Denver Nuggets: Projecting 2016-17 Starting 5

Denver Nuggets coach Mike  Malone will have guys at his disposal who will have bought in. That’s a luxury that a coach hasn’t had in the past few years.

A year under new head coach Mike Malone has passed, he’s implemented his system and given his guys a year to develop, so next season with no injuries Malone will be able to finally put out the lineups he wants. With a busy offseason coming up, there will probably be some players moved on and and obviously new draftees coming in.

Malone will have 15 guys at his disposal who will have bought in, 15 guys who will give their best on the court night in night out. That’s a luxury that a Nuggets coach hasn’t had in the past few years and it makes the coming season all the more exciting.

Denver’s starting five this season wasn’t very consistent due to injuries, which caused there to be many different starting lineups. With everyone back the starting lineup will be something like this:

PG: Emmanuel Mudiay

This one is a lock, Mudiay played 68 games last year, starting in 66 of them. The Nuggets handed the keys to this team’s success to Mudiay  when they traded away Ty Lawson before the beginning of the season. They threw Mudiay in the deep end immediately and he benefited from it immensely.

A more confident Mudiay cut down the turnovers, raised his field-goal shooting to better than 35 percent and already showed early signs of becoming the floor general and leader that could take the Nuggets to its first NBA championship.

SG: Gary Harris

Live Feed

FanSided

Harris gets the start based on his defense, Malone is a defensive coach so he likes to have a defensive specialist on the court. Gary’s improvement last year was staggering. He didn’t play that much the previous season as a rookie and a full season as a starter definitely was the catalyst for his rapid improvement.

He improved in every category and was one of the most efficient scorers league-wide finishing the season shooting 47 percent from the field. Defense is Harris’ calling card and is what he was known for coming out of Michigan State, Harris averaged 1.3 steals per game and if he can improve on that next season, Mudiay and Harris will form a very dangerous backcourt.

SF: Wilson Chandler

This could be either Danilo Gallinari or Chandler, I’ve opted for Chandler at the 3 and Gallinari at the 4 because Gallinari is taller and a better rebounder. Chandler missed the whole season after hip surgery and it’s probably a bit optimistic to think he will start the first game, but in a perfect world Chandler gets the start here.

Chandler is a player the Nuggets have missed greatly, he’s a deadly spot-up shooter but he is also very explosive and will not hesitate to go around his man and slam home a fierce dunk. He’s an energy player and a decent leader, Chandler is someone we need to spend a lot of time on the floor next season.

PF: Danilo Gallinari

Gallinari is the Nuggets best scorer, averaging a career-high 19.5 points per game and also had a career-high in rebounds, grabbing 6.6 per game. There were some rumors last year that Malone was considering playing Gallinari at PF to test him out, and see if it provided more spacing on offense.

Gallo is a deadly shooter; if at PF he would act as a stretch 4 spending a lot of his time hovering around the 3-point line.

Gallo’s mid-range jumpers are his best asset, so playing him at the 4 is worthwhile because he will be hanging around the edge of the paint anyway, which gives him a chance to either kick it out to an extra 3-point shooter or take that jumper himself and grab the board if he misses.

Gallinari’s shooting ability could cause many mismatches for opposing power forwards, which makes it even more likely he would play PF over Chandler. Malone has kept his cards close to the vest with his plans for Kenneth Faried, but it looks like it could possibly be someone he brings in to provide some energy in the second unit.

C: Nikola Jokic

Big Honey’s breakout rookie season elevated him into the starting lineup after just a couple of games. Jokic is not your typical center, being that his best asset is his passing ability. Jokic does rebound well and will only get better as he adds some bulk over the offseason; he has a decent array of post moves and will only become a better scorer.

But his passing is amazing for a big man, Malone appreciates how special it is and runs plays where Jokic is the one laying the pass to the assist. Jokic is so valuable to this team offensively and defensively and it showed in his Plus/minus stat.

That’s an insight into what could possibly be Denver’s starting five next season. Tell us yours in the comments section.