5 Reasons why the Nuggets Will Defend Their Title

James Scott

October 2023

This offseason the Denver Nuggets lost two key pieces in their championship run in Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. With other teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Phoenix Suns making big splashes, many are doubting the Nuggets ability to repeat as NBA Champions. This is why Denver will once again prove people wrong and win the NBA Championship.

1. Chemistry

Maybe the best thing the Nuggets have going for them going into this season is experience together. You may have heard people talking about the potential duo of Giannis Antetokounpo and Damian Lillard or the new-look Celtics. Even though other teams got some great players, many of them haven’t played together. Denver’s two stars, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray’s two-man-game has been tearing up defenses for several years now. All five of the Nuggets starters from last season are returning, which is an asset undervalued by many NBA GMs and fans.

2. Jokic

This is an obvious one. As long as Nikola Jokic is on the roster, the Nuggets will be a top-six seed at worst. It is impossible to deny Jokic’s incredible talent. He is arguably the best player in the world with his passing and scoring ability. Not only that, but Jokic just makes his team around him better. Jokic has just entered his prime and this year we can expect at least the same level of greatness as we have seen for three straight years now.

3. Fully-Healthy Jamal Murray

Last year in the playoffs, Jamal Murray proved that “bubble Murray” was no fluke. He put his full talents on display for the whole country and has significantly raised fans expectations for him this season. One thing many people forget is that Murray was coming off an ACL tear in April of 2021. Throughout the season, Murray missed several games because he was still recovering. Murray will start this season fully healthy for the first time in a long time, and his performance will reflect that. One of Murray’s biggest criticisms over the course of his career has been his inconsistency and the fact that he has not put together a full season playing at a star level. Despite being a very good player for some time, Murray does not have an all-star appearance. This may be due to the fact that he appears to step up his performance significantly later in the season in more important games, but overall, it is still a fair argument to make. However, all the signs seem to point to a great, consistent year from Jamal Murray in the 2023-24 season.

4. Christian Braun

+ Young Core

The biggest challenge the Nuggets will face this season will be trying to develop their younger players so they can keep winning in the future while winning games this year as well. Obviously the team's best players aren’t the youngest ones, but at some point you need to get your young players playing time so they gain experience on the court and can grow and get better. However, there is a lot to look forward to in this team’s young core. The best and obvious potential young up and coming star for Denver is Christian Braun, a second year player out of Kansas who played a key role in last year’s championship run. In addition, they have the high-flying Peyton Watson entering his second year, Zeke Nnaji, a younger big man who has been on the team several years now but hasn’t seen much of the court, and a trio of rookies from this year's draft class led by Julian Strawther out of Gonzaga who has been incredible in the preseason.

5. Michael Malone

Winning back-to-back championships in any sport is incredibly difficult and it takes a very special team to be able to do it. The NBA has seen many defending champions let up their guard and not reach their expectations in the playoffs. This happens in other sports as well. Look at the Colorado Avalanche, who won the Stanley Cup in 2022 but took a surprising first round exit this past year with a very similar team that was certainly capable of going much farther than that. With all this being said, Michael Malone is a great leader who will keep his team from letting up this season. We heard him say it not long after winning one championship, he will never be satisfied. He has already been talking about a potential dynasty and he is the perfect coach for this team to do it.

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