Denver has one of the best starting fives in basketball, and this is a year they will look to take another step. Jamal Murray enters his third season, and has locked up the starting point guard role for the Nuggets. The Denver backcourt may not be on par with some of the others in the Western Conference, but Gary Harris next to him makes this a very good duo. Will Barton has missed some time this season, but when healthy has started at small forward. We usually see Barton off the bench, but the loss of Wilson Chandler has put Barton in the starting lineup for this season. Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic round out a very good front court, as Millsap is in the later stages of his career, while Jokic has developed into one of the best centers in the game.
After just missing the playoffs on the final day the Denver Nuggets will look to push forward with this group. They have a lot of strong names, and it starts with Nikola Jokic who has shown to be a promising center for the future. His passing ability is one of his best assets, which helps others around him. Jokic will be a triple-double threat on most nights, and while he needs a little work defensively, there is no doubt he is a top five center right now. Mason Plumlee backs him up, but has little fantasy value unless an injury occurs. Paul Millsap is now in year two for his Denver contract. He missed a good chunk of the season last year, and while he was out there he wasn’t as acquainted like his Atlanta days.
Millsap is still a quality power forward, but there is a lot of other usage around. The backcourt belongs to Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, but it is hard to tell if Denver will commit to Murray. His offensive game is very hit or miss, and was someone who needed to work on his shot during the first few years of his career. We will see if that is in fact the case. Harris has developed into a quality shooting guard, both defensively and offensively. Will Barton is one of the better sixth men in the league, and with Wilson Chandler out of Denver it opens up a hole at the three. Barton will likely come off the bench, but will likely see 28+ minutes a night at varying positions. Barton is a solid bench usage player and an excellent fantasy options for scoring. Devin Harris is looking like the backup point guard, but we are going to need clarification. The Nuggets drafted Michael Porter Jr, but with his back injury that had him miss his freshman year, they took a risk that could be a huge payoff. They are in no rush with him so do not expect Porter to be a huge fantasy asset.
