NBA Power Rankings: Nuggets & Thunder BEST IN WEST, who is Celtics top challenger? | Hoops Tonight
Jason Timpf continues his NBA power rankings with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. Jason discusses why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and OKC are ready to make their NBA Finals push after an offseason in which they added Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein. Later, Jason breaks down whether Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Denver will avenge last season’s playoff failure and return to championship status.
Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
01:45 – #3: Oklahoma City Thunder
23:48 – #2: Denver Nuggets
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#nba #nuggets #thunder #denvernuggets #oklahomacitythunder #okcthunder #okc #nikolajokic #sga #shaigilgeousalexander #chetholmgren #jamalmurray #nbaplayoffs #nbafinals #nbabasketball #nbahighlights #basketball #sports
30 Comments
Mailbag question: What do you think about the Warriors trading for Jonas Valincunis BTW love the show
Am I the only one who doesn't see OKC as being as dominant as projected? Especially in the West, I don't see what really makes them stand out head and shoulders above the rest of the teams. (Hot take, I know.)
Okc roster overall is much more athletic than Denver and imo thats gonna be a separating factor between the two… I know Jokic is amazing and they already won a championship and Gordon/Watson provide athleticism but just looking at the matchup up and down the roster I think it clearly favors Okc especially now with IHart to matchup with Jokic
OKC is head and shoulders better than Denver 💀
Damn Jason is the only one not sleeping on Denver
Nuggets fan here that thinks you've got Denver ranked too high, Jason. I understand the Nuggets have shown their core can win a championship in dominant fashion and they have the best player in the league. I don't take the losses of Bruce Brown and KCP to be as serious a setback as a lot of national analysts seem to think it is. My hesitation comes from a concern for Jamal Murray's health. He's just always banged up. I think the Nuggets 'window' opened in 2020 and is still open. But Murray's injuries cost the Nuggets legitimate chances to win a chip in 2021, 2022 and last postseason. When he's right he's fire in the playoffs, He just can't seem to stay healthy.
Denver at 2 is a joke, they should be 8th. Genuinely 2 players who can hit a 3 and 4 total good players. This entire video was talking about major faults with Denver, dismissing the faults without reasons, then not making an argument about the team being good. Also saying Braun is close to kcp is just lying to make a point
Jason got Denver as top 3 and they just lost to the suns without booker, kd, Beal, tyus, nurk, grayson, okogie and they were fully healthy 😂 bad timing for this video but it's crazy how Jason ignores the suns he hasn't covered a game from them only game he did cover was a lakers game of course, suns basketball is way more entertaining than lakers or nuggets ball this season and ryan dunn is the steal of the draft
Mailbag: Jokic still hasn't been shooting the ball well with the Olympics and pre-season as a continuing sample size and Jamal Murray is already showing signs of conditioning and injury issues. Everything coming out of the Nuggets org is basically screaming that they're going to be taking it slow. I understand having the Nuggets as obvious contenders with the absurd floor they have, but I believe projecting them this high up is really not taking into account that the chance of failure is so much higher than last year. The Nuggets no longer have the perfect 4 around Jokic, Murray has showed more signs of declining, and Jokic is no longer heads and shoulders undisputed best in the world.
Jason hates the Wolves, face it. He was flabbergasted when they swept the Suns
Jason, you claim to be a big Ant-Man fan and think he is the future face of the NBA. I'm not sure if you've seen the Netflix show, but he doesn't come off very well. Extremely immature.
OKC has passed the Nuggets. Caruso & Hartenstein are fantastic additions. Losing KCP hurts with nothing in return.
Dude hates the Wolves. He even said that the Lakers have a chance to beat the Wolves in the playoffs this year.
All I know is you have C’s at one ☺️💚
Uh oh! Nuggets picked up another, shorter aaron Gordon to replace their elite 3andD combo guard 😂😂😂😂 oh yeah and we forgot about christian Braun 😂😂😂😂
Remember when wolves beat Denver by 50 after sweeping the Suns??? He was like, "I was completely wrong about the Wolves…" 😂😂😂 Bro you're a clown and so biased.
I like it better when everyone is sleeping on the Nuggets .. you can tell Jason is smart cuz he can see the forest thru the trees and is not effected by group think
imagine if Westbrook can win a chip with Nuggets, his legacy would be partially saved.
How does Josh Giddy pair with Lonzo when he comes back?
Nuggets are ranked too high – jamal is already hurt his knee is hurt was icing it already, jokic looks out of shape and doesn’t look like his shot has came back, Braun is poor offensively and not as good on defense as kcp monte Morris lit Braun up right now the lakers are better than the nuggets
Mailbag:
What do you think is the minimum amount of defensive talent to win the championship in terms of good, average, and bad defenders? We saw the 2023 Nuggets win the championship with 3 average-ish defenders in Murray, MPJ, and Jokic. They had a good perimeter/guard defender in KCP and a good versatile forward defender in Gordon. We saw a similar sort of roster construction with the 2024 Mavericks, who made it to the finals with bad defender Luka, average defender Kyrie, good perimeter defender DJJ, good wing defender P.J. Washington, and good rim protector Gafford/Lively. Can you win 4 playoff rounds with a bad defender if your scheme is good enough? Or do you think that the more equal opportunity teams like the Celtics will make it so that 5 average to good defenders are a must have to win the title?
Thanks Jason, love the show as always. Keep up the good work.
This guy is in love with jokic😂😂😂
Jamal Murray sucked last season, the Olympics, and preseason what makes people think he’s good enough to be a number two giy
Awesome rev on both okc and nuggets. Much appreciated. If it's an okc v nugs on the ECF this coming season. I'm gonna be watching it!
Tim Connelly put together a good starting lineup for the Nuggets but Booth has failed at cobbling together a good supporting cast.
Minna sota with an Ant go bear candle Randle, Reid power and Donte West winners also Dill and Minott Garza
How tf is Dallas not #2??
This Luka hate from all you media ppl is damn obvious.
Hey Jason ( love the content ) mailbag question – could you do a list of the best role players in the nba maybe top 20/25
Damn, naming the 6’4 perimeter defenders who are built like trucks and no mention of Jrue Holiday?
I’m surprised that Denver is above Oklahoma City. They’re deeper, younger, have more skill and versatility than Denver. Also, from the Olympics and playoffs Murray had a rough stretch. I guess I can see why he gives them a bump with Jokic, but I personally I don’t think they’re one of the 2-3 best teams in the west coming into the year. At some point they’re gonna need more floor spacing and defensive versatility.