1 dream quote we wish to hear from every Denver Nugget at media day

Jamal Murray: “I’m in the best shape of my life”

It’s kind of sad to think about, but before the Nuggets have even had a practice, it feels like so much of their fate rests on the health of Jamal Murray. When Murray is on the court, playing at 100% we’ve seen what this team is capable of; cruising to a championship.

The problem is, far more often than not recently, we’ve seen a compromised version of Murray, or no Murray at all, and the Nuggets looking overmatched in the playoffs. This offseason has been particularly tough for Murray.

He was dealing with a bevy of injuries in the playoffs and struggled as the Nuggets were knocked out in round two by the Timberwolves. Then at the Olympics, things got even worse. Murray was supposed to propel Team Canada to a medal but instead, he looked awful and the team lost in the quarterfinals.

Then there was a bit of an ugly contract stand-off that had some in the media wondering if Murray’s best days were behind him and if the team was thinking about trading him. But he signed the deal and he’s back in Denver to stay. Now we just need to see the best version of Murray.

The hope is that he’s gotten healthy over the last month or so; that he’s been resting, rehabbing, and training. We want to hear and see that he’s 100% healthy and that he’s in great shape. The Nuggets need Murray to have the best year of his career and to step up and be consistent.

They need to lessen the load on Jokic’s shoulders and a big part of that is Murray being a reliable co-star. He needs to sustain it for a full season, then stay healthy and raise his game for another playoff run. If Murray can do that and his body doesn’t betray him, we already know what the team can do.