The Denver Nuggets invited change when they booted George Karl following a season in which the team won in the mid-50s. How will this team evolve after getting used to new head coach Brian Shaw?
What Went Wrong Last Season?
The Nuggets were going to take a step back when they hired new coach Brian Shaw and rebooted the franchise, trying to start fresh after Karl’s long tenure with the team could never quite get over the hump. Andre Iguodala left to go to Golden State. Corey Brewer left. Danilo Gallinari was removed from the picture with a knee injury, and JaVale McGee suffered a major leg injury that limited him to only five games as well. The team wasn’t as deep or as talented, and the whole project was not to try to go deep into the playoffs, but to create a team that Shaw could call his own, molding it the way he wanted to. The Nuggets won 36 games, which was 21 fewer than they won the year before, but in a brutally deep Western Conference, 36 wins isn’t that bad a record. The Nuggets, had they played in the Eastern Conference, would have been good enough to win 45 games if not a few more. They were simply not as good as the eight Western teams that made the playoffs in a year when the West was ridiculously tough.
To be more specific about the Nuggets’ problems, they couldn’t defend. They allowed an average of just over 106 points, 28th in the league. A big part of this lack of defense was that the Nuggets could not play defense without fouling. Denver finished 30th in the league in the number of personal fouls committed. That will have to change, and Shaw is counting on that happening this season and in the future. Denver was also 28th in turnovers and 27th in free throw percentage. In so many areas of basketball, the Nuggets gave away points, either by failing to collect them or by allowing opponents to shoot more foul shots or get extra possessions.
Offseason Changes
When you compare rosters, the current one is better than last season’s edition. Aaron Afflalo should give this team a lift at both ends of the floor. New acquisition Erick Green and new draftee Gary Harris will make the Nuggets’ backcourt younger but more talented. Old-man guard Andre Miller has moved on to Washington after several seasons in Denver. The big thing is that Gallinari and McGee, two players in which the Nuggets have invested a lot of money, are trying to come back from injuries that wiped out their previous seasons. If they can be healthy and sharp, the Nuggets could very realistically become a playoff team.
Projected Finish
The Western Conference is so unforgiving that even if the likes of Gallinari and McGee are back and able to contribute, the level of talent on other teams in the conference is still likely to eclipse what Denver has to offer. The Nuggets have plenty of skill, but not enough power near the basket. They are undersized at the point with Ty Lawson and need to play a fast-paced, open-court game in order to really thrive. They have the players for a run-and-gun game, but not a halfcourt game, and basketball is mostly a halfcourt game. They’re still not yet ready to make the postseason.
Pick: Tenth in Western Conference
