What To Make of the Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets were supposed to be a young team with some questions defensively that wasn’t going to do much this season. However, at 6-5 and currently in seventh in the West, the question must be asked, what are we supposed to make of this Denver team? Can they make a bigger dent in the West than most expected?

Denver’s start to the season is no doubt surprising. With a frontcourt of Kenneth Faried and JJ Hickson, the Nuggets were expected to not be able to defend the basket very well.

So far, that has been the case, as they have a DRtg (Defensive Rating) of 105.8. They are 19th in the NBA in defensive efficiency and 23rd in opponent true shooting percentage. Although their young backcourt of Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris is strong defensively, it is difficult for them to compensate for the weak frontcourt, and that has resulted in the Nuggets giving up a lot of points, even in their wins.

The most positive signs for this team have been offensively. The star of the season so far has been the finally healthy, Italian swingman Danilo Gallinari. Fresh off a near triple-double performance against the Pelicans (32 pts, 8 rebs, 8asts), Gallinari has been the main offensive threat for Denver. Shooting 40 percent from three, he is able to spread the floor in a way the other Nuggets big men do not. But he is also versatile offensively, as he has done a lot of damage around the basket as well. While having eight assists isn’t the norm for Gallinari, he has also stepped up as a second facilitator in the starting lineup. Although his 27 years of age isn’t exactly young, being healthy has led to a resurgence for him and he has shown signs of emerging as a next-level player for Denver.

The lead facilitator of the team is rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who has delivered a lot of highlight-reel worthy plays in his short time in Denver so far. Coming out of the draft, Mudiay was seen as an absurdly athletic guard that had the facilitating abilities and speed to be a true modern point guard in the NBA. And that has been true so far, as Mudiay has done a great job of moving the basketball and finding tight openings, good for 6.4 APG, while also working very hard defensively, averaging over a steal per game.

But Mudiay still has a long way to go. Coming out of the draft, Mudiay was also seen as more potential than current product, as he lacked shooting ability and turned the ball over a lot. And that has also been true so far, as Mudiay is shooting a dismal 31 percent from the field and 27 percent from three, all while averaging 4.5 turnovers per game. So Mudiay has his ups and downs, but his early showings and the fact that Denver has given him the reigns of the offense should make Nuggets fans very excited.

The Nuggets are also receiving strong guard play from a couple other youngsters, namely sophomore first-round pick Gary Harris and Will Barton. Harris had a quiet first year last season but is starting to come into his own. He is only averaging 8.3 PPG, but he’s doing so quite efficiently, shooting 47 percent from the field and 45 percent from three. Harris is also a strong defender, and his shooting ability pairs very well with Mudiay’s lack thereof.

Will Barton has been a revelation for the Nuggets off the bench. Barton started his career in Portland and carved a spot out there despite being a second-round pick. He had a few solid performances with them but was then traded to Denver with a medley of other mediocre players for Arron Afflalo. But after what we’ve seen so far this year, Portland must be regretting sending him away, as Afflalo is in New York now and Barton is providing a lot of energy and scoring off the bench for the Nuggets.

Second on the team in scoring behind Gallinari, Barton is also shooting incredibly well, shooting 49 percent from the field and 46 percent from three. He is integral to the team’s scoring punch as he averages 27 MPG despite coming off the bench. He also rebounds well for a guard and doesn’t turn the ball over much, all while being very active on the defensive end as he leads the team in steals. Players like Barton are what you hope to find when a team goes into rebuilding mode, and it looks like Denver may have found a diamond in the rough in him.

To recap, the biggest factors for Denver’s early success have been the scoring punch brought by players like Gallinari, Barton, Faried, and Harris, along with Mudiay’s playmaking ability.

But should other West teams be worried about a possible rise in Denver this year? No, I don’t think so. Mainly because their wins haven’t been too impressive this season.

The Nuggets’ wins have come against the now-without-a-permanent-head-coach Houston Rockets twice, the Lakers, Portland, Milwaukee, and the 1-10 Pelicans. Not the best combination of teams right there.

And when they’ve lost, they’ve lost badly. Each of their five losses have been by double digits, for an average scoring margin of 18.4. The Nuggets aren’t strong enough defensively to compete with the best teams yet, and that is why I believe they will fade out of the playoff race as they face stiffer competition. But there have been a lot of positives for the Nuggets and their fan base this year, and the potential shown by their young players points to a brighter future on the horizon.