The Denver Nuggets are entering the 2023-24 NBA season as the reigning NBA Champions. The Nuggets are back and they are one of the big major teams and mainly the favorites to win the West. But this time, It’s not with the exact team we saw last year.
Denver still has the core in the starting line up with guys like Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, rising star Jamal Murray and Two time MVP Nikola Jokic. It was a pretty quiet offseason for the Nuggets as they got mostly their assets from the NBA Draft. The Nuggets were able to sign guys like Justin Holiday, Julian Strawther and pick up Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson from the Draft. Although the Nuggets did get some assets, they lost some key players off the bench. Bruce Brown and Jeff Green played a major role in last year’s championship run and this was a very crucial loss, they brought defense, depth, leadership and they were extremely versatile on the court.
The Western Conference is stacked with many teams and competitions. For example, The California Teams like the Clippers, Lakers and Warriors are big threats. Big Teams with multiple superstars like the Suns, Mavericks will definitely make noise in the West. Many sports fans don’t see the Nuggets winning it again but they have the ability to go back to back. The Nuggets were the Number One seed in the west, while having the 29th ranked bench in the league. The Bench must make a big improvement if they want to win the Championship again and beat teams, especially teams that have upgraded and improved in the offseason like the Milwaukee Bucks. Even losing depth and versatility on the bench, the Nuggets still have a pretty good second unit as they will be led by Jackson, Holiday, Nnaji, and Christian Braun with many young guys and rookies.
The Nuggets have a lot of teamwork, which is a lot of their success, especially last year. They are able to play through and with Nikola Jokic. Nikola Jokic’s game is able to compliment other players like Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, and he’s able to utilize his abilities to make other players around him a lot better. This is a team that does not give up, as we’ve seen in past years as they came over a 3-1 deficit twice in 2020.
Denver will start the season on October 24th as they face last year Western Conference Finals opponent Los Angeles Lakers for the first game of the Nuggets season. They will be running it back with the same starting lineup. The Nuggets are projected to at least make the Western Conference Finals, and possibly win the West. They have many young stars, experienced players and the best players in the league. Nuggets fans believe as long as these players are healthy, the Nuggets are no doubt one of the best teams in the NBA.
