How many future stars do the Nuggets have? Can they make the playoffs, or should they trade their veterans?
Our NBA Insiders debate the 2016-17 season for Denver.
1. What's the biggest source of hope for the Nuggets this season?
Amin Elhassan, ESPN Insider: The past three draft classes. Denver has quietly put together a nice, diverse cupboard of recent draftees, headlined by the diamond in the rough Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets' youth movement may not be ready to win right now, but they are on a similar path as Utah in terms of cultivating a deep roster of homegrown talent.
Chad Ford, ESPN Insider: Their youth. Jokic, Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray, Jusuf Nurkic and Gary Harris all could become really good. The Nuggets have drafted really well the past couple of years. Whether they keep all of those players or use them in trades, they have real value.
Steve Ilardi, ESPN Insider: The Nuggets' deep nucleus of young talent -- Jokic (age 21), Mudiay (20), Nurkic (22), Juan Hernangomez (21), Harris (25), Will Barton (25), and Kenneth Faried (26) -- should be significantly better this season simply because of the aging curve (where players typically peak around age 27). If they can translate their youth and athleticism into an efficient up-tempo game at altitude, they'll have a chance to run many opponents off the court.
Jeremias Engelmann, ESPN Insider: The Nuggets are a young team, with three players who were 21 or younger playing a combined 6,000 minutes for them last season. If Mudiay or Harris can break out (Jokic was already very good), the Nuggets' future looks good.
Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider: The development of Mudiay. In hindsight, it's remarkable the Nuggets were as competitive as they were with Mudiay playing as poorly as he did before the All-Star break. Mudiay shot much better and was less turnover-prone after the break, and while that's not more predictive than the first half, it brought his overall stat line to a more positive place for a 19-year-old point guard.
2. How many future stars are on the Nuggets roster?
Ilardi: Denver has one can't-miss future star in Jokic, their nimble Serbian big with elite passing skills, strong shooting ability and precocious defensive positioning. He came from out of nowhere last season to crash the NBA leaderboard in real plus-minus (RPM) and finish third in rookie of the year voting. And although Mudiay was awful last season, he too has obvious star potential -- though it's too early in his development to know whether he'll reach it.
Pelton: If we define this as All-Stars, I would say Jokic is the only player on the roster I'd bet on as more likely than not. However, Denver has enough candidates (Mudiay, Murray, Nurkic) that it's reasonable to expect two Nuggets to ultimately get to that level at least once.
Elhassan: Probably none. But that's not a knock -- they have a lot of guys who look to be very good talents. Best-case scenario, you can package some of those guys down the line for a bona fide star. Worst-case scenario, you're that team that goes 10 deep in the rotation with little drop-off.
Engelmann: Depends on the definition of "star." According to RPM, Jokic was a star last season, although most people probably didn't see it that way. I don't expect Harris or Mudiay to develop into a real star, so I'd have to say zero.
Ford: Hard to say because they are all so young, but I think Mudiay, Murray and Jokic have a chance of making an All-Star team someday.
3. What is the biggest issue facing the Nuggets this season?
Pelton: Determining whether Jokic and Nurkic can play together, and if so, what that means for Faried's future in Denver. I'm still a bit dubious of the two-center lineups but the Nuggets have to give them a long look because Jokic and Nurkic might prove too good to simply split 48 minutes a game at center.
Ford: Inexperience. While veterans such as Danilo Gallinari and Faried are there to offer experience, this is still a very young team that may not be ready for prime time.
Engelmann: Gallinari's health is always an area of concern -- he missed more than 20 games in each of the past three seasons. Also, Mudiay has to improve on his abysmal field goal percentage -- which was 36 percent last season -- to avoid being a far below average point guard.
Ilardi: Denver's backcourt and wing players are just not very good. RPM rates its projected starting backcourt -- Mudiay and Harris -- as one of the worst in the league, and its top rotation guards (Barton, Jameer Nelson, Murray and Malik Beasley) all rate as subpar for the coming season. Gallinari is a modestly above-average starting wing, but backup Wilson Chandler played at only about replacement level during his last full season in the league.
Elhassan: Shooting. There are plenty of volume shooters on the rosters, and Murray and Harris may develop into pure shooters, but as of right now there isn't a "reputation" shooter on the roster (with all due respect to the venerable Mike Miller).
4. What trade would make the most sense for the Nuggets?
Ford: They have a pretty crowded young backcourt with Mudiay, Murray, Harris, Barton and Beasley. Seems like they could turn one or two of those players into another valuable piece.
Engelmann: I would like to see the Nuggets move Faried. He might still have more value for trade purposes, in part thanks to national team appearances, than actual impact on the court. I would keep Nurkic in the hope he and Jokic can coexist.
Elhassan: Beyond the obvious swing for the fences deal to net a star? I'd like to see some help at point guard. Mudiay still has major holes in his game as he learns on the job, and while I admire Nelson as a culture setter and a role model, I'm not sure how much left he has in the tank. An experienced (but not old) backup point guard who could start in a pinch would be a nice addition.
Ilardi: The Nuggets have considerable depth at the 4 and 5 positions and desperately need upgrades in the backcourt. Although bigs are not in terribly high demand with the league still transitioning to the small-ball era, Denver's nice young backup center Nurkic should still attract interest from teams looking to bolster their interior depth. A trade of Nurkic for Toronto shooting guard Norman Powell might make sense for both teams.
Pelton: If Denver can get value for Faried, I don't see how he fits this team's future even if the Nuggets determine Jokic and Nurkic can't play together. Ideally, the Nuggets would like more floor spacing from their power forward, a role rookie Juancho Hernangomez might eventually fill. The question mark is Gallinari, and whether to trade him might depend how the season goes.
5. Fact or fiction: The Nuggets are a playoff team.
Elhassan: Fiction. Color me a skeptic, but I think there are too many teams in the West with similar talent and more experience. But Denver is on the cusp of perhaps starting a long string of consecutive playoff appearances in the near future.
Ilardi: Fiction. The Nuggets are an interesting, exciting young team, but they're still a year or two away from the playoffs. Their backcourt is brimming with potential, but it's still too inexperienced, error-prone and defensively challenged to get them to the next level. They should win 35 to 40 games this season, not enough to avoid another trip to the lottery.
Ford: Fiction. They will be soon if they stay the course. But I think they are one to two years away from the playoffs in the West.
Engelmann: Fiction. I think there will be a three-way race for eighth in the West between Denver, Dallas and Minnesota. Given that the projected No. 7 seed is expected to win significantly more games, I'd say the Nuggets' chances of making the playoffs are only about 33 percent.
Pelton: Fiction. I wouldn't rule it out, certainly, but even if you take RPM's 40-win projection as gospel -- and it's not -- the number of teams close behind Denver makes it more likely than not that the Nuggets would still end up in the lottery. Denver also doesn't have as much incentive to push for a playoff spot by loading up midseason as some of the win-now teams in the mix.