Denver Nuggets: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

The Denver Nuggets finished second in the Western Conference. They learned a lot in 2018-19, and they have to take those lessons forward into next season.

The Denver Nuggets‘ 2018-19 season came to an end last week, and it’s time to look back at how we got here. The team finished second in the Western Conference, and was knocked out of the playoffs after a hard-fought second round loss in Game 7 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite coming up a couple of rounds short of an NBA title, this season has to be considered a success after the Nuggets won their first playoff series in a decade.

Nikola Jokic made his first (likely of many) career All-Star teams. He even got some MVP buzz early in the season when the Nuggets were blowing teams out on a nightly basis. This youthful bunch was able to put together a solid year on the defensive end of the floor after relying on their offense to carry them last year. They also got a ton of valuable playoff minutes after entering the series with only Paul Millsap as a player with extensive playoff experience.

The team is about to have a good amount of cap space this offseason, and their young players are constantly improving. Last year’s first round draft pick, Michael Porter Jr., didn’t play a single minute while he recovering from a lingering back injury. This season showed a ton of promise for what this team can be because of what it learned in 2018-19.