Many executives across the league were caught off guard by the new level Nikola Jokic reached in the playoffs last season, including the All-Star center’s countryman and Sacramento Kings assistant general manager Peja Stojakovic.
“I had Peja who I know well come up to me and he goes, ‘I had no idea Nikola had that in him,'” Michael Malone told BSN Denver last week at Las Vegas Summer League. “No one did. No one knew what he was going to on the national stage. Well, he did it at a higher level than anybody thought he would.”
As the power players at the top of the Western Conference each went through an offseason restoration project over the last few months, the Nuggets stuck to their organizational creed. Denver is relying mostly on internal growth from Jokic and the rest of its core to improve on last season’s playoff run that ended in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Nuggets doubled down on their continuity this summer while also making an under-the-radar acquisition of forward Jerami Grant, who won’t come with the pomp and circumstance of a Kawhi Leonard, Paul George or Anthony Davis arrival but will add noticeably more firepower to Denver’s rotation. It’s a team-building philosophy that the Nuggets continue to preach after it helped them improve from 46 wins in 2017-18 to 54 last season.
In the ever-changing West, the Nuggets remain confident in their process.
“You can do it two different ways. You can align superpowers and go to these places like some teams are doing. Great. That will be a challenge to beat those teams,” Malone said. “But we feel while we may not have the marquee names, we have the depth, the chemistry, the comradery, and the culture that is just as important at times. So we took where we’re at and we’re worried about what we’re doing as opposed to what everybody else is doing.”
Kevin Durant’s departure from Golden State combined with Klay Thompson’s ACL injury that will keep him sidelined for most of next season means that the West is as wide open as its been in recent memory. The Clippers overhauled their roster by acquiring both Leonard and George. The Lakers are pairing Davis with LeBron James and a slew of role players, most of whom spent last season on rival teams. The Rockets are hoping a Chris Paul-Russell Westbrook swap with the Thunder elevates their playoff ceiling. The Jazz think Mike Conley can take them to the next level.
The Nuggets are zigging while everyone else zags.
“We can’t control what happens elsewhere,” said Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly. “We can’t control where we are geographically and how appealing we are to other free agents. But we can control the culture and team success.”
For as much as Jokic showed in the playoffs when the 24-year-old averaged 25.1 points, 13.0 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game while upping his play on the defensive end of the floor, the Nuggets are banking on continued improvement from their All-NBA center. The same goes for Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Malik Beasley, and Monte Morris. Denver won’t advance further in the postseason without consistent production from Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Mason Plumlee and Torrey Craig either.
Denver’s continuity and culture, which are two pillars that the Nuggets rest their organizational values on, were displayed in Las Vegas. Denver’s entire rotation was courtside to watch Michael Porter Jr., Jarred Vanderbilt and Vlatko Cancar — three players poised to contribute to the Nuggets’ championship hopes over the next several seasons — play at Summer League.
Only two players who are under contract for next season didn’t make an appearance at Summer League but both had good reasons to skip the annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas. Jokic has been stationed in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia and is currently going through two-a-day workouts in preparation for next season and this summer’s FIBA World Cup in China where he’ll represent his home country. Juancho Hernangomez is in Spain where he’s also getting set to wear his country’s colors at the tournament.
Jokic just got a visit from Nuggets strength coach Felipe Eichenberger this week and Malone will soon be traveling to Belgrade, Serbia to visit Jokic and Madrid to catch up with Hernangomez before both depart for the World Cup beginning Aug. 31.
“For me, that’s the most valuable commodity that we have,” Malone said regarding the Nuggets’ continuity. “You can speak to our youth, we can speak to our depth, and all that but for us to be a team coming back in my fifth year and most of our guys are coming back in their second, third, fourth years, a lot of teams don’t have that.”
The Nuggets attributed much of their 9-1 start last season to roster familiarity. As other teams throughout the league who transformed that summer learned to play with one another, Denver hit the ground running. With the changes throughout the West this offseason, the Nuggets’ continuity should again help Denver start fast.
Denver’s playoff experience from last season should lead to growth from within as well. The playoff lights weren’t too bright for Jokic, but for the rest of the Nuggets’ roster carrying experience from last year’s playoff run into next season will only help.
“I think from Nikola to Jamal to all our first time in the playoff players, they’re going to come back and know what a Game 7 is like,” Malone said. “We’ve got two of them under our belt. We know what it’s like to have to go on the road and have to win a game after a four-overtime loss. Experience is the best teacher and we got some experience in that regard.”
