Ranking The 10 Worst Teams In Denver Nuggets History
By Eric Meyer
8. 2014-2015 Denver Nuggets:
Projected 30-52 — 4th place in the Northwest Division.
The current 2014-2015 team started the season with Brian Shaw at the helm. After 59 games, he was unceremoniously fired and interim coach Melvin Hunt took over. When Shaw was fired, this team was on their way to being way higher (lower!) on this list. After Hunt’s promotion, the team has played much better and they have even been at or around .500 since Hunt took over. This season has been an abject disaster on many levels. The hope was high in the preseason with the potential return of Danilo Gallinari and JaVale McGee from injuries, and most of a roster returning that won 57 games under George Karl only two seasons ago. Gallinari came back much slower than he, or any of the Nuggets brass, would have wanted and McGee hardly ever saw the court until being outright released right after the trade deadline. Shaw’s slow-down and half-court systems did not fit the roster he was coaching and that was his ultimate demise. Hunt’s ‘run-and-gun’ style fits the players on the roster, but by the time the Nuggets knew what hit them, the season was lost. This team has very good NBA players including Ty Lawson, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Gallinari and the emergence of rookie Yusuf Nurkic, but the change in coaching and complete disarray this team has been involved in this year has doomed them to well below mediocrity.
2014-2015 Statistical Leaders:
Scoring: Lawson 15.4 ppg; Rebounding: Faried 8.7 rpg; Assists: Lawson 9.5 apg; Blocks: Faried 0.8 bpg
This is a sad state of affairs for a team that has deteriorated greatly since Karl led them to a 57-25 record and 38 home wins only two seasons ago. Where this team goes from here will be determined by this offseason and the moves that the Nuggets make. Whether it’s a new head coach or Hunt at the helm, there has to be positive changes to this team to get back them back to the Playoffs, after making them for nine seasons in a row and winning more than 50 games five times.
Next: 2001-2002 Denver Nuggets
