How is the loss of Jeff Green meaningful? Did you watch any Nuggets games last season? The only meaningful loss was Bruce Brown and that’s because the Pacers quintupled his annual salary. They won the championship and they lost no starters and just one bench player. That’s amazing. They are counting on better play from guys they drafted like Jamal, MPJ, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. They drafted over-aged guys so they would be ready to play straight away. But you think that all sucks because 37 year old 8th man Jeff Green left?
Like 2023, the media favored suns Lakers warriors and the new darling Bucks. Sooperteams and all. But I'm happy with that because I'm thinking like 2023, 2024 will roll with all the hoopla. And the nuggets committee will silently steam roll through the 82 games. Nuggets end up running their own shit right n tight bec they are a disciplined group focused unlike all the light and noise with other teams. I don't give any credence to what these sports media dummies sas, Malika, nick wrong, Perkins, etc. So I'm here saying Nuggets to the finish line! Go Serbia15 and Jamal. Go nuggets committee. The young lions are back on the prowl and hungry with the fire in their bellies to claw their way back to the NBA summit 2024! Mabuhay!
Playoff's always show the true player you are, hey Embiid. Nuggets don't need more attention, less is better. Bias Media can talk about them when the playoff's start. 3 of the 5 starter are draft picks. Why wouldn't they be high on there draft picks.
Best way to think of denver's offseason is from a GM perspective.
If you offered every other GM they chance to win a championship and the cost is in that off-season, lose the 6th and arguably 7th best players for the next season. They'd ask what they have to do for that scenario to happen?
Making a prediction about the future in sports (or life anywhere) seems like a vert thinly veiled way of asking for conditional approval. No one knows what's actually going to happen one second into the future. Playing make believe a out the future seems like putting on a colorful costume and dancing around saying "look at me!"
It doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the "prediction" but everything to do with the "look at me!" part, in my opinion 🦚
This is what the real basketball fans want, unbiased talk on players and game in general. ESPN sports analysts are always talking about LeBron and do not give fair analysis of the game. Last season their focus was on Lakers winning the championship and Nuggets bundled them out at WCF 4/0 and they did not respect the Nuggets, they were rooting Miami to win the Finals. Up load more videos because the fans want to watch fair talks on basketball not from those delusional fanboys of LeBron.
I'm not worried about anything other than the loss of Bruce Brown. Honestly, other than veteran leadership, I kinda view the loss of Jeff Green as addition by subtraction. I still think the starting lineup is the best in basketball, and the gap wasn't close until maybe the Dame trade, the Beal trade, and the Jrue/Kristaps trades. Last year the 5 starters were collectively a +2345 on the season. For comparison, the starting 5 of the Celtics were +1713, the Bucks were +1657, the 76ers were a +1402, and surprisingly, a team like the Warriors were just a +909.
The only reason other teams were even competitive with the Nuggets was because our bench was terrible. Bruce Brown was the only net positive at +54 and everyone else was a negative. As opposed to the other teams mentioned, most of whom had several bench players who were +100 or even better.
So the two big questions heading into this season for me are this: 1. How much did the Bucks/Celtics/Suns trades close the gap in starting lineups and 2. Can the Nuggets rookies/sophomores/FA signings create a bench that can come close to being a net neutral? We don't need them to be world beaters, we just need them to hold serve until the starters can get back in there.
As far as the answers to those questions, my guess is that: 1. the gap has probably closed significantly in starting lineup quality. I still think the Nuggets have the best, but the Bucks, Suns, and Celtics are gonna be right there with them (their benches also got significantly worse, so keep that in mind as well).
2. The Nuggets bench is actually going to be better than last year despite losing Bruce Brown. I'm REALLY high on our two sophomores Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, especially defensively. Those two are gonna be absolute menaces on that end of the court. Braun honestly reminds me a lot of Alex Caruso except he is a little bigger and has more offensive upside. I'm also pretty high on our rookies, although Hunter Tyson is the only one I feel confident in having an immediate impact. I really like his ability as a scorer on offense, especially as a spot up 3 point shooter. He'll give the bench some spark. And I think Justin Holiday is going to have a late career resurgence if he can play a good chunk of his minutes with Jokic. He's never had a playmaker of that caliber, and Jokic always takes players like that and makes them 5-10% more efficient at scoring. The one thing that scares me is our lack of a quality backup PG. I think the Reggie Jackson signing was a big mistake and I'm not sure he can be the guy. If he can't, I've just got to hope that Jalen Pickett or Collin Gillespie can fill that role, or hope we make a midseason trade to acquire one. Because I don't want Murray to have to play a ton of minutes with the bench like he did last year.
Overall, I still think the Nuggets should be the favorites despite what's happened this offseason. It may be naive to say, but none of the teams in the West scare me much, not even the Lakers or the Suns. In the East, the Bucks and Celtics are scary for sure. But one team is really old and injury prone, and the other has proven over and over again to be playoff chokers and I'm not sure how well their new additions will fit alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
They picked up Justin Holiday one of Jrues brothers whos also excellent defender and great shooter justin & Chtis Braun both will take turns filling. In for the losses. Of Bruce and Jeff
One thing thats extremely underrated with this season and the new CBA?
Denver doesn't have 2 All Stars from the previous 3 seasons, so they can rest or "load management" as much as they want down the stretch unlike other teams who will be near them in the standings. Thats very underrated, and should be a reason for Denver to come out as hot as possible so they can rest down the stretch after Murray gets to his first All Star Game.
12 Comments
How is the loss of Jeff Green meaningful? Did you watch any Nuggets games last season? The only meaningful loss was Bruce Brown and that’s because the Pacers quintupled his annual salary. They won the championship and they lost no starters and just one bench player. That’s amazing. They are counting on better play from guys they drafted like Jamal, MPJ, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. They drafted over-aged guys so they would be ready to play straight away. But you think that all sucks because 37 year old 8th man Jeff Green left?
If Jamal and MPJ stay healthy I think they're going to win 60+ games. Both should have career years, and the bench will be better
How are they not the favorites?
Like 2023, the media favored suns Lakers warriors and the new darling Bucks. Sooperteams and all. But I'm happy with that because I'm thinking like 2023, 2024 will roll with all the hoopla. And the nuggets committee will silently steam roll through the 82 games. Nuggets end up running their own shit right n tight bec they are a disciplined group focused unlike all the light and noise with other teams. I don't give any credence to what these sports media dummies sas, Malika, nick wrong, Perkins, etc. So I'm here saying Nuggets to the finish line! Go Serbia15 and Jamal. Go nuggets committee. The young lions are back on the prowl and hungry with the fire in their bellies to claw their way back to the NBA summit 2024! Mabuhay!
Playoff's always show the true player you are, hey Embiid. Nuggets don't need more attention, less is better. Bias Media can talk about them when the playoff's start. 3 of the 5 starter are draft picks. Why wouldn't they be high on there draft picks.
Best way to think of denver's offseason is from a GM perspective.
If you offered every other GM they chance to win a championship and the cost is in that off-season, lose the 6th and arguably 7th best players for the next season. They'd ask what they have to do for that scenario to happen?
Just keep Burek and 2L Bottles of Eldeflower Fanta away from Jokić, and you have yourself another championship.
Jamal is freakin good, ide say the best duo in basketball right now, but I am AbSerbly biased.
😉
Making a prediction about the future in sports (or life anywhere) seems like a vert thinly veiled way of asking for conditional approval. No one knows what's actually going to happen one second into the future. Playing make believe a out the future seems like putting on a colorful costume and dancing around saying "look at me!"
It doesn't seem like it has anything to do with the "prediction" but everything to do with the "look at me!" part, in my opinion 🦚
This is what the real basketball fans want, unbiased talk on players and game in general. ESPN sports analysts are always talking about LeBron and do not give fair analysis of the game. Last season their focus was on Lakers winning the championship and Nuggets bundled them out at WCF 4/0 and they did not respect the Nuggets, they were rooting Miami to win the Finals. Up load more videos because the fans want to watch fair talks on basketball not from those delusional fanboys of LeBron.
I'm not worried about anything other than the loss of Bruce Brown. Honestly, other than veteran leadership, I kinda view the loss of Jeff Green as addition by subtraction. I still think the starting lineup is the best in basketball, and the gap wasn't close until maybe the Dame trade, the Beal trade, and the Jrue/Kristaps trades. Last year the 5 starters were collectively a +2345 on the season. For comparison, the starting 5 of the Celtics were +1713, the Bucks were +1657, the 76ers were a +1402, and surprisingly, a team like the Warriors were just a +909.
The only reason other teams were even competitive with the Nuggets was because our bench was terrible. Bruce Brown was the only net positive at +54 and everyone else was a negative. As opposed to the other teams mentioned, most of whom had several bench players who were +100 or even better.
So the two big questions heading into this season for me are this: 1. How much did the Bucks/Celtics/Suns trades close the gap in starting lineups and 2. Can the Nuggets rookies/sophomores/FA signings create a bench that can come close to being a net neutral? We don't need them to be world beaters, we just need them to hold serve until the starters can get back in there.
As far as the answers to those questions, my guess is that: 1. the gap has probably closed significantly in starting lineup quality. I still think the Nuggets have the best, but the Bucks, Suns, and Celtics are gonna be right there with them (their benches also got significantly worse, so keep that in mind as well).
2. The Nuggets bench is actually going to be better than last year despite losing Bruce Brown. I'm REALLY high on our two sophomores Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, especially defensively. Those two are gonna be absolute menaces on that end of the court. Braun honestly reminds me a lot of Alex Caruso except he is a little bigger and has more offensive upside. I'm also pretty high on our rookies, although Hunter Tyson is the only one I feel confident in having an immediate impact. I really like his ability as a scorer on offense, especially as a spot up 3 point shooter. He'll give the bench some spark. And I think Justin Holiday is going to have a late career resurgence if he can play a good chunk of his minutes with Jokic. He's never had a playmaker of that caliber, and Jokic always takes players like that and makes them 5-10% more efficient at scoring. The one thing that scares me is our lack of a quality backup PG. I think the Reggie Jackson signing was a big mistake and I'm not sure he can be the guy. If he can't, I've just got to hope that Jalen Pickett or Collin Gillespie can fill that role, or hope we make a midseason trade to acquire one. Because I don't want Murray to have to play a ton of minutes with the bench like he did last year.
Overall, I still think the Nuggets should be the favorites despite what's happened this offseason. It may be naive to say, but none of the teams in the West scare me much, not even the Lakers or the Suns. In the East, the Bucks and Celtics are scary for sure. But one team is really old and injury prone, and the other has proven over and over again to be playoff chokers and I'm not sure how well their new additions will fit alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
They picked up Justin Holiday one of Jrues brothers whos also excellent defender and great shooter justin & Chtis Braun both will take turns filling. In for the losses. Of Bruce and Jeff
One thing thats extremely underrated with this season and the new CBA?
Denver doesn't have 2 All Stars from the previous 3 seasons, so they can rest or "load management" as much as they want down the stretch unlike other teams who will be near them in the standings. Thats very underrated, and should be a reason for Denver to come out as hot as possible so they can rest down the stretch after Murray gets to his first All Star Game.