Does anyone even stand a hope against the Nuggets next year?

[MavsDirk41]

IMO, Nuggets are one of the 5 weakest championship teams since 2000. I doubt they're going to repeat, in fact I doubt they even make the WCF again. In the west alone Dallas, Suns and Lakers are likely to be better with several other teams neck and neck. In the east you have Boston and Mil clearly better, and a few others right there too.

I love the Mavs but they are not contenders. They barely improved during the summer (Grant Williams and Curry) and i dont trust Irving to stay healthy and to mesh with Luka. Phoenix has no depth and Durant and Beal have issues staying healthy. James is old/cant stay healthy and Davis is injury prone as well. Denver lacks depth but they have the best player in the league in Joker, a great #2 in the back court (Murray) and some good pieces in Gordon, Porter, and KCP. The west is theirs to lose.

[mpoo_sin]

Don t sleep on Doncic.

[sunsbg]

No idea why people keep saying Suns lack depth. Gordon and Watanabe are playing quite well in Fiba tournaments. Which Nuggets' reserves are better than KBD and Eubanks ? I assume Okogie will start for defensive purposes and Goodwin, who Suns acquired with Beal is also very promising on D. Suns took two games from Denver and they clearly upgraded the roster, will have a lot more time to build chemistry. Staying healthy is the main concern.

[Lamak]

I think they have the best shot to keep if 3 of their 4 core players stay healthy in Jokic, Porter, Murray, and Gordon. No other team really made significant moves to win other than the Suns and Celtics. Grizzles and Mavericks might be able to make some noise next year also.

[AleksandarN]

It's styles-makes-fights in the NBA now. Meaning, it's all about match-ups and as a precursor, full health. Denver doesn't have the bench to repeat and is one injury away from not even making the playoffs, even if they have Jokic healthy.

One injury away from not making the playoffs?? Jokic took the Nuggets to 48 win season without two of their top three players and you think he won’t even make the playoffs if one player gets injured.

I agree with magee... only if the injured player is Jokic.

Except Magee decided to state even if Jokic healthy they don’t make the playoffs.

[AleksandarN]

IMO, Nuggets are one of the 5 weakest championship teams since 2000. I doubt they're going to repeat, in fact I doubt they even make the WCF again. In the west alone Dallas, Suns and Lakers are likely to be better with several other teams neck and neck. In the east you have Boston and Mil clearly better, and a few others right there too.

Dallas. Lol.

[Statlanta]

The Lakers by gaining Taurean Prince and by Denver losing Bruce Brown.

The Nuggets believe their younger player will replace any lost production but given what happened to Bol Bol and Bones Hyland I'm not holding my breath

[Statlanta]

I don't agree that the Nuggets are the weakest team to win a title recently. Weakest Western Conference team maybe but not weakest team.

The Bucks lost in the first round for instance and the defending champions lost to a team that didn't make the playoffs last year.

[DS17]

I still dont see Lakers hype, sure they got good after Westtbrick, Reaves looks good, but LeBron will literally be same age as Homer Simpson next season. AD is injury prone, and they still have D"Angelo... How is that a great team?

Imo Boston can be great IF Porzingis experiment works. Milwauke maybe could make a last dance. PHO is a weird team, not a big believer but cant deny talent at the top there.

We signed Taurean Prince and Gabe Vincent which I think will be helpful additions to our team.

[BelgradeNugget]

No idea why people keep saying Suns lack depth. Gordon and Watanabe are playing quite well in Fiba tournaments. Which Nuggets' reserves are better than KBD and Eubanks ? I assume Okogie will start for defensive purposes and Goodwin, who Suns acquired with Beal is also very promising on D. Suns took two games from Denver and they clearly upgraded the roster, will have a lot more time to build chemistry. Staying healthy is the main concern.

100% agree Suns have deep team and underrated bench. Their problems could be playmaking and chemistry. Too many new players, new coach, roles, but the bench is more than ok

[JujitsuFlip]

Health has always been a big issue for that core. So long as they stay healthy they'll be in the conversation but last season was the first time they all stayed healthy, so time will tell.

[BelgradeNugget]

This Nuggets run is one of the best in a long time. 16-4 in the playoffs, losing 1 game in WCF and Finals combined, and Jokic doing s**t only he could + Murray elevating his game to the level of All-NBA player.

One more interesting thing is this were the first playoffs in a long time when no contender missed one of the 2 best players for the playoffs. All the best ones played.

2019 Toronto beat GSW without KD. Deserved champs but still WHAT IF
2020 Lakers won but GSW didn't even make the playoffs due to injuries WHAT IF
2021 Milwaukee won, but GSW missed Klay, Nuggets missed Murray...WHAT IF
2022 GSW won, Nuggets missed Murray, MPJ, Lakers weren't there...WHAT IF
2023 Nuggets won, all the best players were there

So, for the next season we have the Nuggets, we know who they are, the best team in the NBA and a bunch of don't knows

1. Suns - great collection of players can they make a team out of it?
2. Lakers - a year older, LeBron and AD are both healthy in the playoffs 1 time in 3 years. Are Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince difference between being swept and winning it all?
3. GSW - a year older, can they get back to 2022 or is this decline reality
4. Memphis - Ja?

5. Boston - their problem wasn't 3pt shooting defending big, for Porzingis to solve it, problem was Mazzulla. Losing leader in Smart...
6. Milwaukee - new coach, second disappointing playoffs in a row. What was a fluke 2021, 2022 or 2023?
7. Philadelphia - no comment

8. Kings - team on the right path, will surprise a lot of people

So, to answer OPs question Nuggets are favorites, but 30% chance to win it all doesn't mean "no one stand a chance".

[NZB2323]

What stats are you using that makes them the 2nd least impressive champion in the past 25 years?

Kevin Pelton of all people, a huge Jokic stan, has an article about it that you can google.

Maybe he overcompensated, because Jokic and the Nuggets went against players that had 22 all-defensive selections or DPOYs combined, and 85 combined All-Star appearances, both the most all-time. Just read the article, LMAO, he used regular season point differential and playoff SOS as well, hahahaha. Absolute joke, just your normal ESPN article.

Yeah, regular season point differential seems silly. Does anyone believe that the 2015 Atlanta Hawks, 2016 Toronto Raptors, and 2021 Utah Jazz are more formidable playoff opponents than the Lakers or Heat last year?

Were the 2016 Warriors a more formidable playoff opponent than the 2017 and 2018 Warriors?

Were the Bucks better in the playoffs in 2019 and 2020 than they were in 2021?

Every team the Nuggets faced in the playoffs would have had a better regular season record if they were healthy in the regular season. Whereas other champions faced teams that had great SRS in the regular season when everyone was healthy, but those teams had injuries in the playoffs.

The Suns lost games when Booker was injured and they didn’t have Durant. The Lakers lost games as Lebron and AD were injured and Westbrook was a poor fit. The Nuggets faced a Suns team with KD and Booker, and a Lakers team with Lebron, AD, no Westbrook, and Austin Reaves flourishing.

[GeorgeSears]

I look at who got better in the West. The Lakers certainly did, as did the Suns. Mavs are the wild card. So, there are teams in the West that can win it.

[John Murdoch]

No idea why people keep saying Suns lack depth. Gordon and Watanabe are playing quite well in Fiba tournaments. Which Nuggets' reserves are better than KBD and Eubanks ? I assume Okogie will start for defensive purposes and Goodwin, who Suns acquired with Beal is also very promising on D. Suns took two games from Denver and they clearly upgraded the roster, will have a lot more time to build chemistry. Staying healthy is the main concern.

Tbh i get Westbrook Lakers vibez from that Suns team. Maybe they will prove me wrong but also losing Monty was a big loss

[John Murdoch]

The Nuggets had a great run last year but this doesn't feel like a dynasty team like others of the past have felt like after their first championship. It doesn't mean they can't win it this year but I'd lump them in with about 4-5 other teams that have about an equal shot.

Agreed. Its mainly because i dont think we see Murray that healthy again. Kinda like us when we had a miracle season where AD stayed relatively healthy enough to win a chip. Gotta give Jokic props tho he took it serious and it payed off for him and he plays the game the right when hitting the open man making good reads being a great team mate

[JustBuzzin]

Yeah them Lakers got a chance.

Austin Reaves developing into Chris Mullin 2.0

Pair that with Lebron and AD and watch out you got Magic/Kareem/Worthy showtime Lakers.

[MemphisX]

Teams that can take advantage of Jokic/Murray in the pick-and-roll might have a chance.

[Phystic]

No idea why people keep saying Suns lack depth. Gordon and Watanabe are playing quite well in Fiba tournaments. Which Nuggets' reserves are better than KBD and Eubanks ? I assume Okogie will start for defensive purposes and Goodwin, who Suns acquired with Beal is also very promising on D. Suns took two games from Denver and they clearly upgraded the roster, will have a lot more time to build chemistry. Staying healthy is the main concern.

Tbh i get Westbrook Lakers vibez from that Suns team. Maybe they will prove me wrong but also losing Monty was a big loss

Big time disagree. Monty was PHENOMENAL when we were a 20 win team, he is a great coach to get a team of young inexperienced people to be together. However he simply. Was outmatched just about every playoff run. His rotations were inconsistent and generally bad, his game management wasn't good, he never seemed to have the team prepared. The last may very well be on the players but it stills impacts the coach.

Suns really needed a change. Time will tell if Vogel was for the better or worse. I love Monty for what he did for our team and franchise but it was needed.

Again, Nuggs are the favorites. Jokic has been godly, but I would be concerned that it's required him to play at that sort of level. But their starting five is very good, with very good balance

[One_and_Done]

Suns will roll them. I could see any of the Bucks, Lakers or Mavs doing it too.