This offseason, the Nuggets have upgraded their roster, their coaching staff, and their front office, but at the end of the day, the NBA is still a star-driven league. Denver is in contention every year because they have the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic. But if they actually want to get back to the Finals, they need his co-star, Jamal Murray, to step up and play up to his potential.
Whenever healthy, the Nuggets have gotten a version of Murray that raises his game in the playoffs, and looks like one of the 10-20 best players on the planet. But he has never been able to channel that with any consistency in the regular season, and seeing him at 100% come playoff time has sadly become a rarity.
It’s so frustrating because we all know the potential, and we’ve seen how good this team can be with Jamal and Nikola at the peak of their powers together. Yet we’ve only seen it in glimpses, and the blame for that belongs almost exclusively to Murray.
Murray set to have best season of career
At this point, Jamal is out of excuses, and he is set up to have the best season of his career. He’s several years removed from his last major injury, and he had a full offseason to train and get in shape instead of resting and rehabbing.
He has been in the gym all summer and has been taking on a real leadership role, even organizing practices and games during the offseason with his teammates. He was around Denver and in the gym early, without any international games getting in the way.
By all accounts, the frequent slow-starter is coming into the season ready to hit the ground running for a change. On top of the health and fitness, Murray has been put into an even better situation, surrounded by shooting, scoring, and defense at all three levels.
Then, of course, there’s the two-man game between Murray and Joker that has become one of the deadliest weapons in the entire league, and nearly unstoppable in crunch time. When Murray is locked in, with a pep in his step and feeling his jumper, his game goes to another level, and it drastically raises the ceiling for his entire team.
We saw it happen in the bubble, and a young Nuggets team nearly shocked the world. Then we saw it again in 2023, and the Nuggets cruised to the first championship in franchise history. Now, Murray has the best circumstances of his career. If Murray can bring it for an entire season, the Nuggets are going to win another title.