Nugg Love
Fansided

The Denver Nuggets guide to the 2018 off season

By Grayson Moore

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Mark Tatum, NBA's deputy commissioner, announces the Denver Nuggets as the #7 pick during the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery at the New York Hilton in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 17: Mark Tatum, NBA's deputy commissioner, announces the Denver Nuggets as the #7 pick during the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery at the New York Hilton in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 9
Next
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 19: a general view of the 50 year logo during the game between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns on January 19, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – JANUARY 19: a general view of the 50 year logo during the game between the Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns on January 19, 2018 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The physical part of NBA basketball may happen from October to June, but the real game is played in the summer, and I’m not talking about the Summer League. The off season is the most important part of the year for any NBA team. It gives rebuilding teams a chance to rebuild for the future, mid-table teams the chance to add more depth and potentially take the next step, and contenders the chance to re-sign players and address team weaknesses. Everybody thinks they’ve had a good off season, but when the season starts, most teams realize that they messed up, and messed up bad… ahem… Memphis Grizzlies. This guide is to try to prevent that from happening to the Denver Nuggets. So let’s hop right into it.

(Note: All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.)

2018 NBA Draft:

The Nuggets have a few options to consider here. I’ll lay them all out, then say which one I think they should proceed with.

  1. Draft a 3-and-D wing

The Denver Nuggets desperately need help on defense.

They surrendered the 9th most points per game in the league, the 6th worst defensive rating, and the highest opponent field goal percentage in the entire NBA, not to mention the highest 3-point percentage as well. It’s safe to say they could use a bit of help on the defensive side of the ball.

They are actually pretty good shooting the 3 themselves, with the 6th most makes per game in the league and the 7th best 3-point percentage.

However, if they go for a player who is all-out defense with almost no offensive capability, they will basically be playing 4 against 5 when they go up the court. Think the Philadelphia 76ers when the ball isn’t in Ben Simmons hands.

You can also look to Torrey Craig as an example. As an undrafted free agent, Craig kind of went under the radar of a lot of basketball fans.

However, he has been phenomenal on defense, allowing his defensive assignments to shoot just 43.7% from the floor, according to ESPN.com. He could not get a consistent shooting stroke, however, shooting under 46% from the floor and just 29.3% from 3. As a result of poor shooting, he only played 16.1 minutes per game and appeared in just 39 games.

With Wilson Chandler on the decline and being nicely overpaid, the Nuggets could really use a prospect like Mikal Bridges out of Villanova or Miles Bridges from Michigan State.