Denver Nuggets: What is wrong with this team?

Several outlets have run with the idea over the last couple of days that the Denver Nuggets are being held back by their coaching.

The problem with that narrative is twofold:

First, we are Denver Nuggets fans first, NBA fans second.  We see the Nuggets 82 times, we see the other teams, four, at most (unless, like me, you watch all the NBA action that TV has to offer).  It feels like our reality is only ours and that we are the most complex and indecipherable team in the league.  The thing is, 31 teams won’t win the championship this year.  16 teams will miss the playoffs.  There are 12 teams that will make the playoffs that have absolutely no chance at winning it all.  At the end of the day, there are the Cavaliers, Warriors and Rockets.  One of those three are going to win the championship this year.  The other 29 teams in the NBA will be left with questions.  Every team in the playoff hunt in both Conferences is having about the same experience the Nuggets are.  We are not unique in losing to inferior opponents, questioning coaches and scratching our heads at player performance.

Denver Nuggets

Second, the Denver Nuggets have been this exact same team for the entirety of their 50 years in Denver.  The team that gets your hopes up and then dashes those hopes, immediately transcends ownership, coaches, players and venue.  Doug Moe’s teams were offensive juggernauts that lost too early in the playoffs, every year.  George Karl’s teams never realized anywhere near the potential that Anthony, Iverson, Billups, Martin, etc. should have been capable of.  If we’re honest, the Broncos, Avalanche and Rockies share that lovely Denver pedigree.  At least the Avs and Broncos flare up and win championships.  The Rockies played in the World Series.

If we’re further honest with ourselves, most teams in most leagues suffer the same fate as the Nuggets.  It’s hard to find the right coach and the right players, particularly in the win-now world we are living in.

So, my theory?  The Nuggets have never had leadership from their players.  The leadership has always been expected to come from the coaching ranks.  We’ve had good, even great players but no leaders.  Of the teams that are legitimate contenders, every year or have historically had long-term success, there’s one thing in common with all of them:

Leadership.

Starting with the 90’s Bulls with Michael Jordan, there were the middle years, when MJ was playing Baseball and the Rockets flared up.  Led by Hakeem Olajuwon, they won two. From 1999-2014, it was a mix of Lakers, Spurs and Heat with a Detroit and a Dallas thrown in.  Kobe, Duncan, Dwyane, Chauncey, Dirk.  Have the Nuggets ever had a comparable player?  They have not.  Carmelo Anthony is the closest we’ve come but he was never an on-floor leader.  He was not a floor-general, he was not outspoken.  He scored a lot of points. That was his contribution, that’s what he had.  It’s plagued ‘Melo his entire career.  He couldn’t match the success of draft-mates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade because he didn’t provide the team leadership that they did.

The three teams mentioned above that have the inside track to championship contention list, among their rosters:  Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, James Harden, Chris Paul and LeBron James.  There’s been speculation about what the Nuggets should desire in a coach.  Steve Kerr replacing Mark Jackson in Golden State is a prime example.  Popovich’s 20+ years of success are a fine model.  The thing that coaches with championships on their resume have in common is that they have floor leaders.  Kerr missed the first part of last season with spinal cord issues.  The Warriors didn’t miss a beat.  Kerr has let the players coach a game or two this season.  It’s got to be  a relief that the reins of the on-floor product are handled by on-floor talent.

Think of it this way, how much more time would Michael Malone have to shore up defensive play, work on rotations and actually coach this team if he wasn’t mired in trying to make sure everyone all up in their feels are okay.  Having to nurture a crew of under-25 players into leaders is a daunting task.  A task that may be insurmountable.  The problem with expecting leadership from players is that the names detailed above are rare.  Less rare is talent, like Jokic.  The history of the NBA is littered with spectacular also-rans from Dominique to T-Mac to Vince Carter, there are players all over the NBA landscape who were a walking highlight reel.  Those guys were always the best player on their respective teams but never elevated those teams to championship level.  Why is that?

Leadership.

Put in Broncos context, it’s unfortunate that the decision was made to release TJ Ward.  Not because Justin Simmons isn’t skilled and ready.  Because Ward was a leader.  No matter how well a player plays, no matter how elevated their skill set is, there’s a hard ceiling without leadership.

Who, on this team is capable of leading the team to previously unexplored heights?  Currently, a fevered Nuggets fan base believes that should be Michael Malone.  Him or whoever replaces him.  The problem with that is that it alleviates Murray, Jokic and Harris from that responsibility.  Many commenters believe that Malone is “holding Jokic back” from reaching his “true potential”.

That’s such a load of nonsense.  Nobody is holding Jokic back, it’s up to Nikola to determine whether he will be that leader.  It can’t be coaxed out of the unwilling.  Nikola is such a rare talent, it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t relish a leadership role.  He’s still only 23, though and there’s a language barrier that will only continue to improve.  It’s unclear whether he has the traits to join the list of leaders and champions detailed above.

The existence of Jokic creates its own conundrum with regard to leadership.  Let’s say he isn’t that guy, doesn’t want that role.  The Nuggets have gone all-in on the Serbian big, the coach runs the offense through him.  It would be no small task to groom another, different leader for this team.  Could Millsap do it?  Maybe but his return from injury is still fresh in our minds.  Until Millsap took a back-seat with his offensive game, there was tension, whether real or perceived between the teammates.  Murray and Harris seem perfectly content to defer to the big man on leadership.  Their games flourish based on his game.  That makes him a de-facto leader but that isn’t good enough.  To propel the Nuggets into the contender realm, somebody is going to have to accept that role.  To win a championship, somebody is going to have to excel at it.  Is that guy on the Nuggets roster?

Next: Denver Nuggets: Keys to the game against Miami

Time will tell.