Written by Jonathan Peter on October 3, 2022.
The Nuggets are back! Well, almost. The preseason has arrived and Denver plays their first game against the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight at Ball Arena.
“Championship” is a term which has been mentioned by members of the Nuggets organization, analysts, and fans (myself) when talking about this Nuggets squad. It’s fair to say aspirations surrounding the team are incredibly high and rightfully so. But, it’s important to remember that champions aren’t built overnight and this team has a lot of steps to go through before getting there.
Here are three areas to focus on while watching the team during the preseason.
The Starting Lineup
Seeing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back in the starting lineup brings me tears of joy. It’s been more than a full season since we’ve seen both Murray and Porter Jr. play live basketball. All of Nuggets nation is ready to welcome these two players back into the fold. It will also be nice to welcome offseason acquisition Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the lineup.
There is likely going to be some chemistry which needs to be developed or renewed amongst the starters. Mainly, the chemistry between Jokic and Murray will be something to watch for. I expect there to be flashes of the dominant two-man game which was a staple for the team’s offense prior to Murray’s injury, but there will probably be some growing pains as well.
Jokic had to take on much more of the offensive generation for the team in place of Murray’s absence and it worked out well for the Nuggets, posting a 115.2 offensive rating last season according to Basketball Reference. It will be interesting to see how the team operates with the return of Murray and MPJ. Will everything still run through Jokic? And how much offensive creation do the rest of the starters have to contribute?
The Bench/Rotation
Besides health, the biggest question mark surrounding the Nuggets has to be what will their bench unit look like. Nearly all of last season’s rotation players are not with the team anymore. Instead, new faces like Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, Ish Smith, and DeAndre Jordan fill the void.
I think we can pencil in Bruce Brown and Bones Hyland as guys that will play every night, but the rest of the rotation is up in the air. Will Christian Braun be able to solidify himself as the backup small forward or will that go to Davon Reed? Will Zeke Nnaji get to play over Jeff Green for power forward? Or will Nnaji play center minutes instead of DeAndre Jordan?
Despite all of the questions, that’s what the preseason is for. All of the players fighting for regular rotation minutes will play the majority of the time in the preseason. It will be important to take note of what works and how the different units jell together.
Energy
Energy is a subjective feeling to observe, but I think all championship caliber teams give off an aura that helps them be successful. A crucial area to watch is communication and how engaged all of the players are with each other.
The offense might come easier for this team because of the sheer amount of talent, but defense will be just as important. Generally, teams with elite defenses require the players to have solid communication and awareness skills. Let’s hope the Nuggets have those skills developed.
Overall, the Denver Nuggets appear to be in a good spot right now. Coach Michael Malone gave off an insightful answer about how this team feels different to him compared to past iterations. Malone’s comments are great to hear because off-court team chemistry is just as vital to the Nugget’s success as on-court chemistry is.
The preseason is the start of what should be an exciting season for this Denver Nuggets team.
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