Believe it or not, we are already a quarter of the way through the NBA season. Feels like just yesterday, we were wrapping up preseason, debating what playoff seed the Nuggets would grab once all their young players ramped up to NBA game speed after a couple of weeks.
Ok, maybe we didn’t go that far, and the Nuggets sort of have the case of “they are who we thought they were”. This is a young team with a ton of growing to do. Some nights we’ll see the potential shine through and others, the growing pains blunt. No playoff chases are in the cards this year, but if they play the draft and free agent market right, hopefully we will have realistic talks about that sooner than later.
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The only way to move towards this goal is to see progress. Now that we have over a month of game footage, we can start to put a box around this team and see where they stand against the rest of the league.
The Nuggets’ season has been a little bit of a roller-coaster ride. After a miraculous 6-5 start, they dropped eight straight, playing some of the worst ball we’ve seen in a while. To their credit, they bounced back strong with two wins to close out a five game road trip against the Raptors and the 76ers over the weekend.
In order to see the Nuggets improve over the course of the season, we need to track their progress beyond wins and losses. Sure, we could dive into advanced analytics, and we will do that plenty this year to evaluate where this team struggles. However, a much simpler and way more fun way to get a side-by-side view is to compare them through power rankings.
We’ve compiled details of power rankings from around the web and will check back each week in hopes of seeing the Nuggets creep up the list.
Here’s where the Nuggets rank heading into week seven of the season:
Right now, it is the consensus that Denver finds itself in the 26-27 range and between the 13-14 spot in the western conference.
The two game win streak definitely helped keep them from a lower spot, but the eight losses in a row is what holds them back from creeping towards a top 20 ranking. Bleacher Report even had them all the way up to 23rd before dropping them back down. The possibility is there!
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- Was trading Bones Hyland a mistake for the Denver Nuggets?
- Did Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets break Anthony Davis?
- Denver Nuggets stars face serious disrespect in recent NBA rankings poll
- What will it take for Denver Nuggets star to become ‘inevitable?’
- Denver Nuggets NBA Training Camp report, other preseason dates to know
All these experts are in agreement that the Nuggets are above the 76ers, Lakers, and Nets right now. They seem to be knocking on the door of the Kings and Bucks so there is room to move up the polls if they can put together a good week.
The Nuggets have a light schedule this week with only two games. They match up Tuesday night at home against the Orlando Magic and rock another home game Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. These are winnable games and if the Nuggets can pull it off, they will likely find themselves moving up even higher.
Check back next Monday for an update of where this Denver Nuggets squad shakes out.