Denver Nuggets Team Review

 

2021-22 Finish: 50-32

 

Season Highlight:

The Nuggets had a really nice year, but I think there are two stories that stand above all else.

In a strong West 50 wins only got them the 8^th seed, but hey, it�s still playoffs. This would usually be somewhat of a buzzkill when you then have to face a team that was top of the league for record with 69 wins. However in an unprecedented occurrence of poor roster management and terrible injury luck, the #1 seeded San Antonio Spurs had to withdraw from the playoffs for not being able to field a fit 8 man roster. Say what you want about the decision, but this gave the Nuggets a free pass to the 2^nd round where they not only looked right at home, but they pushed the Grizzlies all the way to a win or go home Game 7 before eventually being surpassed. This was fitting, and shows they were worthy despite the free pass.

The other story has to be that Klay Thompson finally made his Nuggets debut, 2? 3? Years in the making. The GM sat patiently on seeing the Splash Brothers line up together and it happened. Now no looking back, please, Klay.

 

Season Lowlight:

The lowlight is pretty plain to see. Michael Porter Jnr fresh off signing a maximum extension and primed to make this an all round Splash Team once Klay was back, never looked anything like what earned him the max extension before bowing out on the season early in the piece leaving Steph to fend for himself for much of the year before Klay debuted. MPJ has all eyes on him looking for redemption this coming year now.

 

Best Trade:

Nuggets send: Taurean Prince, 2023 2^nd round pick and cash
Nuggets get: Serge Ibaka

The Nuggets were super quiet all year on the trade front with only a few small 2^nd round pick selling opportunities occurring before they finally sent out a player approaching the trade deadline to bolster the big man stocks. Bringing in Serge isn�t necessarily a boon, but they saved some lux tax cash and filled a need for the cheap price of Prince and a predicted late 2^nd.

 

Worst Trade:

Nuggets send: Future 2^nd round pick
Nuggets get: 10 GM points

Maybe the market was different at the time, but it seems ALL 2^nd round picks now fetch 25+ unless someone comes a calling and makes an off market bid. That said, no sending 2nds for cash is ever going to truly hurt.

 

Other Notable Trades:

None in the calendar year.

 

Free Agency:

The Nuggets had a bigger year last year but are usually well across the contract situation and so have all the main pieces well and truly locked away this coming offseason. They have a tough choice on their break out guy, Gary Payton II who doesn�t have Bird Years to help with the return but otherwise only have the now expired but bloated Sergie Ibaka deal leaving the books. If he walks, it�s much ado about nothing.

Serge Ibaka � UFA, should be an easy retain on the minimum if they so choose.

Gary Payton II � UFA, no bird years, contract larger than Tax Payer MLE, team will need to fit him into a Full MLE which would require a reduction of $25+mil in team salary to be awarded such an exception. Gone.

Jayden Scrubb � RFA, no deal in the NBA yet. Likely keep Rights.

Neemias Queta � RFA, 2way guy from last year has signed a new 2way deal, so will be 2way again here if he has his QO picked up. Staying.

 

Star:

Stephen Curry

Shock Horror! The star of this team is the now dual reigning MVP of the league where the man was the main reason why the league was trying to slow the 3pt shooting. Nothing slows this guy though as he dropped another 34 points per game with 4 rebounds and 4 assists, right through all the no MPJ and no Klay period. He shot 40% from deep with 855 attempts on the year. 50% from the field. 97% from the line and pitched in a steal to boot. This team would not have made 50 wins or the playoffs if it wasn�t for just one man.

 

Flop:

Michael Porter Jnr.

It�s not fun to pile on to a guy. He was mentioned as the season lowlight already and there�s not too much to add really. He signed a mx deal, was averaging 13 and 9 after doing so, was likely set for a ratings drop the way he started the NBA season and then went down and out after 12 games. It doesn�t get much more Flop than that. Now we forget and move on!

 

Draft Grades:

#20 � Patrick Baldwin Jr
#44 � Max Christie

I gave the picking of Baldwin an A despite it being a �reach� up from 28^th pick in the NBA. The Warriors in the NBA have a habit of picking these types and they seem to pan out into a career in most cases, so why not go with the success of the franchise and the landing spot and potentially cement a rotational wing for the future.

At 44, I also gave an A after Christie fell 9 spots from his NBA selection with the Lakers. In LA he�s going to have to fight with the 1 year vet crew that is perpetually surrounding Lebron, but he has good wing size, can shoot, can defend and he fits a Denver mould.

 

The Future:

The Nuggets will be running it back with a front line of Hernangomez, Powell and Serge to defend the rim and grab the rebounds as all the shots go to the Curry/Klay/Trent/MPJ shooting crew. It doesn�t get much more fun offensively with outside shooting than that line up and they have some solid depth and youth coming through to fill out the bench void also. If you come to Denver, you�re going to have to outscore them as it�s going to be full steam ahead on the offensive front with little defensive notoriety. With 14 guys under contract already, they won�t figure much in FA save for maybe trying to land that monster big man that every wants, most likely, and they�re set to all systems go.

C: Willy Hernangomez/Dwight Powell
PF: Michael Porter Jr/Serge Ibaka/Jalen Johnson
SF: Gary Trent/Keon Johnson/Patrick Baldwin Jr/Max Christie
SG: Klay Thompson/Pat Connaughton
PG: Stephen Curry/NahShon Hyland/Ayo Dosunmu