The Nuggets’ [paths to improving their roster this offseason are complicated and challenging](https://nugglove.com/nuggets-dream-offseason-rests-with-absolute-michael-porter-jr-pipe-dream), to say the least. They’ll have to get very creative to bring in new talent, likely pulling off one or multiple trades, trying to turn things over, adding depth, shooting, and defense.
There is one clear and simple path to improvement, but it’s not particularly likely: internal improvement. Denver has a pool of young players who were all recently drafted and on cheap, cost-controlled contracts for years to come.
This group of players includes [guys who have already made an impact, like Christian Braun](https://nugglove.com/nuggets-youngster-outranks-former-mvp-latest-ringer-100-rankings-update), guys who have shown flashes, like Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji, and Julian Strawther, and guys who are mostly speculative talents, like Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson, and DaRon Holmes.
That’s almost half the roster, all 25 years old or younger (only Pickett is 25), and all with some level of acumen and experience. That can’t all be dead weight, but it’s not a lot of proven talent either. The easiest way for the Nuggets to improve the roster is for the guys on the roster to simply get better. But that’s a lot easier said than done.
Player development was slow under Malone
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Unfortunately for the Nuggets, it’s hard to tell what was what with the young players in the last few years, given the power struggle between GM Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone. Booth kept drafting these young players, and Malone mostly refused to play them.
As a result, development and progress have been slow or nonexistent. Braun has emerged as a budding young star, jumping into the starting lineup this season and making a run at the league’s Most Improved Player Award. He’s a certified part of the team’s core, but now he’s up for a costly extension.
After Braun, it’s a lot of unknown. There were high hopes for Watson and Nnaji, but they’ve both largely stagnated, and neither one was fully trusted come playoff time. Strawther has had injury issues in both seasons in the league, but had some nice moments against the Thunder in the playoffs.
Pickett and Tyson are probably on their last season before looking for new jobs overseas. Holmes is a total mystery after tearing his Achilles and missing his entire rookie season. There is reason for optimism, as all of these players are still young and many of them haven’t gotten a fair shake in the NBA.
Nuggets can’t afford growing pains with Jokic in his 30s
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Sadly, the time for patience with these young players is mostly gone. The Nuggets have squandered the last two seasons, and now they’ve got Nikola Jokic at 30 years old. The time to strike is now, as they must maximize the rest of his prime and go all-in to compete for the title as long as he’s in Denver playing at an MVP level.
But that doesn’t line up with the plan to develop these young players and wait for internal improvement. The team needs to be good now. Is David Adelman suddenly going to be willing to play these young players and allow them the freedom to grow into key roles?
We haven’t seen enough from most of these players, and we don’t have much time to wait and find out. It’s an unfortunate situation, but a grim reality. The Nuggets may have to cut their losses with some of these guys and see if a young, rebuilding team may be willing to take them on and give them a real shot.