It has been a long time coming, but it’s clear after just three games that the Nuggets have finally given Jokic the necessary talent and depth around him to fully thrive. Since Denver won it all in 2023, the team has been shorthanded, and Jokic’s burden has been too much, even for him.
But the last couple of seasons, we’ve seen the common theme of depth prevailing. The Celtics put together a team full of stars and elite role players, and it led to a dominant season, culminating in a championship.
Then last season, we saw something similar as the two deepest teams in the league, the Thunder and Pacers, rode their deep benches and versatility to the Finals. The Thunder obviously prevailed, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put together a season that will go down in history, winning both regular season and Finals MVP.
As amazing as SGA was, the reason that OKC finally reached the mountaintop was the stellar supporting cast. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren grew into stars, while guys like Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, and others played their roles perfectly and gave the Thunder enough optionality to survive any scenario.
Nuggets may have deepest team in NBA now
The NBA is a copycat league, and when something works, teams will rush to try and replicate it. The new craze is adding depth and players on value contracts in the new CBA landscape. The Nuggets’ new front office clearly realized this, and they’ve built out the deepest and most talented roster that Jokic has ever had.
It has only been three games, but the Nuggets have already had a 20-point scorer off the bench in one game, seven players in double figures in another game, and the team’s third option go off for 50 points in another.
This is a whole new world for Jokic and the Nuggets, and it’s a beautiful world at that. This team is designed to play any way they need to. They can go big, they can go small, they can shoot, they can defend. There is no shortage of options, and whatever an opponent throws their way, the Nuggets now have the moves to counter.
It’s going to take some time to adjust, but that’s what the regular season is for. This team has enough depth to keep everyone fresh during the season, and they should be hitting their stride come playoff time, ready for a long run, hopefully ending in another title.