After an odd season, marked by the sackings of coach Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth at the end of the regular season, then an elimination during Game Seven of the conference semi-final against the Thunder, future champions, the Nuggets were active during the off-season to offer more options to Nikola Jokic.
Often frustrating, especially with regard to the financial investment, Michael Porter Jr thus packed his bags towards Brooklyn, in order to allow the arrival of a solid Cameron Johnson on both sides of the court.
Gone in search of the dollars that the club could not offer him after the title, Bruce Brown returns to the Rockies after getting lost at Toronto and New Orleans. Tim Hardaway Jr and Jonas Valanciunas also arrived in order to bring shooting and size under the basket, two things Denver sometimes lacked last season, whilst the impact rotation was reduced.
As Denver's new directors clearly explained, the goal was clearly to constitute a group of players who speak the same basketball as Nikola Jokic, and therefore capable of benefiting from his vision of the game. We know this is already the case for Bruce Brown, and there is no reason it should not be the same thing for Cameron Johnson, a cerebral player with always sharp and interesting analyses.
With a Nikola Jokic at the height of his art, a Jamal Murray in form and a denser group that offers more solutions to a David Adelman who has ideas bursting forth, the Nuggets have all the weapons to be the main threat for the Thunder in the Western Conference. And thus regain their throne, three years later?
Arrivals: Bruce Brown (Pelicans), Tim Hardaway Jr (Pistons), Cameron Johnson (Nets), Jonas Valanciunas (Kings)
Departures: Michael Porter Jr (Nets), Dario Saric (Kings)
Denver Nuggets: The player to follow - Cameron Johnson
Denver Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson in October 2025
After the turbulence of last season, nevertheless ended at Game Seven of the conference semi-final against the Thunder, the Nuggets have manoeuvred to regain the heights.
Obviously, all the architecture of this team rests on Nikola Jokic, but the Serbian centre is a metronome, who misses few matches and always finds a way to have the expected impact. Jamal Murray's physical form, and his capacity to make the difference in match endings, will also always be essential for the Nuggets.
But for Denver to clinch a second title, it is on the side that improvements will have to be notable. Christian Braun's progression can help, but it is especially Cameron Johnson's level, called to replace Michael Porter Jr in the Colorado franchise's starting five, that can make the difference.
The former Suns and Nets player will also bring outside shooting, even if he is less greedy in the domain than his predecessor, and David Adelman encourages him on the contrary to overcome this shyness, and this desire to integrate by refusing shots he must take, for the team's good. Whilst "MPJ" is a more instinctive player, and who brings more size and rebounding presence, Cameron Johnson is more cerebral, better passer and better collective link. Even if he must find his place in this already established group.
On paper, he is perhaps even a better fit than his predecessor, particularly on the defensive level, where he has fewer absences, notably away from the ball. But this remains to be demonstrated on the court, notably in the playoffs.
Average age: 27.6 years Salary mass: $204.1m (£152.6m) (11th)
Denver Nuggets: The ideal scenario
With an organisational chart in harmony and the abandonment of Calvin Booth's strategy, aimed especially at young players' development, in favour of more experienced role players, Nikola Jokic is happier than ever.
Especially, with Bruce Brown's return and the arrivals of Tim Hardaway Jr, Jonas Valanciunas or Cameron Johnson, David Adelman has many more keys on his keyboard to navigate during the regular season, and approach the playoffs in the best way. Without having to exhaust his key players in the West's jungle.
The Nuggets therefore arrive in ideal position for the post-season, with a radiant Jokic/Murray duo, and an army of complementary players who allow the Nuggets to clinch a second title in four years.
Denver Nuggets: The worst scenario
With a Jamal Murray who remains on alternating current, notably on the physical level, the Nuggets do not really have margin over the other big outfits in the West, and the regular season marathon weighs heavy.
Bruce Brown's return and Cameron Johnson's addition do not plug enough defensive breaches opened following Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's departure. David Adelman's troops thus still lack players capable of managing the best opposing ball-handlers, and remain fragile, even against weaker opponents.
Obliged to battle until the end of the regular season to attempt to snatch home-court advantage in the first round, in a Western Conference still as deadly, Jokic and his band ultimately have no more margin than before. In these conditions, impossible for the "Joker" and his teammates to recover a new title.
Enough to make the triple MVP doubt, who begins to really question his future, and delays extending.
This article was originally published on Basket USA.
ID:584049:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect6238: