Post-Mortem: 2020-21 Denver Nuggets

[nomansland]

Denver should trade MPJ, while his stock is still relatively high , get some good valuable pieces that can help you win the championship , Porter proved in the play off's that he's far from being franchise changing player , his shot selection and decision making are poor, he's an awful team defender , he has big ego , I don't think him and Jokic mesh good together at all.

Oh jesus christ on a stick. Tell us more about Jr. Porter's ego, please. Guess your lunch with him didn't go all that great.

Kid's 22 and has effectively played 2 seasons. Time to throw in the towel I guess, since he wasn't that great in the playoffs yet as the *only* other scoring option on an injury depleted team.

Seriously dude, your takes are garbage.

[Sgt Major]

He's the only guy here on my ignore list. Unbearable takes.

[The Rebel]

In my opinion the Nuggets arent trending upwards, they already have the MVP and Murray will be on his 6th season already. They are a great offensive team, with some issues. Jokic will allow to play with score first guards, but I think ther are better options than Murray, and someone who could be a better playmaker could be better. Also paying huge money for MPJ will be a mistake for me, I would try trading him for another great prospect and see what happens next

Name a prospect likely to be available that put up 19 and 7 on 66.3% TS% in their 2nd year like MPJ did. To put that in context that is top 15 in the league for scoring efficiency. That is despite missing 3 weeks with Coviid and obviously struggling for a month after he did come back.

The only part of the Nuggets core that is arguably close to their physical prime is Jokic, MPJ is 22 and just finished his 2nd year, Gordon while seemingly being around for ever is only 25, Murray just turned 24 about 3 months ago, Morris is only 25. While there may not be room for huge growth from guys like Murray and Morris, MPJ and Gordon still have a ton of untapped potential, and the Nuggets are the best in the NBA at finding value late in the draft and undrafted free agents.

[_qubik]

In my opinion the Nuggets arent trending upwards, they already have the MVP and Murray will be on his 6th season already. They are a great offensive team, with some issues. Jokic will allow to play with score first guards, but I think ther are better options than Murray, and someone who could be a better playmaker could be better. Also paying huge money for MPJ will be a mistake for me, I would try trading him for another great prospect and see what happens next

Name a prospect likely to be available that put up 19 and 7 on 66.3% TS% in their 2nd year like MPJ did. To put that in context that is top 15 in the league for scoring efficiency. That is despite missing 3 weeks with Coviid and obviously struggling for a month after he did come back.

The only part of the Nuggets core that is arguably close to their physical prime is Jokic, MPJ is 22 and just finished his 2nd year, Gordon while seemingly being around for ever is only 25, Murray just turned 24 about 3 months ago, Morris is only 25. While there may not be room for huge growth from guys like Murray and Morris, MPJ and Gordon still have a ton of untapped potential, and the Nuggets are the best in the NBA at finding value late in the draft and undrafted free agents.

He played bad in the playoffs, he is set for a big payday, he is still a bad defender, and his body language is murky. Also the Nuggets doesnt need more scoring, they need to complement Jokic the best way possible, for me MPJ wont do it. You guys have the undisputed best center, most unique guy in the league, its not time anymore to wait guys to improve, even more one as flawed as MPJ. Scoring isnt a problem in todays league. Maybe a guy that could help with creation duties and improve the defensive size would help much more. I think age is just a number, those guys have a lot of experience even at a young age, maybe its time to look for improvement

[nomansland]

Murky body language. lol

[cjx]

What post-mortem? Nuggets never die. They only get brighter and tougher!

[Doctor MJ]

GM: Change or keep? Keep
Coach: Change or keep? Keep
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year? Hard to say, but not a disappointment
Rising, falling, or treadmill? Rising
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason? No hurry to make changes

What I see on the Nuggets this year:

Jokic took a step forward in terms of bearing the alpha burden every night.
Murray did not take the step forward we were hoping - though injuries were part of this.
Porter took a major step forward after Murray went down - though disappointed in the playoffs, and had injury issues.
Letting Grant go was a costly decision...but given what he wanted and the fact the Nuggets got Gordon, I think it was the right move.

That's the core team, and I think the priority is to roll it back next year and get a groove where both Murray & Porter can shine at the same time.

I think clearly that 5th starter is something it would be nice to have a better option on, but I wouldn't be looking to make a big expensive move to make that happen, because it would be so easy to swing and miss. I'd say fill out the rest of your roster as well as you can without breaking the bank, and then see what your Core 4 really seems to need.

I think GM & coach are both solid and shouldn't be on the hot seat, though the truth is that any coach on a contending team seems no more than a year away from the hot seat if things go badly.

Last, rather mean, note:

I thought Grant was a fool for wanting to go play alpha on a bad team, and while his play this season gave rise to all sorts of articles about him proving himself as an alpha, the Pistons were terrible, got the #1 pick, and now I'd assume that their going to draft Cade Cunningham and Grant is going to have to fit in around Cade or get traded.

I think it's fairly likely that Grant will not play out his contract in Detroit, and will end up back in a role more like what he was doing in Denver on a team with nowhere near as bright of a future as Denver, and there's a part of me that feels schadenfreude over that. Self-actualization is cool and all but the vast majority of players who have long successful careers in the NBA do so by shrinking their game to fit in with greater talents - including Jerami's enormously successful uncle Horace.

The way Grant "bet on himself" after his 6 years in the league speaks to courage to be sure, but particularly given the fact it didn't come with a bigger contract and it came on a rebuilding team that certainly wasn't looking to build a championship core around a bunch of mid-career veterans, to me it felt very much about individualistic ego in a team-oriented landscape, and I'm still shaking my head.

[Doctor MJ]

He played bad in the playoffs, he is set for a big payday, he is still a bad defender, and his body language is murky. Also the Nuggets doesnt need more scoring, they need to complement Jokic the best way possible, for me MPJ wont do it. You guys have the undisputed best center, most unique guy in the league, its not time anymore to wait guys to improve, even more one as flawed as MPJ. Scoring isnt a problem in todays league. Maybe a guy that could help with creation duties and improve the defensive size would help much more. I think age is just a number, those guys have a lot of experience even at a young age, maybe its time to look for improvement

I would disagree with your general assessment here - though I wouldn't deny Porter disappointed in the playoffs (which I think had to do with health).

Jokic is the best passer in the game, and part of what makes him the best is that he's not just a drive & kick guy reliant on his gravity getting role players open. Jokic is adept at creating two-man game partnerships that amplify the scoring talent of those around him, and we've already seen it work with Porter who is an exceptional shooter all around the half court.

Had Grant stayed on the team, it's entirely possible I'd now be saying that a Jokic-Murray-Grant Big 3 was the better way to go, but Grant is gone and they've replaced him with a guy best served as a role player on offense. They need another great offensive player besides Jokic & Murray, and they've got one in Porter.

Re: Scoring isn't a problem in today's league. Actually it is, because what we've seen clearly this year is that all our prior notions about "this offense is already as good as it gets so now everything else is diminishing returns" no longer hold.

[eathb_au]

Jokic: 25
Murray: 23
Porter: 22
Gordon: 25
Morris: 25

The Nuggets are in great shape for years to come. They don’t have to change anything.

It looks nice on paper but it all falls apart if either of these scenarios happen: Porter Jr does t get better, Jamal Murray doesn't come back 100%.

I am a bit worried that Jokic's path is following young Lebron's first Cavs stint in that they were never able to surround him with a secondary star.

I mean look at the West, basically every team has multiple all stars. Jokic has never played with another star in his life.

[skywalker33]

Jokic: 25
Murray: 23
Porter: 22
Gordon: 25
Morris: 25

The Nuggets are in great shape for years to come. They don’t have to change anything.

It looks nice on paper but it all falls apart if either of these scenarios happen: Porter Jr does t get better, Jamal Murray doesn't come back 100%.

I am a bit worried that Jokic's path is following young Lebron's first Cavs stint in that they were never able to surround him with a secondary star.

I mean look at the West, basically every team has multiple all stars. Jokic has never played with another star in his life.

It falls apart for every team if circumstances don't align. What is Klay never returns, what happens if Booker tears his ACL, AD leaves for a new team....

And LBJ NEVER had as much talent on his CLE team his 1st time around. I get the concern, but seems a bit pessimistic to me.