David Adelman was glowing after the Nuggets’ win on Wednesday night, and tried to hold back his admiration, realizing he was gushing, saying, “These guys have won with so many different styles…and they genuinely like each other. Not trying to make it sound like a Disney movie, but they do.”
It’s easy to get carried away; we’re used to seeing Nikola Jokic forced to pull off superhuman feats just to keep the team afloat, but this year, everything has flipped. The Nuggets have actually built out a deep roster, and as the injuries have mounted in an almost comical way, one guy after another has stepped up.
The power of friendship has been strong within this team, and you really do get the sense that these guys are playing for each other; they are empowered and confident, and genuinely having fun playing basketball together.
We’re seeing it result in a free-flowing system on the court that has kept humming regardless of who gets plugged in. There was optimism that the depth would improve and things would click this season, but so far, given the rash of injuries, they have exceeded any reasonable expectations.
Nuggets need storybook ending to finish Disney movie
The story has been writing itself so far, with deep bench players and even two-way guys emerging as viable contributors, and even solid starters, when needed. Despite having four different starters miss extended time, the Nuggets are off to a 28-13 start to the season, good for second place in a stacked Western Conference.
Even more surprising and amazing, they’ve managed to go 6-3 since Jokic injured his knee in late December. Jamal Murray has emerged as a likely All-Star and a legitimate All-NBA candidate, Tim Hardaway Jr. has become a Sixth Man of the Year candidate and has a shot at appearing in the Three-Point Contest during All-Star weekend, and Peyton Watson is being discussed as a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award.
Adelman deserves attention as a potential Coach of the Year candidate as well, and the front office should be getting more credit for how quickly they’ve turned things around and completely flipped the vibes and energy around the franchise.
The way this has all come together has definitely resembled the start of a Disney movie, but it won’t mean anything without the Hollywood ending. Hopefully, things keep clicking, this team can get healthy, and roll into the playoffs with a nice rhythm so everyone can live happily ever after.