The New Look Nuggets are Going to Be TERRIFYING

The New Look Nuggets are Going to Be TERRIFYING

Y know what’s going on y’all? It’s Con and today I want to talk about the new look Denver Nuggets. It feels like the dust has settled. They’ve kind of made their big moves and they look like a terrifying force in the Western Conference. Last year they already pushed the Thunder to seven games in the second round despite dealing with injury. And now I think they’ve gotten a good bit better over the course of this summer. So let’s talk about where this Nuggets team could go this season. What they could look like. Obviously they still got the same general core. It’s Nicole Joic. It’s Jamal Murray and it’s Aaron Gordon alongside Christian Brown who has really solidified himself now as a staple of this team. But now they swap out Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson. They bring back Bruce Brown who played a critical role in their championship a couple of years ago. They add Jonas Valunis as a backup big. Tim Hardway Jr. comes in as a three-point shooter. They get rookie Don Holmes now in after last season was completely derailed with that injury during summer league. They have new additions all across the board at a variety of positions that all are going to really impact this team. First up for Cam Johnson, I just like him a lot better in this Nugget system. It feels like he is a much safer, much more steady player. While Michael Porter Jr. might have these higher highs, I think the floor for Cam Johnson is a lot higher on most nights. Like last year during the playoffs, MBJ was dealing with a shoulder thing. Like I think people don’t remember enough that he was dealing with a very, very real shoulder injury. I remember one of the games I was at for game seven in OKC against Denver. I saw him come out of the hotel and it was like the biggest shoulder wrap I’ve ever seen. Like he was legitimately hurt. But there have also just been moments in the playoffs where he just does not give the Nuggets enough. He’s not as consistent as you might like him to be. Whereas Cam Johnson, I think, is going to just continuously give them this really solid production. He’s going to fit really well in the system as a better playmaker than Michael Porter Jr., a bit of a more well-rounded offensive player, I think, and is someone who’s going to give them more on the defensive end, which is really what you need if you’re the Denver Nuggets. That was your big issue a lot of last season was that you couldn’t really defend. And I think Cam Johnson is going to be a lot steadier on that end. Now, one thing that you do have to think about though is while Michael Porter Jr., it feels like he’s always dealing with injury, uh, Cam Johnson’s actually been dealing with injury more than Michael Porter Jr. over the past couple of years. So, you need to cross your fingers he can stay healthy. But I think now in an environment where he’s going to be asked to do a lot less, that injury risk is going to drop quite a bit. And when he’s out there on the court, I just think Ham Johnson makes things a lot steadier, a lot more fluid. He’s going to be a seamless, perfect fit at the three spot in this Nugget system. I mean, last year he was already efficient, putting up some of the best numbers of his career with like nobody around him to support him in Brooklyn. Now he’s going to be playing off the playmaking of one of the best to ever do it, Nicole Joic. Then we talk about like Bruce Brown who has not had the best couple of years since he left Denver. Injury issues also a real issue for him, but they’re not counting on him to do too too much. They need him to just be a decent enough guy off the bench, provide them some defense, knock down some outside shots, and the best year of his career was in Denver. And again, I think playing in this system off of Nicole Joic is going to make his life so much easier if he can stay on the court. Jonas Valenunis, I’ll be honest, I don’t love him all that much as a backup big for this team just because he’s slowooted. Like, he doesn’t bring a lot on the defensive end like I think they needed. But offensively, he’s by far the best option they’ve had behind Joic in a really, really long time. And if you can get some good defensive production next to him whenever he’s out there, then he’s serviceable. And it’s not like you’re going to have him in for very much at all, especially when you get to the playoffs. Like Jokic is going to be playing 40 minutes. He’s going to be out there like eight minutes a night. So, in that regard, I think he’s perfectly fine. But honestly, I’m even more excited about Don Holmes off the bench for this Denver Nuggets team. When I think about production, I loved him going into the draft. He’s someone I would have loved to see Oklahoma City take, but instead he goes to Denver, deals again with that season ending injury in summer league last year, and now when he was playing summer league, he looked really, really good. He was really fluid. He can put the ball on the deck a little bit. Uh he can knock down outside shots. He can block shots. I think Don Holmes is going to be super underrated going into the season and then by mid year everybody’s going to be like, “Oh yeah, that guy over there in Denver is so so awesome.” And when Jonas Valunis is off the team, whether it’s in a year or two or whatever, I think Deron Holmes is going to be so easily able to step into that consistent backup big role. In fact, I wouldn’t even be shocked if by the time the playoffs roll around, it’s Deron Holmes getting all of those backup center minutes instead of Yonas Valunis. But Daron can also play a little bit of four as well, so he gives you some versatility. Uh Tim Hardaway Jr. after a great season with the Detroit Pistons where he was just this constant high volume three-point threat, which is something the Nuggets need. Last year, they’re one of the best shooting teams in the league, but didn’t put up a lot of threes. The volume was not nearly as high as it needed to be to keep up with some other teams in the West. And now you get a guy who in a playoff game could knock down five, six threes and swing it in your favor. And again, he’s playing now in the best offensive system he’s probably ever been in with the Denver Nuggets. So, those are the big additions, but I mean, it still really does center around the guys who have been here for a while. Jokic just might have had the best season of his career, at least statistically. And he’s at still dominant peak form. I think most people are going to say he is still the best player in the world. He’s one of the best offensive players, if not the single best offensive player to ever play basketball. He can give you 40, 15, and 18 on any given night. A 60 point triple double. It really doesn’t matter. Joic makes video game numbers look pedestrian. So having him on your team at any point is going to make you such a ridiculous threat, especially when you have him supported by Jamal Murray, who had his ups and downs last season, especially in the playoffs against Oklahoma City. But overall, he still is a really good threat to have. I would like if the Nuggets somehow had an all-star level player next to Joic. He’s still never had one of those, but Jamal Murray is really right there kind of on that border. Just being in a Western Conference with so many great guards makes it hard for him to ever really make one of those teams. And when he hits his highs, they’re incredibly high, higher than some of the other all-stars in the Western Conference. Uh Aaron Gordon, I think, was the Nugget second best player last season. Gives them a lot defensively. Took a big step offensively, especially shooting the three ball. He’s going to have to showcase he can still do it at that high of a clip and that it wasn’t a fluke year. But if that’s the case, I mean, Aaron Gordon is easily without question one of the single most valuable role players in this sport. I saw firsthand what he did against my Thunder last year. Two gamewinners in the playoffs. It just felt like he would literally never miss. Aaron Gordon is really, really good to have him as like your third or fourth best player on the team depending on what you think about Cam Johnson and Jamal Murray. I mean, there’s a world where he’s again the second best player on this team and that’s not even a bad thing because that’s how effective he was for Denver last year. Christian Brown also took a big step forward. He was one of those most improved player type guys. Got way better at attacking downhill. Give them a lot defensively. He’s one of their best point of attack players. Just unbelievable when it comes to finishing around the rim. Really athletic. Uh Christian Brown is great. I think he’s a great counter to some of the other stuff the Nuggets have going on where it’s a little bit more slow and methodical with like a Jokic. Christian Brown is just non-stop energy left and right going downhill. If you close out on a three, which I do still think he needs to develop the three-point shot. He’s got to be more efficient on higher volume. I think that should be a big goal of his this season, but if you do contest that three, then he is getting downhill, and there’s a 99% chance he’s finishing some unbelievably absurd contested layup over one of your better paint defenders. Payton Watson is a really fun defender who showed some nice flashes of offensive growth last year. I think we could see more of that. Uh Julian Strawthther had a couple moments in the playoffs that I think another year could be good for his development. Jaylen Picket gave them some moments. There’s just a lot of fun talent on this Nuggets team now. They are deeper. They are still really, really good at the top. It’s the second best team in the Western Conference if you ask me. I think there are three teams that are kind of in their own tier where it’s Oklahoma City, it’s Denver, and then it’s Houston. I lean Denver number two. I know some people who might lean the Rockets number two or some people who might even say, “Hey, the Nuggets are number one.” And I mean, I’m a Thunder fan. I’m gonna say the reigning champions with the Thunder who are, you know, going to get a lot of development, a lot of growth internally with such a young team, are the best team in the West. But if you’re a Nuggets fan and you want to say the Nuggets are the best in the Western Conference, I’m not going to argue that too much because, you know, I have my opinion, you have yours. But also because this Nuggets team is really, really good. And again, they gave the Thunder a really tough series last year. And I think David Adam showed me a lot as a coach last season. I mean, he’s got more playoff wins than he has regular season wins. And the way that he was able to win that coaching battle or just win the series in general against Tyron Lou in the first round, the way that he was able to duel directly Mark Dagnold, who won coach of the year and is considered one of the best coaches in basketball, all while having just a few regular season head coaching games under his belt. It was extremely impressive. I think there was a lot to really like with David Adam with this Nuggets team. And if they’re NBA champions in 2026, I don’t think anybody is surprised. There are still a couple of things you could be concerned about with this team. Like defensively, I still don’t think they’re the most stout, but they showed again against the Thunder in the second round that they can really level up defensively when they have to. Um Jamal Murray being your second best player, like again, I still think someday you’ve got to get Joic a real all-star second option. He should be fine, but you know, he’s not as good as some of the other second options in the West. So maybe that’s something you think about a little bit. uh you still are relying a little bit on some young players like you know Payton Watson to maybe step up or Julian Strawther or Jaylen Picket. You’re hoping that Bruce Brown can kind of get back to his old form. If not and if he’s not able to really stay on the court then you do miss a little bit of that backup guard play that maybe like Russell Westbrook brought who also brought you some bench playmaking, a little bit of defensive tenacity, some rim pressure. Like there are some things that I think you can be worried about with this Nuggets team. Like really with any basketball team, no team’s perfect, but I think the Nuggets are one of the teams with the lowest amount of flaws. I’ve got to give this front office credit. There were reports at the beginning of the summer that the Nuggets might stand pat that they might just kind of hang out with the group that they’ve got for the moment and see what they could do and maybe try to address it at the deadline. But no, they took some swings. They brought in some really helpful players. They swapped Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson. And now I think pretty universally everybody thinks they’re one of the biggest winners of the off season. And that does a lot for Nicole Joic. You know, the best player in your franchise history, one of the best to ever play the game. He could be a free agent coming up. You’ve got to convince him that, hey, Denver is still the place for you to compete. And I think they’ve done a pretty good job of at least putting themselves in the position to try and do that this upcoming season. So, those are my thoughts on this Denver Nuggets team. Let me know what you think down below in the comments. Where you rank them in your West right now, one, two, three, maybe even lower than that. Uh, is there anything you haven’t liked about their off seasonason? What’s been your favorite part? All that kind of stuff. I want to hear your thoughts on this new look. Nuggets team if you ask me. My prediction as of July 23rd would probably be Thunder Nuggets grab the top two seeds and they end up meeting up in the Western Conference Finals for rematch of their sevename series last year, which I think would be absolute cinema. So, we’ll see on that front. But for the moment, uh yeah, leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future videos. I’ll see you all later. Take care. Real one say back.

The Denver Nuggets have been one of the biggest winners of the NBA offseason by swapping Michael Porter Jr for Cam Johnson, bringing in Tim Hardaway Jr, Bruce Brown, and Jonas Valanciunas, while also getting DaRon Holmes back from injury. These guys alongside Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun have the Nuggets set up as a terrifying force in the West as they attempt to compete with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and many others that way. Let’s talk about it.

Subscribe today and become a Real One
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Three_Cone​​​

Video Submissions: https://forms.gle/7Xgtu1iENEBDibLM9

#nba #denvernuggets #nikolajokic

0:00 – Intro