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Andrew Feinstein has the Nuggets at 28 wins. 28 is tough to stomach but he's on the right track. I'm not expecting Mudiay to carry this team like Melo did his rookie year. We also have the additions of a new coach and healthy Gallo but the west is brutal as always. Lets all post others as they start to pop up.

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2015/8/23/9194945/breaking-down-the-denver-nuggets-2015-16-schedule

I looked at the schedule and that's about where I have them as well, I put them at 26 wins. On the bright side, looks like a top 3 pick is within reach....

I agree Mudiay won't carry the team the way Melo did in his rookie year, but I think his slower development will mean for a stronger team down the road.

Until we see Mudiay in a regular season game, we are all just guessing. I think we have to agree that Mudiay is a key. You shouldn't discount the effect of having a healthy Gallo, as well. Nuggets could be much better than many think but again, that depends on when Mudiay arrives as a player because Gallo, Chandler, Nurkic and Faried will all benefit. If this core is still together at the start of the season (thinking of Faried or an upgrade at PF), then I think the FO is not tanking this season.

I think 30-35 wins more probable. If Mudiay explodes on the scene with 13 to 15 points a night and 7 to 9 assists (and no major injuries to Gallo), Nuggets win 40. I think the question is whether or when Mudiay will be an upgrade on Lawson?

In the short term no way is Mudiay better than Lawson, he's never played anything close to an 82 game season, he won't be consistent. Lawson was nearly a double-double a night, takes time to get there.

By the end of the year could we see things out of Mudiay Lawson didn't provide like defense and rebounding, sure...but the assists and points won't be there.

Let's not forget our only center is recovering from a knee injury. He's likely to be brought back slowly and miss some time. That leaves a huge hole at the 5.....and then there's Mike Malone, a bigger question mark than Mudiay I think.

Well, Jokic will play C and I can see him getting spelled by Lauvergne until Nurkic is back. Not that that's great news but it will give both of those guys a heavy does of NBA experience, which isn't a bad thing for your bigs.

"In the short term no way is Mudiay better than Lawson..."

So how short is "short term?" I agree that Lawson was a very good point guard but he was not good enough to be considered an All Star. To me, Lawson's problems were consistency perhaps due to injury (or perhaps because of his drinking problems) but despite his great "numbers" in this last season, his problems were growing. He didn't seem to relish the role of a primary scorer. He didn't seem to be able to elevate his game the way Denver wanted him to be. Outside shooting was up and down. He could drive and score at times. Assists were good. Defense was a serious problem and his lack of size a problem in general. Lawson's game was about speed.

Mudiay is a different type of point guard, one that is difficult to describe. Either because of coaching or instincts (or both) his ball movement skills and deception are unusually gifted. He moves so effortlessly and finds the weakness in the defenses forcing the other team to collapse to him. What sets him apart from most is his court awareness; that ability to find the open man with a pin point pass without giving away his intent. Because of his size, he could be an offensive force around the basket later or right away. I think it will be right away because of the intensity of his game. His defense will need work but his talent is off the wall.

Now if we consider which player would we want guarding the other on defense, Lawson would not be the one I would choose.

There is no bigger project more important to the Nuggets than Mudiay (in a long, long time).

I completely agree with Tunafish and, with a huge probability of having no support I'll give my opinion with a lot of "If's":

If Mudiay develops his game to a great player for this season, for 2016 we have a possible franchise player with a great great great backup for him, for experience, point and leadership in Nelson, so PG will be a great strength.
If Gallo stays healthy, and Faried starts from 0 and develops to an improving and compromised player, both SF and PF positions are great covered with them two and Gallo.
If Nurkic improves and stays healthy, and Jokic is a good player for rotation in C position, we can have a very defensive, tall and talented Center position.
If either Harris or Barton improve, we can have a good rotation defensive specialist and a dynamite player for some games.

If all that happens, next year, without Foye and Hickson, and with a lot of Cap Space, we will be a star caliber SG player away from a really interesting team to consider...

Someone agrees?

TunaFish wrote:"In the short term no way is Mudiay better than Lawson..."

So how short is "short term?" I agree that Lawson was a very good point guard but he was not good enough to be considered an All Star. To me, Lawson's problems were consistency perhaps due to injury (or perhaps because of his drinking problems) but despite his great "numbers" in this last season, his problems were growing. He didn't seem to relish the role of a primary scorer. He didn't seem to be able to elevate his game the way Denver wanted him to be. Outside shooting was up and down. He could drive and score at times. Assists were good. Defense was a serious problem and his lack of size a problem in general. Lawson's game was about speed.

Mudiay is a different type of point guard, one that is difficult to describe. Either because of coaching or instincts (or both) his ball movement skills and deception are unusually gifted. He moves so effortlessly and finds the weakness in the defenses forcing the other team to collapse to him. What sets him apart from most is his court awareness; that ability to find the open man with a pin point pass without giving away his intent. Because of his size, he could be an offensive force around the basket later or right away. I think it will be right away because of the intensity of his game. His defense will need work but his talent is off the wall.

Now if we consider which player would we want guarding the other on defense, Lawson would not be the one I would choose.

There is no bigger project more important to the Nuggets than Mudiay (in a long, long time).

Look I have high hopes for Mudiay but I'm concerned he's being over-hyped/expectations are unrealistic. What have we seen? A few summer league and AAU type games. His physical tools present the ability to be better than Ty but that won't happen until at least his 3rd season. Right now the kid can't shoot the ball. NBA D's will collapse on him and he won't be able to own the paint early on against the greatest players in the world.

What's the longest season Mudiay has played? 20-30 games? He's not about to be consistent this season, 82 games will take their toll, happens to all rookies. Ty was a solid passer, didn't have the size to make some passes Mudiay can but at least defenders had to respect Ty's outside shot.

Mudiay is a project, a huge one and hopefully can develop into an All-Star PG but he has a hell of a mountain to climb. Let's have realistic expectation for the kid.

If gallo and the rest of the roster stay relatively healthy than I do not see how this team loses more games than last year, I think this team wins 40+ games this year.

Good read from CBS sports and Matt Moore and the upcoming season.
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25329488/offseason-report-have-the-nuggets-found-a-winning-direction

Dunc'd on podocast had a great season preview of us with a lot of interesting incite about last years struggles with the coaching staff. Paints a pretty good picture of how bad things got and how different they could be.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/239547/Duncd-On-Pod-Denver-Nuggets-Season-Preview-With-Matt-Moore

It's hard not to be overwhelmingly excited about this season. In a perfect world, I don't think the playoffs are out of the question. That would mean Mudiay being a top ROY candidate, Faried returning to his pre-Shaw form, Harris, Joffrey and Jokic proving themselves as quality NBA talent, and Nurkic and Barton building off of last year's successes. Having a real coach for the first time in two years should have the largest impact, but I'd say this season's outcome falls primarily on the health of Gallo and Chandler. If those two are hurt (and let's be honest, have we ever had both of them healthy for more than one or two months at a time?), suddenly our young guys are forced to step into roles they're not ready for and we have no one to create on offense, meaning there's no one to take the pressure off of Mudiay and his inevitable inconsistencies. If that happens, win totals in the mid-low 20's is not out of the question. All things considered, 30-35 wins with a strong second half seems like a healthy expectation, and I'd be happy with that if it means our young guys are showing steady improvements.

skywalker33 wrote:I looked at the schedule and that's about where I have them as well, I put them at 26 wins. On the bright side, looks like a top 3 pick is within reach....

I agree Mudiay won't carry the team the way Melo did in his rookie year, but I think his slower development will mean for a stronger team down the road.

Having examined the pre-season, gotta think this club has more potential than I saw early on, I will raise my prediction to 35 wins. Probably a 10th place finish, coming on after the beginning of the year. Our early season schedule is BRUTAL !!

Side note, I see the Knicks only winning 29 games, giving us a top 5 pick.

After game one, I think a number of people are rethinking the Nuggets. Mudiay is showing up now. Harris is the surprise! A lot of youth, so there are bumps ahead but what a start.