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Three advanced stats that prove the Denver Nuggets will be successful

By Grayson Moore

DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 1: Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets celebrates after hitting the game winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 1, 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 - FEBRUARY 1: Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets celebrates after hitting the game winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 1, 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) /
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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 30: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets reacts prior to taking on the New York Knicks during their game at Madison Square Garden on October 30, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 30: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets reacts prior to taking on the New York Knicks during their game at Madison Square Garden on October 30, 2017, in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Stat #1: The Denver Nuggets ranked 11th in the league in the Simple Rating System last season

11th doesn’t sound inspiring or amazing, but allow me to explain.

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The Simple Rating System(or SRS) is a statistic used by Basketball-Reference to…well, simply rate teams. It “takes into account average point differential and strength of schedule.” It rates teams above or below average, where 0 is the average.

In the 2017-18 season, the Nuggets had an SRS of 1.57. That ranked 11th in the league and above 6 playoff teams, including the New Orleans Pelicans and the ECF champion Cleveland Cavaliers. The Minnesota Timberwolves were the only other team to rank in the top 12 with a defensive rating above 108.

This stat confirms what Nuggets fans already know: they deserved to be in the playoffs last season. But why does it mean they’ll be successful in the future?

The Nuggets had an average age of 25.1 last year, according to Basketball-Reference. Of the 10 teams that ranked above them in SRS, only the Boston Celtics had a younger team. And the numbers suggest the Nuggets were even younger than that last year.

In the 2017-18 season, the Nuggets played 19,880 minutes. Players 23 or younger played 10,342 of those minutes or 52.0%. Players 30 or older played just 4,185 minutes or 21.1% of available minutes. For comparison, the Celtics played 19,805 minutes last season. Players 23 or younger played 9,772 of those minutes or 51.2%. Players 30 or older played 3,802 minutes or 19.9%. Essentially, the Nuggets and Celtics have players at the same ages and are both very good teams despite being so young.

Next season, the Nuggets will have 1 player over 30 years old. Yet, they still managed to be a top 12 team in the league last year in the SRS. They have improved every season in the rating system since 2015-16. As young players mature and Paul Millsap comes back from his injury, there’s no reason to suspect the Nuggets won’t improve again.

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