The Denver Nuggets fell a play-in game short of the playoffs last year. Hopes were high in Denver coming off a summer where they added Paul Millsap to their young, dynamic core.
The thought was that adding Millsap to a team coming off a season where they posted the second to worst defensive rating (NBA.com) would help remedy their woes on that end of the court. If they could have a middle-of-the-pack defensive team to pair with their top 5 offense a top 6 spot in the Western Conference seemed likely.
Then Millsap went down with an injury, just as he and Jokic were starting to figure out how to best complement each other on the court. The injury cost him 44 games and left Denver fans with a bad taste in their mouths, dreaming of what could have been.
Through all the adversity the Nuggets still controlled their own destiny in game 82 of the regular season. Win…you’re in. Lose…you’re lottery bound. We all know how the story unfolds. But if there’s a silver lining it’s that losing that game to Minnesota netted us Michael Porter Jr. in the NBA draft.
Entering the 2018-2019 season once again expectations are high in Denver. They unloaded the contracts of Chandler, Faried, and Arthur. They got a player who, if healthy, has unlimited potential. They resigned Will Barton who will take Chandler’s spot in the starting 5. They signed Isaiah Thomas for $2 million, who’s only 2 years removed from averaging 29 PPG for the Celtics. They have a healthy Paul Millsap and most importantly their young core of Jokic, Murray, and Harris have all had another year to grow and develop together.
So it would seem after missing out on the playoffs by one game last year the natural progression would make them a shoe in this year right? Not quite. I’m going to look at 2 reasons why the Nuggets will and will not make the playoffs this year.
If you’re anything like me then you’re going to want to hear the bad news first. So here it is.
WHY THEY WON’T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS: