Denver Nuggets: Highs, lows and middle grounds

The Denver Nuggets are set to take on a new schedule which was released on Friday, August the 10th.

What can we say are some realistic predictions for this team this year? This Western Conference may be the greatest conference in US pro sports history this year, and that obviously doesn’t work in the Nuggets’ favor. That being said, this is one of the most deep and talented rosters that the Mile High City has ever had, and they won’t be told they can’t make it.

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Best Case Scenario: The Denver Nuggets win over 50 games and are the fourth seed in the West.

This team, as I said, is deep, and young. With this youth comes a desire and hunger to play in the postseason, something that a lot of the players on the roster haven’t done yet.

Guys like Jamal Murray (3rd season), Gary Harris (5th season) and  Nikola Jokic (4th season) are all young leaders who haven’t gotten there. Mix that young buck leadership with experienced veterans like Paul Millsap, Isaiah Thomas, and Will Barton and it’s a recipe for success.

The offense is great, as we’ve talked about so many times before, and the defense needs some work, but the tools are there to have a great season in the Mile High City.

Worst case Scenario: The Denver Nuggets barely break .500 and miss the playoffs.

I know, the last thing you want to hear as a Nuggets fan is no playoffs. However, that’s not a knock or insult at the Nuggets, it’s a testament of how good the West really is. If you look at the teams from top-to-bottom this off-season, almost every team improved.

The Nuggets had a pretty good off-season, but was it enough to propel them in the top 8 spots? They didn’t make quite as big of a splash as a team like the Lakers, who got one of the best players of all time in LeBron James, or the Thunder, who convinced their other All-Star Paul George to stick around. Why don’t we look at San Antonio, who traded an unhappy and almost unwilling to play Kawhi for a healthy franchise player in DeMar DeRozan? The Rockets still look pretty good, and well, the Warriors just signed DeMarcus Cousins.

…This is the conference the Nuggets will be vying to get a top eight seed in.

Realistic approach: The Denver Nuggets get 48 wins and the sixth seed in the West.

That’s right, 48 wins would get you the sixth seed in the West in a more realistic approach. Most of these teams have the potential talent to win over 50 games if it was a normal year, not while they’re playing each other.

I think this Nuggets team is legit, and they have a chance to make a name for themselves and put their name on the map this season. It starts with performing in big games, and not lying down when a big challenge is ahead of them. The road is long, and playoffs are far, but the Nuggets should prove themselves worthy enough to reach the end.

I look forward to seeing the fight this season, and hopefully into the post-season.