[Elite_video_player id=”20″]

The NBA season is inching closer and closer and now Westgate’s win totals are public for all NBA teams thanks to Jeff Sherman. Take a look at the NBA as a whole:

     WEST                    EAST

The Denver Nuggets are projected for 34.5 wins while finishing 12th in the Western Conference this year. Last season, after being projected as a 26.5 win team, the Nuggets beat their projection by six victories to finish 33-49. It seems that this year’s projection is low but like last season’s it’s understandable considering how Denver is viewed nationally.

Having Wilson Chandler returning after missing all of last year is one of the more underrated story lines for the Nuggets this season. Adding another floor spacer and above average perimeter defender will pay massive dividends. The Nuggets had trouble defending the three and spacing the floor with their own shooters on offense last year. Chandler is an enormous boost to the current roster.

An additional year of development for the likes of Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic, and head coach Michael Malone are going to play huge factors as well. Considering last season was the first time most of these rookies and second-year players saw minutes together, continuity will do nothing but help the young Nuggets.

For me the projected 34.5 wins seems lower then it should be, but it’s up to the young Denver Nuggets to prove that projection wrong.