The 2012 Denver Nuggets have set themselves up to not only take advantage of a strange NBA season that is shortened due to the lockout and will force teams into an uncomfortable schedule of back-to-back and back-to-back-to-back games, but also to be a perennial playoff force for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to wise front office moves, starting with the Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups trade towards the end of the 2011 season the Nuggets moved towards quickly rebuilding a franchise that had talent but had reached the pinnacle of what it could accomplish as it was currently constructed.
Though the Nuggets lost their lone star player in Anthony, they managed to add depth, youth, talent and size at a reasonable price. They grabbed raw but talented seven-foot centers Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos promising forward Danilo Galinari, and guard Raymond Felton, along with financial flexibility that they did not have while they were consistently a luxury tax team. Thanks to this deal they now have financial freedom to pursue deals at their leisure, as well as re-sign key players without climbing further up the luxury tax scale.
But following another first-round playoff exit in 2011, the Nuggets front office was looking for answers and was not content to stick with the status quo. Draft night wheeling and dealing saw them trade Felton, but landed the team veteran guard Andre Miller, as well potential laden forwards Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton.
At the start of the season, the front office further secured the future of the franchise by not only resigning their own free agents, immensely talented forward Nenê and up and coming guard Arron Afflalo, but also trading future draft picks to Dallas for reportedly unhappy guard Rudy Fernández and rarely used reserve guard/forward Corey Brewer. So far, that trade has looked like a steal for the Nuggets, as Fernández is showing play-making ability and Brewer is quickly picking up minutes with his effort on both ends of the court.
Yes, the Nuggets have bucked the trend have become one of the few teams going against the current NBA model of having multiple "stars" on their roster, but they moved towards a roster of players who get it and have a "high basketball IQ". For a long time the Nuggets were thought of as strictly a "finesse" team that didn't always battle for rebounds and didn't always put in a consistent effort on the defensive end. There were numerous voices being heard in the locker room, and many "me first" type guys. Well those days are over.
This team is coachable, they buy in and believe the message Coach George Karl preaches. They don't have the potential cancerous figures looming in the locker room like they once did. Gone are the "knuckleheads" and in come the guys who are willing to work with one another to accomplish what is truly best for the team.
So can this roster help the Nuggets make an impact in the star driven NBA? The answer is a resounding yes. So far in this new season, the Nuggets are playing team basketball, sharing the ball on offense and locking down teams on the defensive end of the court.
Because of the compressed schedule this season, teams will be forced to rely more on the depth of their bench, and early on it appears that the Nuggets have one of the deepest benches in the NBA. They are well conditioned, and built to run opponents up and down the floor, something most teams will not want to do when playing a schedule that forces them to at times play five games in six nights. Couple that with the fact Denver plays with a home altitude advantage and teams will be weary coming to the Mile High City in 2012.
With the depth, size and talent this Nuggets team has, as well as the fact that they are playing a more team oriented style of basketball; they have potential to seriously climb the Western Conference playoff ladder. There is likely to be a changing of the guard at the top of the Western Conference, teams like Denver, Oklahoma City and Portland, who rely more on youth taking the places of older teams like San Antonio, Los Angeles and the like. So settle in, enjoy the ride and don't be surprised to see the Nuggets make a hard push to secure one of the top 3 spots in the West. This is sure to be an exciting time to be a Nuggets fan!
Prediction Time:
Predicted Record: 50-16, good enough for #2 seed in the West
All-Stars: Nene, Ty Lawson
Predicted Outcome: Western Conference Finals
Thanks to wise front office moves, starting with the Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups trade towards the end of the 2011 season the Nuggets moved towards quickly rebuilding a franchise that had talent but had reached the pinnacle of what it could accomplish as it was currently constructed.
Though the Nuggets lost their lone star player in Anthony, they managed to add depth, youth, talent and size at a reasonable price. They grabbed raw but talented seven-foot centers Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos promising forward Danilo Galinari, and guard Raymond Felton, along with financial flexibility that they did not have while they were consistently a luxury tax team. Thanks to this deal they now have financial freedom to pursue deals at their leisure, as well as re-sign key players without climbing further up the luxury tax scale.
But following another first-round playoff exit in 2011, the Nuggets front office was looking for answers and was not content to stick with the status quo. Draft night wheeling and dealing saw them trade Felton, but landed the team veteran guard Andre Miller, as well potential laden forwards Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton.
At the start of the season, the front office further secured the future of the franchise by not only resigning their own free agents, immensely talented forward Nenê and up and coming guard Arron Afflalo, but also trading future draft picks to Dallas for reportedly unhappy guard Rudy Fernández and rarely used reserve guard/forward Corey Brewer. So far, that trade has looked like a steal for the Nuggets, as Fernández is showing play-making ability and Brewer is quickly picking up minutes with his effort on both ends of the court.
Yes, the Nuggets have bucked the trend have become one of the few teams going against the current NBA model of having multiple "stars" on their roster, but they moved towards a roster of players who get it and have a "high basketball IQ". For a long time the Nuggets were thought of as strictly a "finesse" team that didn't always battle for rebounds and didn't always put in a consistent effort on the defensive end. There were numerous voices being heard in the locker room, and many "me first" type guys. Well those days are over.
This team is coachable, they buy in and believe the message Coach George Karl preaches. They don't have the potential cancerous figures looming in the locker room like they once did. Gone are the "knuckleheads" and in come the guys who are willing to work with one another to accomplish what is truly best for the team.
So can this roster help the Nuggets make an impact in the star driven NBA? The answer is a resounding yes. So far in this new season, the Nuggets are playing team basketball, sharing the ball on offense and locking down teams on the defensive end of the court.
Because of the compressed schedule this season, teams will be forced to rely more on the depth of their bench, and early on it appears that the Nuggets have one of the deepest benches in the NBA. They are well conditioned, and built to run opponents up and down the floor, something most teams will not want to do when playing a schedule that forces them to at times play five games in six nights. Couple that with the fact Denver plays with a home altitude advantage and teams will be weary coming to the Mile High City in 2012.
With the depth, size and talent this Nuggets team has, as well as the fact that they are playing a more team oriented style of basketball; they have potential to seriously climb the Western Conference playoff ladder. There is likely to be a changing of the guard at the top of the Western Conference, teams like Denver, Oklahoma City and Portland, who rely more on youth taking the places of older teams like San Antonio, Los Angeles and the like. So settle in, enjoy the ride and don't be surprised to see the Nuggets make a hard push to secure one of the top 3 spots in the West. This is sure to be an exciting time to be a Nuggets fan!
Prediction Time:
Predicted Record: 50-16, good enough for #2 seed in the West
All-Stars: Nene, Ty Lawson
Predicted Outcome: Western Conference Finals
