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

1. Stay healthy

It’s a boring answer, I know. But in a season in which Denver missed the playoffs, they had a long list of unfortunate injuries. The 2016-17 season was a breakout one for Gary Harris, but it also began with a groin injury during preseason and a foot injury that sidelined him at the start of the season.

The Nuggets’ seventh overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, Mudiay, suffered from back problems that cost him a lot of valuable time on the floor after Jokic became the starter. His injury would ultimately cost him his spot in the rotation.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

Speaking of back problems, the Nuggets’ spark plug and beast on the boards, Kenneth Faried, went down with severe back spasms in February. He would return to action in mid-March, but the Nuggets missed his presence on the glass in the interim. In fact, some of those missed games overlapped with another key injury, Danilo Gallinari.

Gallinari has had an injury-plagued career. It’s unfortunate, given that at his peak, Gallo can score at an All-Star level. Since the departure of Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets needed everything they could get out Gallinari. He would emerge as the team’s most important offensive player. That was true again last season, when he led the team in scoring. Losing him for an extended period and at the same time as Faried really hurt Denver’s playoff chances.

The list doesn’t stop there. In addition to Mudiay, the Nuggets have another young guard who they hold in high regard after drafting him seventh overall. Rookie Jamal Murray stepped up big time and played in all 82 games of the season. The problem his, he played all 82 of those games with not one, but two sports hernias!

Every team deals with injuries, and the Nuggets would surely make zero excuses for missing the playoffs last year. They controlled their own destiny, and they let the final spot slip away. But injuries clearly held them back as they made their playoff push.

Next: NBA Trade Grades - Cavaliers send Kyrie Irving to Celtics

The West is stacked, but the Nuggets are ready to turn the corner themselves. If this team can stay healthy, improve on defense, minimize those turnovers and step it up in their division, they’ll have a really good chance of securing a decent seed in this postseason. Oh and one more thing: maybe don’t do any trades with Portland this year?