Denver Nuggets 2015 Offseason Grade

Darrell Arthur might still be re-signed, but there’s likely not much left on the Nuggets’ summer agenda.

In

Nikola Jokic—three years, $4 million

Wilson Chandler—four years, 46.5 million deal

Will Barton—three years, $10.6 million

Jameer Nelson—three years, $13.6 million

Joey Dorsey—via trade

Nick Johnson—via trade

Kostas Papanikolaou—via trade

Coach Mike Malone

Out

Ty Lawson—traded to Houston

Ian Clark—signed w Golden State

Jamaal Franklin—waived

Coach Melvin Hunt

Draft

Emmanuel Mudiay—7^th overall

Overview

Having found a taker for Ty Lawson, the Nuggets will be Mudiay’s team to run from day one. Some of the reasons the physically gifted guard wasn’t selected earlier than seventh make sense, and in a decently deep draft some players simply had to fall, but I was astonished to see Mudiay drop to Denver.

I understand the Wolves drafting Karl Towns. With fresh memories of Michael Carter-Williams’ broken jumper in the rear-view-mirror, the Sixers opting for Jahlil Okafor makes sense. The Lakers taking D’Angelo Russell could simply indicate a preference for floor spacing, as Mudiay hasn’t flashed the flamethrower we’ve seen from Russell. The Knicks picking Kristaps Porzingis was puzzling given Phil Jackson’s postseason twitter rant, but the lean Latvian has undeniable upside. Orlando making Mario Hezonja their man feels like a smart move given their lack of perimeter shooting. Sacramento selecting Willey Cauley-Stein over Mudiay before trading away their future in order to sign Rajon Rondo seems backwards and shortsighted, but alas, the Kings. At the end of the day, Mudiay could very well win Rookie of the Year, be the steal of the draft, and become a star in this league.

Beyond landing a potential stud via the draft, the Nuggets maintained future flexibility while retaining Chandler and Gallinari (three year, $45 million extension). Both are versatile veterans that may prove worthy of those cushy contracts.

Re-signing Jameer Nelson until he’s 35 might be a bit questionable, but overall the Nuggets have mostly made sound decisions this off-season. It will be interesting to see what coach Mike Malone can muster up from this mix of vets and youth, and how he uses Kenneth Faried. There’s a chance they choose to play small-ball, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Denver roll out a starting lineup of Mudiay-Chandler-Gallo-Faried-Nurkic. The Nuggets own the higher first-round pick between themselves and the Knicks, and while Denver is destined to finish towards the bottom of the Western Conference in 2015-16, at least they didn’t mortgage their future in the process.

Offseason Grade: B