Denver Nuggets: All Stars, up and comers, and unsung heroes
The season is nearing it’s start. Names like Paul Millsap and Isaiah Thomas are household names, Nikola Jokic is a max contract face of the franchise, Gary Harris is one of the leagues most underrated players and everyone is about to know who Jamal Murray is for the Denver Nuggets.
The Denver Nuggets have all the moving pieces to compete, but they’ll need the starting five, 6th man and a strong bench to reach the upper echelon of the West. So, who’s going to fill each role?
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The starting five to open seems to be Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap, Will Barton, Gary Harris, and Jamal Murray. The obvious and hopefully 6th man is Isaiah Thomas. The bench from the latest depth chart on ESPN would have Thomas, Beasley, Craig, Lyles, and Plumlee. I would be fairly confident in that 10 man rotation, but there are still rookies like Michael Porter Jr., and Jared Vanderbilt along with Summer League star Monte Morris. Juancho has played valuable minutes and we’ve yet to see what Tyler Lyndon can bring to the NBA.
So who are our all stars? With super teams and big markets, the All Star team is a tough egg to crack through fan voting so the Nuggets may be limited to Jokic and Millsap as real candidates and perhaps Thomas if he’s the 6th man I hope he is. More will likely be deserving, but beat out by bigger names.
The Up and Comers… Lots of guys on the Nuggets team could fall into this category, but Jamal Murray and Gary Harris represent what’s cooking in Denver. Gary Harris is quietly becoming one of the better two way guards in the NBA and Murray seems poised to become an elite scoring threat.
Almost forgot the Unsung Heroes LOL Guys Like Mason Plumlee, Will Barton, Trey Lyles and perhaps Torrey Craig could ultimately be what sets the Nuggets apart from other playoff hopefuls. Few outside of Nuggets nation will know their names, but their contribution could be pivotal to what makes Denver one of the best teams in the West.
Next. Top 10 Denver Nuggets of all time. dark
Every great team has these things I’ve listed above and it remains to be seen who can fill each role for the Nuggets. It may be players I’ve placed in a category or a surprise such as Monte Morris, Michael Porter Jr., or any other member of the team. Let’s just hope the Nuggets have a player(s) to check every box.