President of basketball operations Tim Connelly knows the Nuggets have to improve on defense if they are going to improve on their 40-42 record from last season and make it into the playoffs. Defense, Connelly says, is his team’s greatest need heading into Thursday night’s draft. But he also knows that no single player selected will fix the problem.
Connelly joined Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro Monday on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 ahead of the draft and said outright his team’s biggest need is improved defense.
“We have to play defense,” Connelly said. “You know, last year we had this conversation, talked with you guys. We were a team that couldn’t shoot the ball. A year later, our offense is the least of our concerns. Since we made the lineup change and Nikola was the starting center, we had the best offense in the league over a large portion of the season.”
In 2016-17, Denver averaged 111.7 points per game – good for third in the league behind Houston at No. 2 and the world champion Warriors at No. 1. Their differential, however was only a +0.5 – tied for 12th in the Association.
“We can’t take the next step until we get a better effort defensively,” Connelly continued. “So we have find guys that can play on both ends.”
Denver struggled with both interior and perimeter defense last season. They allowed opponents to shoot .477 from the field, which was the second-worst allowed in the NBA. They weren’t much better guarding 3-pointers, ranking 28th with a .375 average against.
“We were 30th in [overall] defense, so, all of it,” Connelly said when asked what area of the defense needs the most improvement.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror, not just who we’re going to bring in. It’s on our own guys to kind of re-focus on that side of the court. We can’t be a one side team, and that’s what we were last year way too often and I think it showed in close games and our ability to get stop.
There’s no silver bullet waiting in the draft, Connelly says. No one person who is going to solve Denver’s defensive shortcomings.
“I don’t think it’s one specific position where we’re looking at is a ‘must upgrade’ defensively. I think some of our young guys will get better just organically. As they learn the NBA, pick up tendencies, get a little stronger, the game slows down you improve defensively. But we have to be honest with ourselves. We were brutal last year defensively, which is not going to be a one-person fix.”
Connelly didn’t tip his hand as to where the Nuggets are leaning with the No. 13 overall pick, but it’s fairly certain he and general manager Arturas Karnisovas will be looking for a lockdown defender with whoever they select.
Listen to the full interview with Connelly, including his thoughts on why Denver is a more desirable free-agency destination these days, in the podcast below.
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