The expectations have never been higher in Denver, but if any team can deliver this city its first NBA Championship it’s this group. The Nuggets enter this season with the most talented roster of the Nikola Jokic era. Denver has the offensive firepower, the experience, the leadership and now the defense to make a run all the way to the Finals. The Nuggets open the regular season tonight in Utah against the Jazz. It’s going to be a heck of a journey.
Here’s how the DNVR Nuggets crew sees the season unfolding.
NBA Predictions
Western Conference Finals matchup
Adam: Nuggets vs. Warriors
Harrison: Nuggets vs. Clippers
Brendan: Nuggets vs. Clippers
Eric: Nuggets vs. Warriors
Dev: Nuggets vs. Clippers
Finals matchup and winner
Adam: Nuggets vs. Bucks — Nuggets. It’s still a long shot but why not?
Harrison: Nuggets. vs. Bucks — Nuggets
Brendan: Nuggets vs. Bucks — Nuggets. Let go of hell.
Eric: Nuggets vs. 76ers — NUGGETS
Dev: Celtics vs. Clippers — Clippers, do not hate me
What team are you not buying in the West?
Adam: Memphis Grizzlies
Harrison: Dallas and Christian Wood.
Brendan: Dallas **Big Wet Fart Noise**
Eric: Suns
Dev: Memphis Grizzlies. I truly just cannot back them.
What opponent will the Nuggets have the most competitive games against?
Adam: Minnesota Timberwolves
Harrison: Clippers
Brendan: Suns
Eric: Warriors
Dev: Kings
What opposing player will you hate by the end of the season?
Adam: Facundo Campazzo
Harrison: Devin Booker
Brendan: Tatum
Eric: Luka
Dev: KAT
How will the final Northwest Division standings look?
Adam:
- Nuggets
- Timberwolves
- Trail Blazers
- Thunder
- Jazz
Harrison:
- Nuggets
- Timberwolves
- Trail Blazers
- Thunder
- Jazz
Brendan:
- Nuggets
- Wolves
- Blazers
- Jazz
- Thunder
Eric:
- Nuggets
- Minnesota
- Portland
- OKC
- Utah
Dev:
- Nuggets
- Wolves
- Blazers
- Thunder
- Jazz
Nuggets predictions
Nuggets win total
Adam: 54 wins
Harrison: 57
Brendan: 58
Eric: 59
Dev: 52
What Nuggets player will exceed expectations the most?
Adam: Michael Porter Jr. — Porter Jr. has a lot of question marks but one thing nobody can question is his talent. The guy is a natural born scorer and already among the best pure shooters in the NBA. I think this is the year that his production catches up to his talent as he figures out the parts of the game that require reps.
Harrison: Bones Hyland — He has the talent to make a Jordan Poole-esque leap, and if he does the Nuggets are definitely winning a championship this season.
Brendan: Nikola Jokić — The answer is always Jokić.
Eric: Bones
Dev: Bones Hyland — The kid is for real and will only get better. A ton is riding on him this season as well.
What will be the Nuggets’ best 5-man lineup?
Adam: In the regular season and judging solely off of net rating, it will be Brown, KCP, Porter, AG, Jokic. That lineup has a clearly defined pecking order, plenty of defense, and zero players who are hobble by injury. I think the playoffs will require different combinations of great lineups to solve different problems but the Murray-less Nuggets will be the team’s regular season standout.
Harrison: Bruce Brown, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic. It’s the most offensively and defensively balanced lineup that I’ve seen in the Jokic era.
Brendan: The lineup Mares described will also likely have a smaller sample size than the lineup with Murray. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put up the best net rating of any combination on the team. Having said that, the answer is the starters. That’s got a real chance of being the best lineup in hoops.
Eric: Murray, Bruce Brown, MPJ, AG, Jokic
Dev: Bones, Bruce B, MPJ, Aaron Gordon, Jokic
What percentage will Michael Porter Jr. shoot from 3?
Adam: 42.5%. But it will feel like 80%.
Harrison: 41%
Brendan: 45% on volume.
Eric: 45%
Dev: 43%
What will be Nikola Jokic’s single-game scoring high?
Adam: 44
Harrison: 51
Brendan: 38
Eric: 35
Dev: 37
What will be Jamal Murray’s single-game scoring high?
Adam: 38
Harrison: 50
Brendan: (1) 40 piece
Eric: 52
Dev: 29
Who will become a fan favorite?
Adam: Michael Porter Jr. will pick up a lot of fans this season.
Harrison: Bruce Brown, or as he’s known by to some, BB.
Brendan: Ish Smith has the juice. He’s the closest a career third-stringer can possibly get to being that guy.
Eric: Bruce Brown
Dev: Bruce Brown
Who will become the scapegoat?
Adam: DeAndre Jordan.
Harrison: KCP
Brendan: KCP. Someone has to be the worst starter.
Eric: KCP
Dev: KCP
Who will Aaron Gordon’s best poster dunk be on?
Adam: Kristaps Porzingis
Harrison: Rudy Gobert
Brendan: Draymond ‘New-Media’ Green
Eric: KAT
Dev: A star player. Don’t want to single out a specific player, but it will be a star with a true mean mug.
What player(s) won’t be on the Nuggets by the end of the season?
Adam: Zeke Nnaji.
Harrison: Zeke Nnaji enters the season on the final year of his rookie contract and as Denver’s most likely player to be traded . I also don’t think Ish Smith ends the season here. The Nuggets will be more than OK at point guard by the trade deadline.
Brendan: Zeke isn’t a center or a small forward. I’m not sure how he fits into the vision if Denver doesn’t have room for him as a power forward. If Denver seeks an upgrade via trade, he could be included.
Eric: N/A, no trades made this year
Dev: Zeke Nnaji, Vlatko, Jeff Green
