Denver Nuggets: Complete 2018 offseason grades
By Max Carlin
The Denver Nuggets had an eventful summer, retaining key free agents and making exciting upside plays, but it’s unclear if the team improved in the short- or long-term.
The Denver Nuggets’ 2017-18 campaign was impossibly close to being an overwhelming success.
Alas, injuries to star players and the unfortunate reality of playing in the NBA’s Western Conference conspired to prevent Denver from reaching the postseason yet again.
Nuggets management entered the summer of 2018 with a very good, young team. A few immense hurdles obstructed Denver’s path back to success, however.
Superstar center Nikola Jokic’s contract situation needed sorting. Invaluable reserve Will Barton was headed for unrestricted free agency. A potentially enormous luxury tax payment loomed.
Just over a month after the NBA’s free agency period opened, Denver appears done. Jokic is under contract for five more years, Barton for three or four (he owns a player option on the fourth year of his deal), the luxury tax has been evaded.
The hurdles have been cleared, Denver’s roster seems set.
Those three facts stand above all else, yet Denver’s offseason was far from limited to those moves. Denver added a former top recruit in June’s Draft and a former MVP candidate in July’s free agency. It’s been an eventful summer in the Mile High City.