2023-06-01 08:32:00
The Denver Nuggets are in the NBA Finals for the first time in their history. The team from the Rocky Mountains is a prime example of how a team can grow organically over many years.
Everyone loves trades, fans run countless scenarios, and the NBA feels more popular for their trades than what happens on the field. Superstar trades have become the norm. Teams are now sacrificing their entire future to get their hands on the best players in the world.
In 2018 Toronto brought Kawhi Leonard, a year later they were champion. In 2019, the Lakers got rid of Anthony Davis from New Orleans, and a year later they were champions. In 2020, Jrue Holiday was the missing piece of the puzzle for Milwaukee, a year later they were champions.
There are of course plenty of other examples where it didn’t work. Despite Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers only reached the conference finals once, the Nets’ super team around Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden went swimming and recently the Phoenix Suns also failed with a super team variant against the Denver Nuggets.
Those nuggets are now reaching for their first title and have aligned their team almost anti-cyclically. Denver isn’t a free agent market, the big stars won’t be coming to the Mile High City. Instead, the Nuggets have shown staying power and built a championship team around Nikola Jokic, who was drafted in the second round, over almost a decade.
We take a look back at how Denver gradually improved their team and are now reaching for the first championship in franchise history.
Nuggets – Point Guard: JAMAL MURRAY
Alter: 26
Stats Playoffs 2023: 27.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.7 steals at 48.0 percent FG and 39.8 percent threes in 39.1 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? 7. Pick im NBA Draft 2016
The Nuggets chose Murray with the seventh pick in 2016, which was not without controversy at the time, since the Nuggets had drawn a point guard with Emmanuel Mudiay the previous year. The theory was that Murray could also exist alongside Mudiay with his shoot. Not a bad idea, although the Nuggets soon realized they had a better playmaker in their own ranks. A little tip: he weighs around 130 kilos.
And Murray? In his rookie year, he usually came off the bench and only established himself as a starter the following year. Hard to believe, but Murray is still waiting for his first All-Star Game. It was mostly weak starts to the season that prevented a nomination. In 2021, a cruciate ligament rupture slowed him down, which cost him the entire 2021/22 season.
Nuggets – Shooting Guard: KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE
Alter: 30
Stats Playoffs 2023: 11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals at 48.1 percent FG and 41.1 percent threes in 33.3 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? Via trade with the Wizards 2022
Because of his Klutch connection, KCP was smiled at for a long time. Not without reason, after all, his Lakers engagement in 2017 was a first test run for Klutch, because LeBron James was to follow a year later. However, Caldwell-Pope emerged as one of the better 3-and-D players in the league and had his share of the 2020 championship.
A year later, he fell victim to the Westbrook trade before the Nuggets seized twelve months later. And what a steal that trade was! Denver traded backup guard Monté Morris and aging Will Barton for KCP and Ish Smith. In the meantime, Caldwell-Pope has become indispensable and has already extended his contract to 2025 at a good price.
Nuggets – Small Forward: MICHAEL PORTER JR.
Alter: 24
Stats Playoffs 2023: 14.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists at 45.5 percent FG and 40.8 percent threes in 33.8 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? 14. Pick im NBA Draft 2018
Porter Jr. was the nation’s top high school player in 2017 before a serious back injury slowed him down in college. A doctor at the LA Clippers even wrote after an examination that his back was so bad that he would never play basketball again. The Nuggets still struck at #14 in the 2018 draft, but had to wait nearly 18 months before MPJ could get involved.
But Porter Jr. established himself as the third star in Denver and was rewarded with a maximum contract in 2021, only to injure his back again just a few months later. After all: MPJ is now fit again and has accepted his role. In the meantime, the forward also plays defense and fits seamlessly into the best offense in the NBA. His jumper is reminiscent of Klay Thompson’s and is almost impossible to block since Porter Jr. is a good 2.08 meters tall.
Nuggets – Power Forward: AARON GORDON
Alter: 27
Stats Playoffs 2023: 13.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists at 49.0 percent FG and 35.1 percent threes in 35.6 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? Via trade with the Magic in 2021
He was supposed to be the last piece of the puzzle for the Nuggets’ championship ambitions in 2021, but after just a few games Murray suffered a fatal cruciate ligament injury. Gordon, once the Orlando Magic’s No. 4 pick and a two-time dunk contest runner-up, would be the answer on the wing for the world’s Kawhis, Durants and LeBrons, and in those playoffs he did so against the Suns and Lakers in particular.
For the 27-year-old, long-time shooting guard Gary Harris, first-round pick RJ Hampton and a first-rounder for 2025 (top-5 protected) parted ways. It looked like a good deal back then, and it still is today. With his defense and athleticism, Gordon is essential for the Nuggets, and in the summer of 2021 they agreed on a very moderate contract extension for four years and $86 million.
Nuggets – Center: NIKOLA JOKIC
Alter: 28
Stats Playoffs 2023: 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists at 53.8 percent FG and 47.4 percent threes in 38.9 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? 41. Pick im NBA Draft 2014
By now, everyone probably knows the story of Jokic being drafted 41st in the 2014 NBA Draft during a Taco Bell commercial. Nobody, really nobody, expected the Serb to become a two-time MVP. Neither does he himself, as he never tires of emphasizing.
Like the Bucks, the Nuggets landed a lucky hit with Giannis Antetokounmpo, at the same time they knew how to build up Jokic, give him freedom and helped him develop into possibly the best player in the NBA at the moment. Two years ago we spoke with numerous companions about the meteoric rise of the now 28-year-old in a large multimedia story.
Denver Nuggets: That Bankspieler
Nuggets – BRUCE BROWN (Guard)
Alter: 26
Stats Playoffs 2023: 12.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists at 53.1 percent FG and 28.9 percent threes in 26.4 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? Via Free Agency in 2022
In retrospect, the fact that the Nuggets Brown were able to sign for the Taxpayer Midlevel Exception in the summer of 2022 is completely crazy, but according to Brown, many other teams doubted the former Nets guardwho took on a somewhat peculiar role as a rolling mini-center in Brooklyn (comparable to Gary Payton II in Golden State or Russell Westbrook of the Houston Rockets).
The fit in Denver was immediately apparent. A guard who can defend well and is so smart offensively that he can run clever cuts around Jokic and throw in a three-pointer here and there. Brown also confirmed that in theory, which poses a dilemma for the Nuggets because they probably won’t be able to hold him. Brown’s summer payday awaits.
Nuggets – CHRISTIAN BRAUN (Forward)
Alter: 22
Stats Playoffs 2023: 2.3 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.4 steals at 42.9 percent FG and 22.2 percent threes in 11.8 minutes (14 games)
How did he get the nuggets? 21. Pick im NBA Draft 2022
Few expected the 22-year-old to play a role this season as the 21st pick, presumably within the organization as well. Before the season, Braun, who was still unknown at the time, received a ticket for $15,000 because he parked his car in front of the arena in owner Stan Kroenke’s parking lot. When it became clear that Braun was a Nuggets player, the penalty was waived.
It shows how little even Denver knew about the former Jayhawk, who stuck with hustle and defense in the rotation. He had some good moments in the playoffs, but it showed against the Lakers that he was barely playable at that level. Still, Braun could be the next drafted player who can get stuck in Coach Michael Malone’s rotation in the long run.
Nuggets – JEFF GREEN (Forward)
Alter: 36
Stats Playoffs 2023: 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists at 37.7 percent FG and 26.9 percent threes in 18.5 minutes (15 games)
How did he get the nuggets? Via Free Agency im Sommer 2021
For Green, the Nuggets are the eleventh (!) team the forward has played for. Record? Not at all! Teammate Ish Smith, the team’s third point guard, even made it to as many teams in 13 years. Uncle Jeff, traded by the Boston Celtics in 5th position in 2007 and immediately shipped to Seattle in the Ray Allen trade (along with Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West), can’t quite keep up.
The 36-year-old was considered a talented but not very consistent player for many years, but his engagements in Houston and Brooklyn as a small ball center saved his NBA career. Green has now played that role in Denver for two years and is still very athletic for his 36 years. At around $4.5 million a year, this is good value for the Nuggets and another small piece in the championship puzzle.
Nuggets – Coach: MICHAEL MALONE
The Nuggets have three core players in Jokic, Murray and Porter Jr. The other constant is Malone on the touchline, who has been coaching the Nuggets since 2015. Before a brief engagement in Sacramento, Malone was an assistant for years, including with the Cleveland Cavaliers around LeBron James (2005-2010) or under Mark Jackson with the Golden State Warriors (2011-2013).
Since his arrival, the Nuggets have won almost 58 percent of their games (367 wins), bettered only by Golden State (406), the Clippers (376) and Utah (371) during that period.
Nuggets: These players are still under contract
Nuggets: These players become Free Agents
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