I’ve been on social media. I’ve seen the clips. I’ve heard the quotes. Look, things are not great right now for the Denver Nuggets, but I’m here to tell everyone that it’s time to just relax for a minute. Yes, it has been a very ugly 1-2 start to the season. The starters are still being overworked, and Nikola Jokic is getting into a bizarre feud with his own fans.
Frankly, the season could not have gotten off to a much worse start. But that’s why everything is going to be okay. The NBA regular season is an absolute grind, and the Nuggets know this as well as any team in the league. You can’t win a title in October. And while that doesn’t mean you can simply coast through 82 games, I do think this team has worn themselves out too much in recent years.
They hit a wall when the playoffs started and ran into teams that were deeper and fresher. And they paid the price. Lessons were learned (hopefully). This season has to be different. It just has to be. That means trusting the bench, playing the kids, taking some lumps along the way, but getting to a greater final destination.
Now, what we’ve seen thus far isn’t exactly a step in the right direction. Jokic and Jamal Murray are playing way too many minutes, the effort level has been extremely questionable, and the defense and shooting are downright bad. But a lot of these things should change.
Nuggets have been severely shorthanded
For one, they’ve been missing Cam Johnson, Julian Strawther, Spencer Jones, and Alpha Diallo. Those are four key pieces who all should be back relatively soon and shore up the depth considerably. The Nuggets have gotten some promising minutes from Bryce Hopkins, and they look like they hit a home run with Trevon Brazile; two rookies joining the rotation would be a massive boon for this team, and we’re only three games into the season.
DeMar DeRozan is a proven veteran who has never played with any of these players before. It was always going to take time, but he should grow into his role and get more comfortable running the second unit as he gets more reps and experience.
Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon are going to play better. I refuse to believe these guys just fell off a cliff and they’re washed up now. Jokic’s effort has left something to be desired and his shots aren’t falling, but I’m betting on another MVP-caliber season when it’s all said and done. AG at least looks healthy and was dynamic in the preseason. He’ll be fine.
The Nuggets have a long time to figure this out
And Jamal Murray looks outstanding. He’s leaving it all out there and absolutely filling it up on offense. Again, I’d like to see him get some more rest and some help, but the fact that he looks this good is extremely promising.
Changes need to be made, the team needs to start clicking, they need to get healthy, and they need to play harder. Things are far from perfect. But there is still a good team in there, and it’s not time to panic after a couple of bad showings (one of which was an overtime win, by the way). It’s a long season. There will be ups and downs for sure and right now, this is a down; there’s no question.
They’ve had other bleak stretches in past seasons, and things generally turn around. That’s what happens when you’ve got a team led by veterans who are focused on the big picture. I know the results haven’t been promising and the last few seasons haven’t instilled a ton of faith, but this is going to require some patience, and these guys have earned at least that much.
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