New Years, New Beginnings

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

– Lao Tzu

When my first wife invited me to no longer be married a couple decades back, I spent the better part of the next six months in a state of depression that threatened my relationships with my family, friends, and especially my young daughters. I was in a pretty deep and dark place, and knew I needed to find some help. Through a lot of soul searching, some honest conversations with friends, and some really positive counseling, I was able to start to see the world through a different lens, and eventually understand that the great things that followed could have never happened without the difficult moments that had preceded them.

When the Denver Nuggets came into the 2021-22 season, they already knew they’d be facing an uphill battle without the services of superstar Jamal Murray for most – if not all – of the campaign. Within a short amount of time, they also lost the services of up-and-coming Sixth Man candidate Michael Porter, Jr. and defensive ace P.J. Dozier. The losses have had a substantial impact on the Nuggets season already, placing a burden on MVP Nikola Jokic to carry the team to victories with his best efforts. The nights the Joker is off, the team is destined to fall.

Adding insult to injury, COVID has swept through the squad to a degree that postponed Thursday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, as the Nuggets couldn’t field enough of a team to play the contest. While Denver probably has the talent to keep themselves afloat to a playoff bid, they may have trouble making it deep into the postseason, barring a fully recovered and reintegrated Murray and a miracle or two.

When the Denver Broncos fell below .500 last week in a tepid loss to the long-hated Las Vegas Raiders, they basically relegated their postseason chances to next season. Unless Denver can somehow take games from AFC West foes San Diego and Kansas City, they’ll also finish another season below .500 as well.

With the hopes of Denver fans consistently set to Championship-or-Bust, the fortunes of both the Broncos and Nuggets both appear set to disappoint, at least in the near term. But the probable painful endings of this season could hopefully point to some successful new beginnings.

While the Broncos have been struggling with an anemic offense, the defense that sputtered off -and-on in the early season is gelling into a powerful force. With some of the talent they have on the offensive side of the ball, there is a ton of potential to make themselves into a force to be reckoned with. They already beat solid squads this season like Dallas and San Diego, and held teams like Kansas City to beatable point totals. With a fresh start coming into next season, and a couple key pieces to the puzzle, the Broncos could quickly find themselves on the positive side of next season.

And if the Nuggets can enter into next season with a fully healed Murray, Porter, Jr., and Dozier surrounding an even stronger Jokic, the pains and trials of this season may actually pay off next year. What the absence of those stalwarts has fostered this season is the further emergence of Monte Morris, the surprising gifts of rookie Bones Hyland, and the further integration of Aaron Gordon and Zeke Nnaji into the roster, a fully realized Denver roster could wreak havoc on next year’s NBA denizens.

This weekend starts a new year. With new possibilities, new ideals, and hopefully new hopes and dreams for us all after a couple of traumatic and dramatic years. For squads like the Broncos and Nuggets, their “New Years” will probably come as their next seasons begin. Are there painful endings in store for both squads this season? Quite probably. Can those endings turn themselves into spectacular new beginnings? To be sure. Let’s just see if either of them can make the right resolutions.

Happy New Year, DNVR Nation. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and successful 2022 for our teams and for us all.