The Olympics are in the rearview mirror and NBA teams are beginning to prepare for training camps. We shift our focus to 2023 champs Denver who will be looking to respond after a horror Game 7 defeat at the hands of Minnesota. In these previews, we will take a look at each team’s key acquisitions, fantasy stars, and predicted finish.
Key Acquisitions
The loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – who signed a three-year, $66 million deal with Orlando – stings Denver who will look largely to third-year swingman Christian Braun to fill the void left by the veteran’s departure.
They elected to bring in former league MVP Russell Westbrook on a two-year deal minimum deal and bolstered their frontcourt with the addition of Dario Šarić.
Westbrook is fresh off a year with the Clippers in which he appeared in 68 games averaging a career-low 22.5 mpg.
The soon-to-be 36-year-old averaged 11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 4.5 apg but was again ineffective from deep shooting just 27.3% on a little over two per game.
As has been the case with Westbrook’s last several stops, his value will be determined by his willingness to adapt to a lower-usage role and the effort he puts in off the ball.
Šarić meanwhile is coming off a campaign with the Warriors in which he made 64 appearances averaging 8.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg shooting 37.6% from behind the arc on just over three attempts per game.
The 30-year-old offers head coach Michael Malone another option to plug in behind reigning MVP Nikola Jokić.
Fantasy Stars
Nikola Jokić (1st overall, 1st C) is the league’s current top dog having averaged 26.4 ppg, 12.4 rpg, and 9.0 apg on 65.0 TS% en route to his third MVP nod in four years.
Jamal Murray (50th overall, 20th PG, 21st SG) is coming off an uncharacteristically lackluster postseason in which he averaged 20.6 ppg on just 47.4 TS%.
Having signed a four-year, $208 million extension just two weeks ago, Murray will look to shake off a rough playoffs and Olympics campaign this coming season.
Projected Finish
Despite having had parts of their championship core pillaged by other teams, Denver are still a force out West and should contend for the conference’s No.1 seed so long as Nikola Jokić is around.
Having seemed indomitable throughout the 2022-23 season and much of last year, the Nuggets enter this year clouded by more doubt than previous years.
Jokić will ensure that they remain one of the league’s most efficient offences, but it will be up to their less experienced names to determine how equipped the team is to handle four-straight playoff series.
