The one thing that Denver does not struggle to do is put the ball in the hole.
When their offense is clicking, the ball is moving and they’re getting wide open 3’s or easy buckets at the rim. This has a lot to do with Malone’s offense and has everything to do with Nikola Jokic running the show. He see’s things on the court that normal humans don’t. His anticipation and court vision are next, next level and with him being 6’10 he can see over the defense and make passes that most players his size would never dare to try.
When you have a player with this skill set you want to surround him with shooters and scorers. Gary Harris is one of the best catch-and-shoot players in the league and he and Jokic have developed this other worldly chemistry where they can read each other’s minds.
Then you have The Blue Arrow, Jamal Murray, who should be reaching into his quiver more and more this year. The kid is a flat out scorer. He gets buckets. He’s a great shooter, but it’s almost like he’s one of those players who’s better when the shot difficulty rises. Murray was asked to play PG last year and while he’s not a pure PG I think he handled the transition gracefully. There was obviously a learning curve on when to get your teammates shots and when to get his own, but this should improve even more this year.
The thing is you don’t need a pure PG with Nikola Jokic running the offense and if he and Murray can develop the same kind of chemistry that he and Harris have then it’s going to take the Nuggets offense to the next level.
The newest addition to the starting 5 is Will Barton, fresh off signing a 4-year $54 million deal (cbssports.com). When Barton has it going he is virtually unstoppable. He has this herky-jerky type of game that is hard to predict. He’s so wiry and he can get his own shot when he wants. This is crucial for the Nuggets especially at the end of games.
In the final minutes of close games you need players who can breakdown a defense and get a shot or make a play for someone else. The Nuggets will not be short on players who can do that this year. Barton, Murray, Harris, and IT all have this ability. It’s going to be fun to see who steps up as that go to guy in the final seconds.
Last and definitely not least we have Paul Millsap. We never really got to see what Millsap could do last year. There were flashes of it before he went down with the injury but it didn’t seem like he ever felt truly comfortable in the offense. This should change entering his second year with the Nuggets.
The Nuggets signed Millsap with the thought that he would be the perfect complement next to Nikola Jokic. He doesn’t need to have the ball to be effective and his presence on the defensive end would help hide some of Jokic’s weaknesses. When Jokic needs a breather Millsap could slide into his role of a play making big and the offense wouldn’t suffer as much as it did in the past. Look to see a more comfortable Millsap this year, which in turn should translate into a more productive season.