Non-Mortem 2022-23: Denver Nuggets

[ElectricMayhem]

Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith and Bruce Brown: Congratulations to the Detroit Pistons' guards for carrying Jokic to his first championship.

Here is the data from previous years' Post-Mortems:
2020-21:

Spoiler:

Post-Mortem Results I: GM Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results II: Coaching Confidence Meter
Post-Mortem Results III: Performance Compared to Expectations
Post-Mortem Results IV: Rising/Treadmill/Waning

2021-22:
2021-22 Post Mortem Final Summary

Team Name: Denver Nuggets
Record at Time of Immortality: 53-29 (.646) (Finals)
Head of Front Office: Calvin Booth (2020)
Coach: Michael Malone (2015)

Offensive Rating: 5th
Defensive Rating: 15th
Rebound %: 4th
Turnover %: 23rd

Front Office: Change or keep?
Coach: Change or keep?
Relative to expectations, how did they fare this year?
Rising, falling, or treadmill?
If you were in charge, what would you do this offseason?

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Nikola Jokic ($46m)
Jamal Murray ($34m)
Michael Porter Jr. ($33m)
Aaron Gordon ($22m)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($15m)
Zeke Nnaji ($4m)
Christian Braun ($3m)
Vlatko Cancar ($2m)
Peyton Watson ($2m)


Team Options:

Player Options:
Bruce Brown ($7m)

Free Agents:
Ish Smith
Jeff Green
Thomas Bryant
DeAndre Jordan
Reggie Jackson
Collin Gillespie
Jack White

Dead Money:

Previous Post-Mortems:
30. Houston Rockets
29. San Antonio Spurs
28. Detroit Pistons
27. Charlotte Hornets
26. Portland Trail Blazers
25. Indiana Pacers
24. Washington Wizards
23. Orlando Magic
22. Utah Jazz
21. Dallas Mavericks
20. Toronto Raptors
19. New Orleans Pelicans
18. Chicago Bulls
17. Oklahoma City Thunder
16. Brooklyn Nets
15. Minnesota Timberwolves
14. Los Angeles Clippers
13. Cleveland Cavaliers
12. Milwaukee Bucks
11. Atlanta Hawks
10. Memphis Grizzlies
9. Sacramento Kings
8. Phoenix Suns
7. New York Knicks
6. Golden State Warriors
5. Philadelphia 76ers
4. Los Angeles Lakers
3. Boston Celtics
2. Miami Heat
1. Denver Nuggets

[ElectricMayhem]

Amazing that, in a superstar league, the Denver Nuggets can come in without a single First Team All NBA player this year and win the championship. Can you name the last time a team won the championship without one of the top 5 players in the league? Oh, you sportswriters...

Seriously, though, brilliant run by the Nuggets. Jokic is the best player in the league bar none. Miami ripped apart Milwaukee and Boston, but looked toothless against Denver. Miami didn't change. They just went up against a team vastly superior to anything the East had to offer. Murray really stepped into the 1b star role. Aaron Gordon played big. Bruce Brown and KCP played their roles perfectly. Michael Malone showed he could adjust. They defeated a bloodied Scott Foster in the Lakers series when he sent Jokic to the bench on BS foul calls. They defeated him again in Miami when he did the same thing. Then in the championship game, Foster kicked them in the balls again via Jimmy Butler's foot. They still overcame. No team has ever shown up Scott Foster like this. It was beautiful.

The biggest roadblock to a repeat is finding cheaper talent. They unfortunately are out of the running for retaining Bruce Brown's services. That's a huge loss. He defends, he rebounds, he hits timely shots. I would move MPJ if possible, but I'm not sure they want to or if they even could.

Other than that, it's a championship team. Keep the core. Jokic and Murray are still relatively young. As long as they stay healthy, they are a force to contend with.

[Kobe187]

Pope & Brown were great additions, AG was solid, healthy Murray was obviously huge.

[durden_tyler]

Notes:
Players under contract next year:
Nikola Jokic ($46m)
Jamal Murray ($34m)
Michael Porter Jr. ($33m)
Aaron Gordon ($22m)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($15m)
Zeke Nnaji ($4m)
Christian Braun ($3m)
Vlatko Cancar ($2m)
Peyton Watson ($2m)

Wow, that's their rotation already without Brown, who did really well this season/playoffs but is also replaceable. Some of the names there are also young and will improve too. This is going to be an interesting title defense!

[baldur]

Add Chris Paul to replace Bruce Brown.

[ElectricMayhem]

Pope & Brown were great additions, AG was solid, healthy Murray was obviously huge.

I agree. The front office did a great job of surrounding their stars with the right supporting cast. Even ridding the team of a talented me-first guy like Bones Hyland was an excellent move.

[Jadoogar]

Head office is harder to evaluate because a majority of this core was put together by the previous regime. The new regime hit a home run in Bruce Brown and a double in Christian Braun but there were some missteps as well. Bones Hyland traded for nothing, still no backup center, Reggie Jackson didn't really add anything to the roster, Thomas Bryant didn't get any play time.

Obviously i'm not saying they are bad but i think Jokic/Murray papered over some of the flaws of the roster building.

[LoveMyRaps]

blow it up!

[Bank Shot]

All the good ones although I still don't 100% trust the front office. Signing DJ at minute one of FA is still a weird one and so was the Thomas Bryant trade (they needed a center but Bryant is such an obvious can't play in the playoffs guy).

[Castle Black]

They don’t have much cap space, so I assume they’re going to lose Bruce Brown, who’s going to be overpaid by some other team. Then you have ti hope that MPJ and KCP can improve next season, especially MPJ. Not sure they can repeat unless he improves honestly cause he’s getting paid $40M/year so they can’t afford much help, and a Denver will now have an X on their backs after this Championship. That’s really all they can do though. Run it back and try to defend your title.

They have the 37th and 40th picks in the Draft and I actually think there’ll be players available that could help them. Perhaps another shooter like Julian Strawther out of Gonzaga that could come in and hit open shots playing with the Joker. Or a versatile defender like UCONN’s Andre Jackson Jr. Either way, it’s a decent looking draft with a lot of Wings so there should be someone there that can come in and help their ball club. And they really need the depth so hopefully they draft well.

[Johnny Tomala]

Keep, keep, better, rising.

[GrindCityHustle]

Chris Paul as backup to finish career makes sense

[Stone]

I noticed that Jeff Green is a free agent. I hope that they retain him for next season. He is the type of veteran that is a great mentor.

[Marvin Martian]

MPJ has got to go. He has developed very poorly and is basically just a tall shooter. DEN got away with it this time but next year, teams are going to be reloading and trying to counter this team and MPJ is the weak point.

[DorianRo]

Upgrade the bench or they aren't ever repeating. Yea Porter needs to go too. Worthless if he isn't hitting the 3

[AleksandarN]

Watson will take a huge leap next year. Mark my words.

[phanman]

MPJ has got to go. He has developed very poorly and is basically just a tall shooter. DEN got away with it this time but next year, teams are going to be reloading and trying to counter this team and MPJ is the weak point.

Tell me you didn't watch the last two games without telling me you didn't watch.

Losing Bruce Brown is going to be big for the team but Braun has shown enough to soak up those minutes next season. He is on record saying he would like to stay but it'll be 2 more seasons before the team can gain his bird rights to give him a fair market-value deal. It'll be shocking if he doesn't opt out to cash out in free agency with how well he played. That said, the fit with him in Denver next to that core was possibly even better than many predicted. That guy is just the perfect role player to slot next to Jokic.

This will be the last real opportunity for the Nuggets to acquire talent to begin a potential dynasty with the heavy restrictions coming after this off season. It'll be interesting to see which direction they go in building/developing their bench. The best thing going for them is that their starting 5 are all locked up for next season and potentially 2+ with KCP's PO in 2025.

[CallMeKahn]

Now that Malone won a chip, I suspect he'll be fired next season.

Due seriousness, they are on the mountain top. Now you have to stay there. It'll be necessary to recoup some depth they'll lose this offseason, but they seem to be aware of that with the OKC trade. Just a good org with a good team doing good things. Keep it up guys.

[Exp0sed]

MPJ has got to go. He has developed very poorly and is basically just a tall shooter. DEN got away with it this time but next year, teams are going to be reloading and trying to counter this team and MPJ is the weak point.

Tell me you didn't watch the last two games without telling me you didn't watch.

Losing Bruce Brown is going to be big for the team but I Braun has shown enough to soak up those minutes next season. He is on record saying he would like to stay but it'll be 2 more seasons before the team can gain his bird rights to give him a fair market-value deal. It'll be shocking if he doesn't opt out to cash out in free agency with how well he played. That said, the fit with him in Denver next to that core was possibly even better than many predicted. That guy is just the perfect role player to slot next to Jokic.

This is will be the last real opportunity for the Nuggets to acquire talent to begin a potential dynasty with the heavy restrictions coming after this off season. It'll be interesting to see which direction they go in building/developing their bench. The best thing going for them is that their starting 5 are all locked up for next season and potentially 2+ with KCP's PO in 2025.

can Brown opt-in under a wink-wink understanding that they'll extend a generous offer to him next summer?

how much can they offer him if he excerises his player option and become a FA next summer?

[Exp0sed]

Upgrade the bench or they aren't ever repeating. Yea Porter needs to go too. Worthless if he isn't hitting the 3

lol, easy to tell you only watched the series vs. your Heat

MPJ had a decent season considering he came back from a full season away from the game and after yet another surgery

he's still young and has very little NBA mileage, he's got alot of room to grow
he didn't play in college because of his back either

he didn't have a great playoff run obviously but he was useful
despite shooting horribly in the finals he still finished with 35% from 3, he rebounded a bunch and played good defense for the most part. he fits what they are doing and socially, seems like a very good fit with great chemistry and communication with Denver's starters

he'll be better next season
with his injury history and after this type of mediocre season - they can't get anything for him even if they wanted to move him (which they don't)

so it would be asinine to break up this championship team and core, whose been running together for their entire respective careers when they can't even get an equal return

they will stick with MPJ, as long as his back holds the Nuggets can contend for a few years now at least

p.s for all the talk of him being a black hole (and he is) at least he doesn't turn the ball over
yes, he had like 1.6 assists per game in the playoff, but he had less than 0.5 To as well

31 assists to 9 To's total, there's two sides to every story