Denver Nuggets Roster 2020 Nuggets Roster

2019-2020 Denver Nuggets Roster Top 3 Questions

What does locking up Jamal Murray do for Denver?

The Nuggets wasted no time in the offseason and resigned one of their core players, Jamal Murray, to a 5 year, $170 million dollar contract. Drafted just a few years ago in 2016, Murray has been a key difference maker for Denver. He’s averaged a career 14.8 points per game though that numbers’ steadily increased each yeay. Last season, he had a career year with 18.2 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game. While that’s surely nothing special, the Nuggets obviously saw something special in Murray to lock him up long term.

If Murray keeps his production with the same trajectory, he’ll likely get around 17-18 field goal attempts per game which could see him averaging 20 points throughout the year. While he might not be able to provide typical huge point guard numbers, Murray is a great all around player and should solidify the point guard position for the next few years. The contract is b=obviously a large commitment but if everything pans out, he’ll become a top 5-10 player at his position by a few years.

What impact does Jerami Grant bring to the Nuggets?

After the Russell Westbrook trade to the Houston Rockets, one of the fallouts was the Jerami Grant trade to the Nuggets. In return, OKC received yet another pick, this time a 2020 first-rounder. While Grant may not be a household name to some NBA fans, he was a great player for the Thunder and drew starts on a playoff contending team with OKC. He’s most notably skilled with his defensive abilities and switching but also possesses the ability to shoot.

While a spot in the starting lineup isn’t guaranteed, Grant is sure to get playing time and may be a favorite of coach Mike Malone already. He’s got tremendous defensive skills which should help out a Denver team that ranked 10th in overall defense last season. Grant can guard anyone from elite point guards to dominant big men on the post. He took a huge step forward by making 13.6 points per game compared to his career 8.8 points per game. He’ll make for a great third or fourth option in the starting lineup or one of the best sixth men in the league.

Can Nikola Jokic become a superstar this season?

The talk last season was whether Nikola Jokic was ready to become the next big superstar and lead his team for a deep playoff run. What he proved last season was great leadership ability though inability to be a go-to player. He averaged 20.1 points and 10.8 rebounds but at times, didn’t seem to be prepared for crunch time. Statwise, I fully expect Jokic to put up fairly similar numbers as last year though he’ll definitely need to improve if he wants to go from star to superstar status.

While we might not see a change so much in his numbers, we’ll need to see improvement and the ability to lead his team in the big moments. As of right now, the Nuggets are struggling to find who their crunch time player should be between Jokic and Murray. While Murray isn’t a pure shooter, there’s more room to develop whereas Jokic seems to have already hit his ceiling. He’s a great player who fills up the statsheet but that’s not necessarily what you need to win games.