Denver Nuggets: Why the Nuggets Are the Perfect Sleeper

The Denver Nuggets are often times justifiably disrespected by NBA analysts, but this season, they are legitimately the leagues perfect sleeper.

Most analysts have the Denver Nuggets winning somewhere between 30-35 games this season. However many admittedly don’t really know what to actually expect from them.

Denver hasn’t had any big offseason moves, and free agency was quiet in the mile-high city. Last year the Nuggets won 33 games, and to the average basketball fan it would seem likely that they’ll do about the same this season.

Denver could be the NBA’s darkhorse this season though, and here is why:

First, this team has yet to play together. I don’t just mean with the addition of Jamal Murray and the other rookies. I mean since the drafting of starting point guard Emmanuel Mudiay.

Wilson Chandler missed all of last season due to a hip injury. He’s back and already looks like his old self.

Jusuf Nurkic looked like the up-and-coming star in Denver two years ago, but missed most of last season while recovering from an injury. In his stead, Nikola Jokic was given the opportunity to blossom into a skilled, young center who took 3rd last year in rookie of the year voting. Now Nurkic is back, looking better than ever, and ready to play with Serbian big man Nikola Jokic.

The Nuggets leading scorer, Danilo Gallinari, also missed the second half of the season with an injury. He is now healthy, and has a deeper roster to take some offensive responsibility off of him. Playing with Denver’s deep roster should keep the Italian sharp-shooter healthy this season.

This is the healthiest this Nuggets roster has looked in years. Denver has quietly acquired a talented roster over the past few years and this will be the first time we’ll actually see them all play together.

Next comes this year’s strong draft class. Denver drafted three rookies in the first round this off season and all three made the roster and are ready to contribute.

More importantly, Denver drafted three rookies who can shoot. Last season Denver ranked 27th in the league in three-point shooting. Denver’s 7th overall pick Jamal Murray is known for his three-point shooting.

In Murray’s freshman year of college he hit more three’s than any other college player ever, except for a man named Stephen Curry.

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Denver’s 15th and 19th picks (Hernangomez and Beasley) can also shoot the three. Denver’s shooting woes were clearly their biggest weakness last season and GM Tim Connolly appears to have done an excellent job patching it up.

Lastly, Denver has changed their culture. A couple years ago Denver looked like a “small market team” that the players wanted out of. The Nuggets organization emphasized building a team that wants to be in Denver.

Like never before this young team appears to have bought in. Veterans like Darrell Arthur, Wilson Chandler, and Danilo Gallinari have spoken out that they want to stay in Denver long term. Reportedly Gallo asked to stay when offered to be traded. Arthur took a significant pay cut to stay.

The rookies and young players are excited to be in Denver as well. Drama caused by players like Ty Lawson and Carmelo Anthony who are begging to get out of Denver have stopped and the team is focused and united.

Must Read: Denver Nuggets Season Opener: Quarter-by-Quarter Breakdown

A lot of people are and will sleep on Denver. They’ve been quietly rebuilding for a few years now, and may be a lot better than most realize.

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