Who is included in the Nuggets' current core?

Each weekday, our DNVR Nuggets crew will be tackling one question about the Nuggets season in a round table format. Members, leave the questions that you’d like to see our writers answer in the comments section below and Harrison, Adam and Brendan will address them on an upcoming episode of the DNVR Nuggets Podcast.

Who’s included in the Nuggets’ current core?

Harrison Wind: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

How do you define a team’s core? It’s a tough question, but for me it’s the basis of your championship DNA. If you’re the Nuggets, your core includes the most instrumental pieces on your roster that can seemingly take you to the top and can do so for years to come. That’s Jokic, Murray and Porter with an honorable mention to Will Barton simply due to the number of boxes that he checks for this team.

Building around Jokic, Murray and Porter requires plugging a number of holes, mainly ones on the defensive end of the floor. Denver currently has Paul Millsap and Gary Harris doing so while Jerami Grant, Monte Morris, Torrey Craig and Mason Plumlee provide needed depth that any team with championship aspirations requires. But those parts can be interchanged.

There’s a path forward for Denver that involves moving on from one of its core pieces not named Jokic if a trade for another All-NBA caliber talent develops, but Jokic, Murray and Porter have the respective ceilings to be the three best players on a Nuggets championship team.

Adam Mares: Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray

To me, the list is in that order. Jokic is far and away the best player on the roster, almost certainly has the highest upside and is therefore the cornerstone piece. That means that every roster decision must be based around the question of how each piece fits with Jokic. Jamal Murray has proven to be a solid fit alongside Jokic. The two-man game of Jokic and Murray has evolved into one of the key foundations of Denver’s offensive attack.

But he has yet to prove that he can be good enough to be a true second superstar and his limitations on offense might end up limiting Denver’s ceiling. He stills struggles to generate the amount of three-point shots that are required to be an all-star point guard or the engine behind an elite offense. He also still struggles with certain aspects of being the team’s floor general, including post entry passing and isolation scoring.

Michael Porter Jr. is much less proven than Murray but also a lot more promising. His upside as a true go-to scorer and three-point shooter should completely change the Denver Nuggets’ trajectory and may one day lead to the Nuggets deciding to build around Porter and Jokic, and not Murray.

Brendan Vogt: Nikola Jokić, Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray, and Will Barton III

Michael Porter Jr. certainly doesn’t see playing time that reflects his status as a core member of the team, but his undeniable talent and size on the wing make it clear the best version of the Nuggets includes him as a centerpiece. Jokić and Jamal Murray make for a dangerous combination. Jokić, Murray, and Porter Jr. make for a lethal trio.

As long as Barton III is healthy and in a Nuggets uniform, he should also be in this group. He has nowhere near the talent level or ceiling of the other guys. Still, he’s been around for virtually the entire transformation that’s taken place over the course of the Michael Malone/Nikola Jokić era. He loves and embraces Jokić’s talent, which comes across in the way he plays alongside him and talks about him in the locker room.

Barton III is more than just a vocal leader and a juicy quote. He played a crucial role in the Nuggets success during the 2017-18 season and the 2018-19 season—arguably the best years of his career. His unsung versatility has proved quite useful to Malone, who has deployed him with both the starting and second unit in myriad roles. Of the current squad, only Gary Harris boasts a longer tenure in a Nuggets uniform, but his position on the team is in question after a nightmare regular season. If there’s a fourth member of the core, it’s Barton III.