurkic and Jokic on the court at the same time, Jokic and Nurkic swapped roles. The Serbian sensation became the starter and the Bosnian Beast was relegated to the bench.

He became unhappy and a trade made sense for both parties. Denver had a talented player on their hands, but no room to play him and Jokic together, so they pretty much handed him to a division rival. It cost them a playoff spot.

Now the Blazers are ready to run it back for a full season of Dame, C.J. and Nurk. Portland is a far cry from the Houstons, OKCs and San Antonios of the West, but they’re a competitive team. Denver can expect them to also make a push for those final few playoff spots. They’ll need to take care of business in those head-to-head match ups.

Nuggets fans will remember the Nurkic trade and that final loss to Portland all too well, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of their divisional woes. Denver actually split the season series with Portland 2-2, but that didn’t help their overall record in the division.

The Nuggets finished 6-10 against teams from the Northwest Division. That was the second-worst record among teams in the division, ahead of only the last-place Timberwolves.

Denver Nuggets

But Minnesota obviously improved its roster this offseason. The acquisition of Jimmy Butler should launch them from a non-playoff team to a team hoping to score a decent seed in this year’s Western Conference playoffs. Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns have drawn direct comparisons on NBA Twitter, and the two teams are being lumped together as ones primed for a successful future.

The head-to-head matchups will be fascinating, but also extremely important. If Denver finds itself fighting for a playoff spot, these two teams could be directly in their way.

Capitalizing on those matchups will be key, as the top of the division will likely be occupied by the new-look Thunder. Westbrook didn’t need any help to shatter the hearts of Nuggets fans on more than one occasion last season, but now he has it. The Thunder have arguably the two best players in the entire conference. The Nuggets lost three of those matchups last year, and they won’t be any easier this time around.

The only team in the Northwest that didn’t improve was Utah. The loss of Gordon Hayward is unquestionably detrimental to a team that was on the uprise. That said, Utah finished 31-21 against a loaded West last year. Hayward or not, this team should still be competitive.

There will be no breaks for Denver in this Northwest Division, and at least two teams will be fighting for very similar playoff spots. A lack of success within the division helped cost the Nuggets a playoff spot last year. They’ll need to fix that.