Denver Nuggets need new goals to fully unlock potential

New goals needed and plenty of them.

Well, some of you (with Denver barely losing this preseason) may be wondering what exactly needs fixing? Firstly, the ultimate goal of the Denver Nuggets this season (as per the Denver Nuggets media day) of making the playoffs is underwhelming. After all, they were one game away from achieving this last year.

Furthermore, with the Denver Nuggets being out of the playoff picture for so long, a loftier goal would have served them better. Keeping the objective relatively unchanged could smack of being mundane. The reason the goal of making the playoffs is unsuitable is, it fails to reflect the reality of Denver’s potential.

The Denver Nuggets’ roster is full of players that could have a breakout year: Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, Trey Lyles etc. Moreover, Denver should perform better on defense this year than they did last year.

When you look at it like that, the current team goal is almost disrespectful. As is widely known, goals are meant to stretch and cause growth in those seeking to do the achieving.

Shoot for the stars as they say…with that in mind, as previously argued the Denver Nuggets should set themselves the goal of making the Western Conference finals. The aim is less about setting a reachable goal and more about setting a goal that causes the Denver Nuggets to fully cash in on their potential.

Additionally, the above goal although lofty would be incomplete by itself. Also, it could be argued that if the above goal were to be achieved, several other (mini) goals would need to be achieved too.

As aforementioned, the Denver Nuggets have a lot of players that could have a breakout season this season. With that in mind, the Denver Nuggets should aim to have as many players as possible play in this year’s All Star game. With Gary Harris, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic all already predicted to do so. The goal above is a realistic one that helps the Denver Nuggets players and coaches alike. It also makes the ultimate goal of the Western Conference finals become more realistic too.

In addition, Paul Millsap should aim to make the NBA’s all defensive or 2nd All Defensive team. The same thing goes for Gary Harris, Malik Beasley and Torrey Craig. To be frank, the Denver Nuggets and their roster need to aim for excellence in all sorts of statistical categories.

However, the final noteworthy goal here is that of defensive efficiency. The Denver Nuggets should aim to be in the top half, ideally top ten, of defensive efficiency in the NBA throughout next season.

The goals mentioned in this article should help the Denver Nuggets lock into what they need to achieve to have a very productive season. It also should help them bring their collective ‘A’ games mentally and in every other way.

Forget just making the playoffs, the Denver Nuggets need to aim at taking the entire playoffs by surprise.