The Denver Nuggets have been innovators in the NBA for quite a while now. Built around a second-round pick, the Nuggets have unearthed a championship formula by zagging from the league’s standards for roster building in multiple ways.
Firstly, their superstar is a plodding, 300-lb center who’s more known for his playmaking than his defense.
While most title contenders now either have an elite rim protector manning the middle or play small to try to negate the paint presence of their opponents, Denver has built a championship-caliber defense around a center that mostly plays below the rim.
Not only is he an unorthodox defender at his position, Nikola Jokic is unconventional on the other end of the court as well. He dominates teams while bring the ball up full-court, facilitating from the high post, shooting rainbow three-pointers when defenses sag off of him, and can throw it back to the 80s and 90s by bullying defenders on the low block.
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With Jokic acting as the primary playmaker at the center position, the Nuggets have filled out the rest of their roster with off-ball weapons for his disposal. Their point guard is a more natural scorer than floor general in Jamal Murray.
He’s a flamethrower who’s grown an unstoppable synergy with his superstar running mate. Then, they have a 6’10 sniper who’s a threat to shoot from any spot on the court, from any position, regardless of the defense in front of him in Michael Porter Jr.
Their best starting defenders play the shooting guard and power forward positions, a recipe for disaster for any other team in the league, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Aaron Gordon do more than enough to cover for the defensive deficiencies of their teammates.
All together, their starting group forms perhaps the most fearsome five in the entire NBA. But they wouldn’t have won the 2023 NBA championship without their role players. One of the brightest spots for their depth last season was rookie forward Christian Braun, who stepped up big time in the Finals against the Miami Heat.
The strategy in the draft has long been to select the players with the most potential, which usually means grabbing the youngest players who have shown promise. The Nuggets, however, have gone the other way, spending their picks on older, more mature prospects that they know can contribute sooner rather than later.
That tactic paid off with Braun, seems to be cashing in again with Peyton Watson, and could hit big again with their new rookie, Julian Strawther.
By taking these older players, the Nuggets have found a way to reload their supporting cast for cheap. It’ll be interesting to see if the rest of the league will grow wise to their strategy.
The Denver Nuggets this season in the Four Factors (Most positively correlated stats for winning games):
eFG%- 55.7 (7th)
FTA Rate- .225 (28th🤮)
TOV%- 12.5 (4th)
OREB%- 30.1 (12th)OPP eFG%- 52.3 (4th!!)
OPP FTA Rate- .259 (17th)
OPP… pic.twitter.com/Xy6FlJE6YY— SportShorts (@den_shorts) January 3, 2024
| Title: The Denver Nuggets draft strategy is ahead of the pack
| Author: Andy Quach
| Date: Jan 3, 2024
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