Denver enters the 2015-16 season without lofty expectations for a playoff berth.
Key additions
- Emmanuel Mudiay
- Nikola Jokic
- Head coach Mike Malone
Key losses
- Ty Lawson
2015-16 Outlook
Kenneth Faried is locked in long-term, and the Nuggets recently re-signed veterans Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler on team-friendly deals. In the backcourt they’ve replaced Lawson, the speedy drive-and-kick-king, with the 6-5 Emmanuel Mudiay, a realistic early-ROY candidate despite his suspect jumper.
Sophomore Jusuf Nurkic may factor into the starting lineup discussion once healthy, but it’s likely the Nuggets roll out a starting five of Mudiay, Gallinari, Chandler, Faried, and Nikola Jokic.
Jokic is no joke. And neither is Joffrey Lauvergne. This Nuggets team is unlikely to win more than 30-35 games in the West, but at the same time they could easily finish with 20-30 wins. It’s a gauntlet of a conference once again, and some teams have to finish in the 20-30-win range.
In other words, the Nuggets don’t care that they are allowed to swap picks with the Knicks, and this year’s Nuggets’ success will not be measured by their win-loss total.
They have a new coach who has worked hard to build the trust of his team this off-season. They have a trio of young talented international centers, a potential two-way-star at lead guard, and two wings with experience and versatility.
Excluding the excitement surrounding Denver’s rookies, Faried is easily the most fascinating focal point for this Nuggets team. There’s no doubt he can make up for his inability to spread the floor offensively via his hustle and heady play, but if he’s going to man the four-spot defensively, he will be forced to step outside and switch onto guards and wings regularly along the perimeter.
If Faried is going to become the star that some imagined and live up to his team-high salary, he simply has to devote himself to becoming an elite, dare I say, daunting and devastatingly demonic Dennis Rodman-like-defender. Outside of developing a reliable jumper, which doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards, it’s his only hope for survival in the modern pace-and-space era.
The best-case scenario is for Gallinari to stay healthy, Faried to have a bounce-back campaign, and the plethora of pups to improve and learn the ropes day-by-day.
I love the veteran influences they have in place as backups (Jameer Nelson, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Darrell Arthur), but apart from Arthur I’m not sure any of them can be counted on to do much besides teach guys like Mudiay, Lauvergne, Jokic, Nurkic, Gary Harris, and Will Barton the tricks of the trade.
A hopefully healthy Gallinari galloping alongside the intimidating Mudiay shows signs of promise, but this young team is still a ways from playoff contention, and it will show—especially early on. Without a reliable shot to fall back on, Mudiay will make a lot of mistakes, and the team is relying on a lot of youth in starting Mudiay and Jokic.
Projected Record: 25-57
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