Nuggets Season Preview Team Chapter: Return to the Championship? Let s talk about the bad defense first

Review of the 2024-25 season, the Nuggets achieved a record of 50 wins and 32 losses, and advanced to the playoffs as fourth in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Nuggets eliminated the Clippers 4-3 in the first round and lost to the Thunder 3-4 in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Since winning the championship in 2023, the Nuggets have been out of the Western Conference semi-finals for two consecutive years, and in 24 years they lost to the Timberwolves 3-4.

The main operations during the offseason are

to be regular Adelman Jr. In May this year, the Nuggets officially became Adelman Jr., making him the official coach of the team. After Mike Malone was dismissed at the end of the regular season last season, Adelman Jr. was appointed as the team's interim coach. His results in leading the team were convincing. The team won all the last three regular season games. After entering the playoffs, the team fought against their opponents for seven consecutive games. After the season, the management chose to turn him into a regular basis, which is reasonable.

sent away Porter Jr. and replaced Cameron Johnson. During this offseason, the Nuggets and Nets reached a deal to send Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected first round in 2032, in exchange for Cameron Johnson. This is a good operation for the Nuggets. It got rid of Porter Jr.'s big contract and exchanged for a high-quality striker. The price of an unprotected first round is not small, but it is a price that must be paid. If you don't give anything, why should the Nets get Porter Jr.'s big contract and give Huang Zhong to you?

After completing this deal, the Nuggets still maintained their combat effectiveness despite significantly reducing their salary. Michael Porter Jr. averaged 18.2 points, 7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season, but only averaged 9.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game in the playoffs. His salary in the next two years will be: $38.33 million and $40.81 million respectively.

Cameron Johnson played 57 times for the Nets last season, averaging 31.6 minutes, scoring 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.4 blocks and 0.9 steals, shooting percentage of 47.5%, three-point shooting percentage of 39.0%, and free throw shooting percentage of 89.3%. His salary in the next two years is: $2,054 and $22.5 million.

The annual basic salary (3.08 million yuan) was signed back to Bruce Brown. Two years later, Bruce Brown returned to the Nuggets, who was the Nuggets' champion in 2023. After making a fortune, he joined the Pacers with a two-year, large contract of 45 million. Now that he has made money, he has returned to Denver.

Last season, Brown played for the Raptors and Pelicans, playing a total of 41 games, averaging 8.3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists per game. At the age of 29, he is still in his playing age and is likely to serve as Murray's substitute after returning to the Nuggets. The Nuggets' system is very familiar to him, and it is not a problem to get it done.

Brown has an advantage of being flexible in position. Although he is only 1.93 meters and has been playing guards in the past two years, he can play forwards. In the 22-23 season, he played as a small forward in the Nuggets.

The annual basic salary (3.63 million yuan) was signed to Hardaway Jr. By signing a substitute musket with a basic salary contract, the Nuggets completed an operation of spending a small amount of money to do big things. Hardaway Jr. is 33 years old, but he still has oil in the fuel tank. Last season, he still averaged 11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.

Saric exchanges Valan for single. It was a win-win deal, with the Nuggets introducing Jokic's strong substitute, while the Kings lowered their salary, Varan's contract had two years left and 20.4 million, and Saric had 5.43 million a year left. The process of the deal was tortuous because Valan once wanted to go back to Europe to play, but the Nuggets eventually convinced the players to stay in the NBA and secured his $10 million salary for the last year, and the final result was very good.

After signing Valan, the thickness of the Nuggets' center position has been significantly enhanced. In addition to Valan, Daron Holmes II, who was reimbursed for the rookie season, will also make a comeback in the new season.

Current lineup

defenders: Jamal Murray, Hardaway Jr., Braun, Payton Watson, Bruce Brown, Pickett, Curtis Jones (two-way), Bates (two-way)

Forwards: Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, Nagy, Strauser, Hunter Tyson, Spencer Jones (two-way)

Inside: Jokic, Valan, Daron Holmes II

New season preview

The thickness of the lineup has increased significantly, and the Nuggets have returned to the championship ranks?

The Nuggets had an obvious problem last season, that is, the substitute lineup was weak. Last season, they mainly rotated 7 players in the playoffs, including five major starters, including Murray, Braun, Porter Jr., Gordon, and Jokic. After winning the championship in 23 years, the Nuggets played fewer and fewer. In the summer of 23 years, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green left, and Pope left last summer. There is a reason why the team has been out of the Western Conference semi-finals for two consecutive years.

While firing Mike Malone in April, the Nuggets also fired General Manager Booth. This summer, the team's new management team is quite enterprising and replaced Porter Jr. The team's starting lineup is still very strong. At the same time, they significantly reduced their salary through Porter Jr., and took this opportunity to introduce Valan, and Jokic had a reliable substitute. The outside team also added Hardaway Jr. and Brown.

After a series of operations, the Nuggets' lineup has increased greatly. They can achieve 9-man rotation in the playoffs. Murray, Braun, Johnson, Gordon, and Jokic have started five major starts, Brown on the outside, Hardaway Jr., Watson on the inside, and Valan on the inside. Strauser, the No. 29 pick in 23, has also improved in the past two years, and he is expected to play a bigger role in the new season.

Nuggets can now be said to be strong, have superstars, have enough playoff experience, and have a deep lineup. They will return to the championship ranks in the new season and try to recreate their 23-year glory..

Improved defense

The Nuggets' defense last season can be described as a bad one. The regular season defense efficiency is 115.1 (lost points in a hundred rounds), and the league is 21st. Among the teams with defensive efficiency ranks in the bottom 10 of the league, they are the only teams that have made it to the playoffs. After entering the playoffs, the data is slightly better, with a defensive efficiency of 114.8, ranking 10th among 16 playoff teams.

For the Nuggets, they have organizational masters like Jokic. Main point guard Murray has averaged more than 6 assists per game in the past three seasons, so there is no need to worry about offense. But if you want to compete for the championship, your defense cannot be too bad. After losing to the Kings on April 7, then-head coach Mike Malone talked about this issue: "You know, obviously it's the defensive end. I've said countless times. This is the most disappointing part of this year. Our defensive level has dropped sharply. You can't just rely on offense. Today we only made 13 mistakes with 33 assists, we scored 120 points, 76 points in the penalty area, and 15 points in the fast break, but we still lost because we didn't defend our opponents."

If the Nuggets want to compete for the championship, then they must take practical actions to improve their defense.

Record& ranking forecast

After vigorously strengthening, the Nuggets have already had a new look, and such a team really makes fans look forward to it. If the second round is eliminated for two consecutive years, it will become the motivation for the team, if they can improve their defense to the middle and upper level of the league, coupled with their strong hard strength, the Nuggets are expected to become one of the strongest teams in the league in the new season.

In my opinion, the Nuggets are expected to win about 58 wins in the new season and win the top two in the Western Conference.