RealGM

We've seen the Nuggets enough to make some guesses. Where do you think the Nuggets will finish the regular season?

Wow, with how early it is in the season, your options there are rather gloomy, especially considering how banged up we currently are. I can see us getting to the 3-5 slot in the playoffs, we'll see from there

skywalker33 wrote:Wow, with how early it is in the season, your options there are rather gloomy, especially considering how banged up we currently are. I can see us getting to the 3-5 slot in the playoffs, we'll see from there

I agree. But banged up or not; our real problem is the bench. I believe that if the front office makes a trade or picks up a free agent, we could reach 1-4. But with our salary load, they'll have some trouble doing that. I've don't believe coach can develop young talent; so it's all going to depend on the starting five.

NuggetsWY wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:Wow, with how early it is in the season, your options there are rather gloomy, especially considering how banged up we currently are. I can see us getting to the 3-5 slot in the playoffs, we'll see from there

I agree. But banged up or not; our real problem is the bench. I believe that if the front office makes a trade or picks up a free agent, we could reach 1-4. But with our salary load, they'll have some trouble doing that. I've don't believe coach can develop young talent; so it's all going to depend on the starting five.

Remember, being banged up can have it's pros and cons. It takes bench players and puts them up with Jokic (+) while diminishing our bench quality a that moment (-). However, it also gives those reserve players some experience, better early on than not getting any until later on in the season IMO. And I don't think Malone CAN'T develop young talent (how else did we get such a good starting 5 ?), I think he just doesn't WANT to develop it. These injuries may force him (to open his eyes ?) to do just that. Starting to feel Malone (and Jamal for that matter) is becoming a big part of our window closing to win more titles.

Looking at our current record, we can estimate a 57-win season, but that doesn't take in injuries, trades or ??? Given that, I'll go with 54 wins

They look like a contender with a solid starting five lead by a MVP. Bench is still unsteady but with Westbrook as the 6th man it could be interesting. There is a lot of youth being played at this time but but with a solid core of veterans at their peak, the near future looks bright.

I would expect they will end up seeded somewhere either near or at the top. I would also expect them to continue this level of play until the CBA is modified again.