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Bruce Brown. Jeff Green. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
How many Jenga pieces can Nuggets management pull out before the entire Nikola Jokic era collapses?
Okay, “collapse” is an overstatement, this team is still a title contender, but their margin for error is smaller. Much smaller. The Nuggets still have the best player on the planet in Jokic, he’s a walking 50+ wins as long as he stays healthy. Also, this team still has quality veteran players around him, including guys like Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon (newcomer Russell Westbrook could also fit in this group). We’re talking about a Nuggets team that was up 20 in the second half of Game 7 against the Timberwolves in last season’s playoffs only to blow that lead. If they had won that game, Denver might have knocked off Dallas and returned to the NBA Finals.
“After a season where everybody says we failed, it’s my job to make sure that we don’t believe all that s***,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said at media day. “We’re a good team. The last six years, no one in the West has come close to doing what we’ve done. Remind yourself of that, but also challenge yourself to not be satisfied.”
Part of that challenge is a big bet by GM Calvin Booth and the front office on their drafting and player development to fill in for those pieces that have been pulled out.
NUGGETS BET ON YOUTH
Let’s talk about the young stars the Nuggets are betting on to step up this season.
• How old is Christian Braun? Braun is a 23-year-old guard entering his third NBA season after three years at Kansas.
Braun is expected to step into the starting lineup in place of KCP (although Malone said Julian Strawther will get a chance to compete for it), and those are huge shoes to fill. Braun is going to be asked to space the floor from 3, where he shot 38.4% last season on two attempts a game (Caldwell-Pope shot 40.6% on 4.1 attempts). He’s also going to draw the toughest perimeter defensive assignments nightly, and while Braun has shown promise as a solid defender, KCP was a proven plus defender who was in All-Defensive Team consideration.
Braun must make a leap on both ends of the court this season to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/denver-nuggets-season-preview-2024-180104266.html
Author : NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-10-03 18:01:04
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