Nuggets' Youth & Potential

[NuggetsWY]

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2017/5/3/15498108/stat-of-the-week-ranking-every-nba-team-by-young-talent
What do you think? Nuggets' young players are the best?
Of course no one is going to be surprised if I said, "I wonder why the Nuggets haven't played their young players more minutes."

[skywalker33]

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2017/5/3/15498108/stat-of-the-week-ranking-every-nba-team-by-young-talent
What do you think? Nuggets' young players are the best?
Of course no one is going to be surprised if I said, "I wonder why the Nuggets haven't played their young players more minutes."

I saw that article and thought there was a bit of bias in it. While I do like our overall talent level, I feel it is more dispersed rather than focused like MIL or MIN's is.

[NuggetsWY]

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2017/5/3/15498108/stat-of-the-week-ranking-every-nba-team-by-young-talent
What do you think? Nuggets' young players are the best?
Of course no one is going to be surprised if I said, "I wonder why the Nuggets haven't played their young players more minutes."

I saw that article and thought there was a bit of bias in it. While I do like our overall talent level, I feel it is more dispersed rather than focused like MIL or MIN's is.

Agreed - I saw it, ignored it, then read it and forgot it, then decided to post it anyways.
I do not agree with his overall rankings, not sure who I would give the nod to, probably Minnesota, maybe Denver, but Milwaukee Philadelphia deserve strong consideration IMO with Portland and Utah probably as the second tier there. It's hard to evaluate youth. That's why I advocate playing them. It's the only way to find out what they've got.

Looking at the teams that seem to be climbing the fastest: Some teams have chosen to play their young players - Minnesota, Portland, Golden State (added for emphasis and history), Philadelphia (no other choice but to play youth). Some teams choose to limit the PT for their young players: Denver with Milwaukee and Utah closer to Denver's approach. I think Utah did the best job of balancing their youth with the right veterans both on the team and on the court.

Philadelphia probably has the highest number of young players with potential high potential.
Denver is probably second IMO. But that doesn't mean that in 5 years, that's where all these teams will be.
That's where the coach makes the difference, developing the youth.
Mark Jackson, then Steve Kerr did a great job.
Looks to me like Jason Kidd and Quinn Snyder are doing a good job.
None of the other coaches have sold me on their approach.

[The Rebel]

http://www.denverstiffs.com/2017/5/3/15498108/stat-of-the-week-ranking-every-nba-team-by-young-talent
What do you think? Nuggets' young players are the best?
Of course no one is going to be surprised if I said, "I wonder why the Nuggets haven't played their young players more minutes."

I saw that article and thought there was a bit of bias in it. While I do like our overall talent level, I feel it is more dispersed rather than focused like MIL or MIN's is.

Agreed - I saw it, ignored it, then read it and forgot it, then decided to post it anyways.
I do not agree with his overall rankings, not sure who I would give the nod to, probably Minnesota, maybe Denver, but Milwaukee Philadelphia deserve strong consideration IMO with Portland and Utah probably as the second tier there. It's hard to evaluate youth. That's why I advocate playing them. It's the only way to find out what they've got.

Looking at the teams that seem to be climbing the fastest: Some teams have chosen to play their young players - Minnesota, Portland, Golden State (added for emphasis and history), Philadelphia (no other choice but to play youth). Some teams choose to limit the PT for their young players: Denver with Milwaukee and Utah closer to Denver's approach. I think Utah did the best job of balancing their youth with the right veterans both on the team and on the court.

Philadelphia probably has the highest number of young players with potential high potential.
Denver is probably second IMO. But that doesn't mean that in 5 years, that's where all these teams will be.
That's where the coach makes the difference, developing the youth.
Mark Jackson, then Steve Kerr did a great job.
Looks to me like Jason Kidd and Quinn Snyder are doing a good job.
None of the other coaches have sold me on their approach.

I do not think that the Nuggets have diluted talent, just different talent. I can see Murray being a 22 and 8 guy and being a solid defender, I see Harris being a 20 ppg guy on high efficiency and good defense, I can see Jokic being a superstar putting up 22/10/8 with solid defense. Wiggins, Kat, and Parker will probably all score more, but the Nuggets will be all around type players.

I think the big problem with the 76ers is that Embiid is injury prone, and that team is going to desperatly need outside shooters at PG, SG, and SF. I was not impressed with the numbers that Saric put up, he will get better but I am not sure that he will ever be a number 1 scorer. That is if Simmons works out as the PG/PF and they find a PG that can play off the ball and play defense. That team still needs talent before they start doing too much and there is no guarantee that Simmons is going to be a great player and Embiid is able to stay healthy.

I do agree that the development is on the coaching staff, but I also think a lot of it has to do with the players work ethics, health, and willingness to listen.

[skywalker33]

Looking at the teams that seem to be climbing the fastest: Some teams have chosen to play their young players - Minnesota, Portland, Golden State (added for emphasis and history), Philadelphia (no other choice but to play youth). Some teams choose to limit the PT for their young players: Denver with Milwaukee and Utah closer to Denver's approach. I think Utah did the best job of balancing their youth with the right veterans both on the team and on the court.

Can't put PHI or MIN in the fastest climbers list due to playing their youth, both are still pretty high in the lottery even with all their talent.

Mark Jackson, then Steve Kerr did a great job.
Looks to me like Jason Kidd and Quinn Snyder are doing a good job.
None of the other coaches have sold me on their approach.

Jackson, Kidd and Snyder I can agree upon, all help develop their players, but Kerr is just a very good coach who has maximized his players potential. As shown by his absence in the playoff, most good coaches can get alot out of his team. Since he's been coach, what young players have stepped up ...MaCaw ? Looney ? McAdoo ? Not really steppin up, good players but nobody is trying to trade for them. I will admit they don't get PT due to who they're playing behind, that does say something.


Never said our talent was "diluted" said it was dispersed which you seemed to say a bit more eloquently here. Our depth is spread out with C Jokic, SF Hernangomez, SG's Harris and Beasley and PG's Murray and Mudiay (?). A little more seasoning will go a long way, but we're both still hoping for the best

Wiggins, Kat, and Parker will probably all score more, but the Nuggets will be all around type players.

[NuggetsWY]

Can't put PHI or MIN in the fastest climbers list due to playing their youth, both are still pretty high in the lottery even with all their talent.

"Fastest" when compared to some of the other teams that I didn't include; like Phoenix and Sacramento and Brooklyn, other teams with young players.

I probably should have also included Toronto in this discussion. They are one of the younger teams also.

But I still go back to my mantra "Denver is not a young team because Malone plays the veterans the most minutes." (Except of course for Jokic.) The Suns had a crazy young starting lineup towards the end of the year but Milwaukee's starting lineup wasn't much older. Toronto's starting lineup was the second youngest of the playoff teams. Youth can win but there needs to be a balance with veterans. Denver does not have a young lineup in terms of minutes played. That's my issue with this entire conversation and why I do not yet believe Denver is the best potential young group. I'd like to believe Denver has that potential, but even a #3 draft pick can be a bust and a #41 pick can be great. We won't really know until players play.

[youngthegiant]

I actually agree, I think the pieces Denver has, mesh well. Their talent actually enhances all of their skills. Harris and Murray are both great off-ball, which gives Jokic 2 great targets and they are both great shooters. Juancho is another guy who is going to be the glue to hold this team together. Hopefully he can develop into a 4, as he'll bring more value to the floor at that spot. Denver just needs to find their young sf for the future. OG Anunoby is a defensive SF, who projects to be one of the better defensive players in this draft. Going Forward with Murray/Harris/Anunoby/Hernangomez/Jokic is better than any other core out there imo. Philly, Minnesota have talent as well, but I don't think they naturally fit together. Which gives Denver the edge imo. Here's to some lottery luck because Josh Jackson would absolutely take this team to a whole other tier.

[NuggetsWY]

I actually agree, I think the pieces Denver has, mesh well. Their talent actually enhances all of their skills. Harris and Murray are both great off-ball, which gives Jokic 2 great targets and they are both great shooters. Juancho is another guy who is going to be the glue to hold this team together. Hopefully he can develop into a 4, as he'll bring more value to the floor at that spot. Denver just needs to find their young sf for the future. OG Anunoby is a defensive SF, who projects to be one of the better defensive players in this draft. Going Forward with Murray/Harris/Anunoby/Hernangomez/Jokic is better than any other core out there imo. Philly, Minnesota have talent as well, but I don't think they naturally fit together. Which gives Denver the edge imo. Here's to some lottery luck because Josh Jackson would absolutely take this team to a whole other tier.

Wow! That highlighted section is a rather bold statement. Sounds like a real "homer". Makes me feel good that I'm not the only one. I love the thought of that lineup and there are a lot of different types of players that could mesh with that starting 5!

[kinggnik87]

I actually agree, I think the pieces Denver has, mesh well. Their talent actually enhances all of their skills. Harris and Murray are both great off-ball, which gives Jokic 2 great targets and they are both great shooters. Juancho is another guy who is going to be the glue to hold this team together. Hopefully he can develop into a 4, as he'll bring more value to the floor at that spot. Denver just needs to find their young sf for the future. OG Anunoby is a defensive SF, who projects to be one of the better defensive players in this draft. Going Forward with Murray/Harris/Anunoby/Hernangomez/Jokic is better than any other core out there imo. Philly, Minnesota have talent as well, but I don't think they naturally fit together. Which gives Denver the edge imo. Here's to some lottery luck because Josh Jackson would absolutely take this team to a whole other tier.

The potential is nice, but it will definitely delay 1 more year for us to be in the playoff with that starting line-up.

Anunoby and Juancho is one more year away from getting a sniff at the starting spot.

[youngthegiant]

I actually agree, I think the pieces Denver has, mesh well. Their talent actually enhances all of their skills. Harris and Murray are both great off-ball, which gives Jokic 2 great targets and they are both great shooters. Juancho is another guy who is going to be the glue to hold this team together. Hopefully he can develop into a 4, as he'll bring more value to the floor at that spot. Denver just needs to find their young sf for the future. OG Anunoby is a defensive SF, who projects to be one of the better defensive players in this draft. Going Forward with Murray/Harris/Anunoby/Hernangomez/Jokic is better than any other core out there imo. Philly, Minnesota have talent as well, but I don't think they naturally fit together. Which gives Denver the edge imo. Here's to some lottery luck because Josh Jackson would absolutely take this team to a whole other tier.

The potential is nice, but it will definitely delay 1 more year for us to be in the playoff with that starting line-up.

Anunoby and Juancho is one more year away from getting a sniff at the starting spot.

Definitely agree, I would not expect OG to start since he is returning from an injury anyways. Juancho should get a crack at starting power forward next season, we'll see if he can earn it.

[NuggetsWY]

Juancho should get a crack at starting power forward next season, we'll see if he can earn it.

I'm wondering if Hernangomez might not be playing more SF than PF next year.

If Chandler is traded, as he'd like and if Gallinari walks, which he might; that leaves the Nuggets short on SFs
plus the Nuggets could still have Faried & Arthur plus Malone likes Plumlee at PF,
so we'd have a hole at SF and not at PF --- makes me wonder.

I think Hernangomez would make a decent SF for now and as he ages and adds muscle weight, he might make a very good PF, especially in this era of stretch-4s.