We’re five games into the NBA season, and despite word that the sky was falling in Denver, the Nuggets are 3-2, and with another win or two, they’ll be right back around the top of the Western Conference standings. It hasn’t exactly been pretty, and there is plenty that the team can improve on, but if anything, that should be encouraging.
What do we know about this Nuggets team? When healthy, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are basically good enough for a guaranteed top-5 offense. Of all the reasons for concern in the offseason, the offense was never really one of them.
But so far, the offense has been incredibly slow to get going. They aren’t top-10 in the league in points per game, 3-pointers, assists, rebounds, or turnovers. This is routinely an elite offense in terms of offensive rating, but right now they are 16th in the league.
And that’s good news! Because there’s no way this is going to continue. Water is going to find its level; all things will balance out, and I’m very confident that the Nuggets will make their way back to being an elite offense before it’s all said and done.
When Nuggets' offense gets it rolling they'll be cooking
So, the fact that they are 3-2 and have found a way to gut out some tough games in spite of their offense is a very promising sign and a reason to be optimistic about their long-term prospects this season.
The real questions with this team are around things like defense, depth, and health, and there’s no doubt that those are very real concerns that could rear their ugly head at any time. But the Nuggets are finding ways to make it work early in this season. They’ve done just enough to be a top-20 defense, they’ve patched together a reserve group that’s surviving when the starters sit, and they’ve largely avoided the dreaded injury bug that is sweeping through the league.
Any of those could become bigger problems at any point, but that’s to be expected. What’s not to be expected is seeing this offense suffer, and that’s something I wholly assume will turn around in short order. When it does, if they can manage the other stuff, they’ll be on course to win a lot of games, just as they have in the past.
If they can keep the weaknesses respectable, and the offense gets going as a major strength like we all expect, then that would significantly raise the ceiling of this team and possibly turn the Nuggets into serious contenders in the West.
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