The end of 2022 Denver Nuggets is a tough pill for many fans to swallow…but it was inevitable.
Even with the heroics of MVP Nikola Jokic, who carried the team on his back all season, this was a middle of the pack NBA Western Conference team, closer to being in the play-IN round than securing home court for any postseason series. They were plagued by major injuries to two of their three max-contract players before the season’s opening tip. Perhaps, if the injury Gods don’t hit them with another flagrant foul before next season, they can return to being one of the top four teams in the West, back where they were before losing Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for all of the past season.
But is that going to be good enough now? Just being one of the top four teams in the West and losing in the second round of the play-offs? Is that enough for Nuggets fandom? Or is the goal higher than that?
If the goal is to win the NBA title, the Nuggets need a makeover. This roster simply isn’t good enough. Before they can contend for the ultimate prize, Denver needs to reconstruct its version of a “Big Three.”
Having a “Big Three” became a thing back in the mid 2000’s when the Boston Celtics had All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce leading them to the NBA title. Miami took it a step further when they lured free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh to join Dwayne Wade and form a fearsome threesome that won a pair of titles. Ever since, having a Big Three has been sort of mandatory if you want to compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. James, for example, has never won a single title or a single MVP award without at least one – if not two – other All-Stars on his team.
The Nuggets version of a Big Three isn’t all that big. It features one All-Star/MVP in Jokic and the injured pair of Murray and MPJ, neither of whom have ever made an All-Star team.
During his sensational first seven seasons in the Mile High, The Joker has yet to play a game with a single other current All-Star in the Nuggets line-up.
Not a one.
Every other NBA All-Star who’s in the running for the MVP has at least one star running mate, if not two.
It makes what Joker has done night in and night out this season that much more astonishing.
More importantly, the teams those other MVP candidates play for – the ones in contention for the NBA title – go into play-off series with multiple weapons and scoring options to bolster their title chances. For the Nuggets to be true contenders, Joker needs more help than the current roster provides, with or without Murray and MPJ.
Of course conventional wisdom will preach patience. Allow time for the Nuggets to surround their MVP with not only their other two max contract players when healthy, but also standout forward Aaron Gordon, who was acquired via trade in March of last year. The foursome was only together for nine games before Murray went down with a torn ACL, and MPJ joined him on the injured list this season. They’ve barely played together. They need time to mesh.
That’s a fair point, but it doesn’t change the major premise here – that the Nuggets roster as currently constructed, while obviously more formidable when at full strength, still isn’t good enough to win the Western Conference and reach those all elusive NBA Finals. It’s also tied to the premise that Murray will be able to reach new heights as an NBA point guard after blowing out and rehabbing his knee, and that Porter will come back from the kind of injury to his back that ended the career of Hall of Famer Larry Bird.
Two very good players who didn’t achieve All-Star status before suffering major injuries are being counted on to be better post-surgery.
That’s a big ask and those are two enormous “ifs.”
The Nuggets brain trust, led by Tim Connelly, made a bold move in pulling off the trade that brought Gordon to Denver. This off season will be the time for another bold move: Break up the Jokic/Murray/Porter threesome and rebuild it with a current All-Star (or two) looking for a new home. Conventional wisdom will also tell us that trying to trade players who are damaged goods is a nearly impossible task. But when you factor in things like expiring contracts, disgruntled players and all that, stranger trades have been made.
Does anyone believe that New Orleans could not trade Zion Williamson right now if they wanted to?
Give Joker the real help he needs – the kind of All-Star help all those other NBA most-valuable types already have – and the Nuggets could become more than just a playoff team. They could become an actual contender.
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