Denver Nuggets: Complete 2017 offseason grades

DENVER, CO - AUGUST 8: Darrell Arthur #00 and Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets and Rocky the Mountain Lion, mascot of the Denver Nuggets, pose for a photo during a jersey launch event on August 8, 2017 at the Denver Performing Arts Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images /

Overall

The Denver Nuggets were a team on the rise entering the offseason, in a way similar to the division rival Utah Jazz last season. The Jazz just missed out on the postseason in 2015-16, but with a young core and an elite focus, they built on their play to make the postseason the next season as the fifth seed.

The Nuggets can hope for a similar trajectory, with their team built around Nikola Jokic and an elite offense rather than the defense of the Jazz. After the Portland Trail Blazers and their new center Jusuf Nurkic beat out Denver for the eighth and final playoff berth, the Nuggets have many reasons to be optimistic about their chances this time around.

Paul Millsap is a perfect fit for what this team needed, and he was signed to a very team-friendly deal. That’s a huge win for a franchise that historically has struggled to attract free agents, and a sign of where this team is heading and how much of a draw NIkola Jokic is.

The offseason was not perfect, however, as the Nuggets threw a lot of resources at one hole. While it’s hard to be definitive before games have even started, it looks like Denver would have been better off with a player such as Donovan Mitchell instead of a pair of middling-upside power forwards in Trey Lyles and Tyler Lydon.

On the other hand, both Lyles and Lydon do have upside, and now the Nuggets have a number of options at a position where they struggled to find impact players behind the now-departed Danilo Gallinari. The Nuggets now go two-deep at every position on the roster (and about four or five deep at power forward), with many of those players young and still holding significant upside.

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This team is poised to go places, and with an All-Star added to the group the optimism is rightfully high.

Grade: B+

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