With Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back, the Nuggets are vibing

It’s been nearly 18 months since Jamal Murray has played in an NBA game. He tore his ACL in Golden State on April 12, 2021. He then rehabbed with the hopes of returning late last season. It never happened.

Now, Murray’s ready to go. How does he currently feel? It’s “night and day” compared to late last season, Murray said Monday at Nuggets Media Day. On Tuesday in San Diego, he’ll open training camp with a renewed mindset.

“I don’t take the game for granted,” said Murray.

Murray seemed refreshed and recharged when speaking with the media at Ball Arena. He’s eager and excited to get back on the floor. But you could also feel his enthusiasm for the little things that are back in his routine. Putting a Nuggets jersey on again. Knowing that he’s about to play. Studying film. Preparing for an opponent. They’re all aspects of Murray’s day-to-day that he’s been without for the last year and a half.

I sense that Murray’s just thankful for another opportunity to fully immerse himself in the game he loves again.

“Just seeing Jamal back on the floor, I almost got teary-eyed just competing with him,” Bones Hyland said. “I know how it feels to take eight months off, nine months off (due to injury) and not be able to play basketball. I felt that. We were upstairs and competing during pick-up about a week ago. The intensity was there and all I could do was smile. But it was a teary-eyed smile.”

There are still roadblocks he’ll have to navigate, especially early this season. He’ll likely take days off of practice early on. We’ll see if he plays in any back-to-backs over the first portion of the year. I doubt he does. He is still experiencing soreness, and when Murray does he says he thinks about his knee.

But his confidence has returned. Murray has played countless 5-on-5 games on the Nuggets’ practice court this offseason. His teammates and coaches like what they see.

“He’s got that confidence back,” Michael Malone said. “He’s got that swagger back.”

Having both Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back in the fold has given this Nuggets team a different type of energy heading into this season. There’s a different kind of buzz in the building. There’s a level of excitement and anticipation right now that wasn’t there last season. Malone remarked on Monday that he was disappointed with the amount of players who were in the gym and around the facility last September before last season tipped off. He said it was the worst turnout he’s seen across his eight years in Denver.

But this September was different. Denver’s practice gym was packed all month. And it has the Nuggets brimming with a quiet confidence heading into the first championship or bust season in the Nikola Jokic era.

“For me, it’s a certain level of calmness,” Aaron Gordon said. “Just because we do have so many great guys on this team we have such a talented roster, which is deep. You can lean on your brothers on this team. That is bringing me a certain level of peace.”

“It’s a different vibe.”

Murray and MPJ’s health

The Nuggets and their medical staff are meeting Tuesday in San Diego at the onset of training camp to determine roadmaps for Nikola Jokic (EuroBasket), Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) for the preseason/early part of the regular season and how much they’ll practice and play over the next several weeks. Murray and Porter don’t have any limitations currently. They’re good to go. The Nuggets are just going to be smart with how much they’re asking of all three early on. Porter said two areas of his game that he worked on this offseason are his shooting off the dribble and ball-handling.

Defense-first

Michael Malone has a goal to be a top-5 defense this season. It’s something that he’s been on since last year ended. Malone has continually stressed throughout the summer that Denver needs to improve defensively after finishing 15th in defensive efficiency last season. Calvin Booth listened and added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown this offseason. The Nuggets believe DeAndre Jordan will help Denver’s league-worst rim defense last season too. Also, before Malone left Monday’s presser he shouted out (his neighbor) Nathanial Hackett and the Broncos’ defense for winning Monday’s game vs. the 49ers. He wants to win with defense first and foremost.

Bones in year two

Bones Hyland feels primed for a leap in his second season. He added six pounds of muscle this offseason and Malone mentioned how great of a summer he had. It’s not only because of his play between the lines. “What he showed me this summer is he’s willing to grow up,” Malone said. “He’s willing to mature.” It’s a huge season for Hyland and he’s going to have a lot of responsibility stepping in for the always-steady Monte Morris and running the second unit. Hyland said Monday that his favorite moment from his busy offseason was when missed two free throws on purpose at Philadelphia’s Brotherly Love Pro-Am just so he could win the game on a three. Tressi.

Backup center battle

This is probably the position battle to watch most closely at training camp. Denver signed DeAndre Jordan this offseason and the Nuggets think his rim protection and athleticism as a roller will complement the rest of their bench. Zeke Nnaji seems like he’s in the mix for minutes at backup center too. He added 10 pounds of muscle this summer — I’d think to get ready for minutes at the five — and the Nuggets have talked this offseas about a desire to shift him back to playing like a more traditional big like he did in high school and college. Nnaji, however, said he thinks his best position is power forward. His best path to minutes could be at the backup five though.

Gordon’s film study

Aaron Gordon said after last season ended that his goal this summer was to become more of a student of the game and increase his basketball IQ to better compliment Nikola Jokic. Sounds like a great plan to me. Gordon said Monday that he went about that task by pouring over his own film from last year on Synergy, a popular site among the basketball community that catalogs video of every individual play of every player throughout a season. Gordon went through his three best and worst games of the year with his agent and coaches and diagnosed where he can improve and become more efficient. “I feel like I’ve become a more efficient player mentally,” he said. “I feel like I’ve raised my IQ.”

Jokic’s future

Nikola Jokic was asked about signing a new max extension with Denver this offseason and doubled down on something he’s said in the past: He wants to be the Nuggets’ Tim Duncan. This time, however, Jokic added a caveat. “I want to be the Tim Duncan of the Denver Nuggets,” he said. “But I need to win a couple championships to be him.” It’s emblematic of where Jokic is at entering his eighth NBA season. He has back-to-back MVPs. He has three First Team All-NBA selections and four All-Star Game nods. Next up is leading the Nuggets to a championship. That’s really all that’s left.