Mile High Sports

Five questions the Denver Nuggets need to answer this offseason

MHS Staff
Denver Nuggets

Tim Connelly and the Denver Nuggets may have had a successful draft night, but their offseason work has only just begun. With free agency beginning tonight, this franchise has to make some tough decisions, and they’re going to have to make them quickly.

There’s talent on this team. Lots of it. There aren’t many organizations that can say they have as much young potential as the Denver Nuggets, and it’s exciting. Between Emmanuel Mudiay, Nikola Jokic and newly selected Jamal Murray, head coach Michael Malone has three players who look to have the ability to become perennial All Stars, if not superstars. And with guys like Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris, he has two tough-minded, skilled role players who could eventually grow into a whole lot more.

And that’s without even mentioning Joffrey Lauvergne, Juancho Hernangomez, Malik Beasley and others who have upside other franchises would love to see on their roster.

Oh, and there’s Kenneth Faried, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, too. They may not be spring chickens, but they’re not aging, either. In fact, you could make the argument that all three have yet to play their best basketball.

So … what I guess I’m saying is that the Nuggets have a lot going for them. Possibly too much.

Right now, despite talent, potential and excitement, the one thing the Denver Nuggets are missing is an identity. Who are they? What will they be? What direction is this franchise going?

I had hoped they’d answer some of those questions on draft night, but all Connelly did was make the Nuggets’ roster even more of an amorphous blob of potential. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn’t change the fact that at some point, hopefully sooner than later, he’s going to have to grab the chisel and shape this franchise.

So, with that said, here are five questions the Denver Nuggets need to answer this offseason:

Who’s the face of the franchise?

We’ll get this one out of the way first, because it’s probably the least important/impactful of the bunch. Still, it’s worth asking.

When the Pepsi Center begins filling their stands again, hopefully this season, who are they coming to see? Who’s the guy putting butts in the seats? Because, honestly, if you asked me who is the face of the franchise at this very moment, I’d probably have to say Kenneth Faried, and that’s a real bummer. But there’s no question that casual fans associate the Nuggets with Faried much more than they do with Mudiay, Gallo or Jokic.

That will change, though, whether he’s traded or not. It needs to. No matter if it’s Mudiay or Jokic taking “the leap” in their second season, Murray having a Rookie of the Year-worthy campaign, or Gallo continuing on from last season with a healthy year, someone will take on the role of “face of the franchise.”

Or, if everything goes right, maybe we’ll be talking about the “faces of the franchise,” as the entire young cores develops in unison.

What will happen to Gary Harris?

Tim Connelly and Michael Malone can sing the praises of Gary Harris all day long, but I’m not buying it. While I love Harris about as much as anyone — I think he can turn into an elite three-and-D guard that could start on just about any team in the NBA — the Nuggets aren’t drafting Jamal Murray with the intention of turning him into a sixth man. More importantly, they’re not considering trading up to No. 3 to draft Murray and turn him into a sixth man.

The Nuggets envision Murray as the long-term backcourt partner of Emmanuel Mudiay, and at some point, that’s exactly what he’ll be.

So what happens to Gary?

He could take on a sixth-man role, but honestly, I think that’s a misuse of his talents. And I think other teams will feel the same way.

It may not be this offseason — though it very well could be — but I would guess that Harris ends up being included in a trade package that brings a bigger name to Denver, Colorado. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the over-the-top compliments of Gary Harris’ work ethic and improvement this offseason from Malone and Connelly aren’t, at least in part, a tactic to help increase his trade value.

And I think he’s worth a lot.

Before the draft, I would have almost called Harris un-tradable — that’s how much I like the guy. But with Murray looking like the clear long-term answer at two, and with significantly higher offensive upside, if the Nuggets can bring an All-Star to the Mile High City by unloading Gary, I do it.

Who’s expendable?

Well, you already know where I think the Nuggets stand on Gary Harris, but aside from that, I’ll say this: I believe everybody not named Emmanuel Mudiay, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are expendable. The only reason I’d even consider moving Jokic is if it meant that Boogie Cousins was coming back in return, and even then I’d have to think really, really, really hard — honestly, I’d probably pass.

But, as I said before, Tim Connelly needs to start pushing his chips into the middle of the table. No more hedging. He needs to chose his core and build around them, even if that means taking on some risk.

There are two players that I think need to be moved sooner than later: Kenneth Faried and Jusuf Nurkic. Why? Because neither are willing to accept backup, secondary roles on this team, and neither of them are good enough to fill long-term starting roles either.

If Faried was willing to be a spark off the bench and if Nurkic was willing to play second fiddle to Jokic, they’d be fine — great, even — but they’re not, and it’s not worth trying to fit a square peg into a round hole; package them in a trade and get something out of them while they still have value.

Behind them, the Nuggets clearly need to consolidate their wing players, and that starts with the trio of Will Barton, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. There’s a very good chance that one, if not two, of these guys will be playing outside of Denver when the season kicks off in late October (likely packaged with Faried or Nurkic).

My pick: Barton.

In my eyes, he’s quickly become one of the most-valuable trade chips in the league. Not only is he coming off a breakout, Sixth-Man-of-the-Year-calbier season last year, but he’s set to make just $3.5 million in each of the next two years. Under this new salary cap era, where middle-of-the-road guys will get $15 million a year, that’s highway robbery.

Would the Cavs rather have JR Smith at $15 million or Barton at $3.5 million? Just saying …

What’s next?

Somehow, someway, the Nuggets need to make a move. They’ve been dilly dallying for too long.

Here’s what I would do:

Listen, I get that the shine has fallen off of Kevin Love in the last few years, but that’s just unfair. It’s not easy being the third guy on a team where the top two guys are ball-dominant players. Just ask Chris Bosh or Serge Ibaka.

I went into Love in-depth a week back, so check that out here, but in short, he’s a very good player, and if put back into a situation where he can be the No. 1 offensive option (and not be forced to stand out at the three-point line for 48 minutes), I have no doubt he can get back to being one of the best players in the NBA.

The Nuggets would have to eat Shumpert’s contract, but that’ll be easier and easier to do as the cap rises, and with Bazemore, they’d be getting the perfect complementary piece.

Is he better than Gallo? No, but he’d fit this team, with Love, a lot better. He’s a guy who’s not great at anything, but very good at everything. As the fifth option on the starting unit, he’d be the perfect glue guy.

And sure, he’s going to cost a pretty penny, but the Nuggets have a lot of pennies to spend this offseason.

What are the expectations? 

Well, with the team outlined above, I’d say 50 wins, but let’s hold off on that for now.

Even if nothing happens and the Denver Nuggets go chalk this offseason and head into next year with this same core, plus or minus a few free agents, I think expectations are still fairy high. At worst, they need to be topping .500, and it’s probably safe to expect that they’re competing for a playoff spot, too.

And I don’t even think that’s stepping out on a limb. The organization is ready to be out of the lottery, and they have all the tools to do so. If they fail, it can only be categorized as a disappointment.

Last season, the Nuggets finished with 33 wins, three more than the year before. That means that if they’re going to reach .500, they’ll need to find a way to get nine more wins in 2016-17.

Denver will reach that mark with room to spare if two things happen: (1) Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler stay healthy, and (2) Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic take the “next step.”

With the first, we tend to forget how talented those two guys are, and losing Chandler for the entire season was a crippling blow last year. Adding a guy of that talent level (if healthy) to the Nuggets’ roster is a major improvement in and of itself; add Gallo for an entire season, and you’ve got a borderline All-Star at your small forward position.

And while that’s not exactly an easy prediction, I am pretty comfortable in saying that Jokic and Mudiay will take major strides in year two, and that alone could be good enough for nine wins.

Don’t be surprised if by the time October roles around, our expectations have soared past .500 and are verging on 45- or 50-win territory.

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