Who Will be the 8 Best Nuggets by the End of Next Season?

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. This is Jake from Lockdown. When the game's on the line, the best no end to pass. Because the right assist can change everything. And off the court, it's no different. That's where your State Farm agent comes in. Whether it's protecting your car, your home, or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Like a word, the cover options are selected by the customer, availability and eligibility vary by state. Thank you for making Lockdown your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the Lockdown NBA Podcast where there's no off season. West Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors, and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Lockdown NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

1:04The Denver Nuggets are going to have a brand new rotation this next upcoming season. So I've been ideating what is the likelihood of the Nuggets top eight being set. And I feel like we have a good idea of who is going to be the top six, but I'm not going to lie to y'all. There's so many options of who's going to be the players to fill in. And I want to go through each player's individual profile. What they might actually add to the roster because so much of this teams, the next identity, it's really going to be dependent on what they get from six through eight. So I actually think this is more important than a lot of folks realize. Y'all know what time it is. This is Swipe of this is Lockdown Nuggets. You are locked on nuggets. Your daily Denver Nuggets podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

2:06What's going on, family? Welcome to locked on nuggets. This is your daily Denver Nuggets podcast. I'm your host Swipe of joining you today talking about your Denver Nuggets and all things Denver Nuggets and talking about this team. Shout out to somebody said, Bo Nick, Nick Benino, Patrick Tampat, Brian Corlan Sutton, Madison Larius. This is going to be a really interesting episode because for so many reasons, there's so much uncertainty about this team and about its upcoming season. But I feel fairly confident in this team, the closer we get to the season. Y'all realize we are like literally five and a half weeks away from the NBA season starting. Do you realize how close it is that we've gotten to this point? And so with that, I really think that as we continue to get closer and closer and we think about what this roster is going to look like, I think people are going to come to realize that this team is still a lot better than folks are giving credit for it.

3:07And I've been trying to basically, Matt and Ryan, they did the starting five rankings a couple of weeks ago and I joined them for that show for a little bit. The nuggets are going to have one of the four best starting fives in basketball, maybe the best starting five in basketball. It really just depends. Yo-kitch basically every season, when you're on the floor with Yo-Kitch, they have the best offense of all time. Last year, the projected starting five for this season had a plus 13 net rating, they had a 131 offensive rating. This is a down deep now again. The start off last year, they started off really well. But then obviously they just had injuries that affected everything. But when I thought about this, everybody is Lord willing going to be healthy stepping into this next year. Yo-Kitch, Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, Cam Johnson and Christian Brown. In that starting lineup, they should have three positive defenders that are in that

4:11lineup. And then they're going to have obviously an all NBA player in Jamal who hopefully will have another great season. And then you'll have Yo-Kitch who's going to be competing for another MVP title. When you put this lineup together, they're going to be able to score in a myriad of ways. And I think I'm excited just to see them be able to get on the floor together and figure out how to work out all of the kinks and all of the things they need to do from a scheme standpoint. And when I was looking at this last year, this Denver Nugget starting five when they're on the floor together, they shot like 76% of the rim. They shot 55% for mid range, only 37% from three. But then when you look at like their shot profile, they actually were one of the best teams all the way up and down at the rim, mid range and then from the three point line. But they just didn't get a lot of ministry. They only play 342 minutes to get a dislike season. So the starting five is going to be really established and really good.

5:16But I think some of this is what I'm sitting here is trying to work through what exactly the second unit is going to be. I actually think there's a lot of very interesting options, a lot of really good options as well. And you know, just to get into it, Alfa Diallo is obviously somebody that I would say is not super well known what exactly to expect from him. You know, Matt has done a lot of really good work. Obviously just like evaluating what he is and what he brings defensively to the table. And you know, all of the things. And Diallo is going to be a instant plug and play defender for this roster. Now, the question is how much impact does that defender have over the course of a regular season in particular with the kind of scheme that the Denver Nuggets are going to play? But what the Nuggets are going to do this year is they're going to have a host of wings. They'll have access to that are all going to do different things. So this is from tomorrow to Rosen, to Spencer Jones, to Diallo.

6:18And then whatever you think of Marvin Bagley, if you're playing the center or if you can play that four spot. But then even outside of that, Julian Schroffer is going to have a whole new role on this roster. I think he's going to fill in a lot for some of the stuff that Tim Hardaway Jr. did this last season. And then if you look even beyond that, Spencer Jones obviously played the primary play to four and playoffs. But he played a lot of three and he even played some two this last season. But I think even with the player like Lonnie Walker, should he make the team, the Nuggets are going to have a lot of different options for how do we want to set up our success on a game in game. Now, basis the starting five is the top five. So Jamal, very Christian Brown, Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Nico, because that is their five. But then after that, I personally think that tomorrow to Rosen has an opportunity to be their six best player. Now, will he be their six most important player?

7:20That is going to come down to a lot to is he scoring at such a rate that he is giving them like another primary score at times. And especially in segments of the game when Jamal and Yokech are not in or if Jamal is playing off the ball. And it really depends on just how high his scoring value gets to where you can say he's going to be their six most important player this last year. Can he be a fast simile of what Peyton Watson was this last year? And again, maybe not the defensive stuff and into be fair Peyton did not have a great defensive year last year. But can he score at such a level where it's like, man, like you just don't know how to deal with Yokech and Murray and Gordon and then Cam Johnson spacing the floor. And then you got to Mara de Rosen doing the stuff he's doing in the in between areas from mid range and from the post area as well. And then plus if the nuggets are doing a great job of getting mismatches all across the plate, tomorrow to Rosen has a point guard on him a lot. Then you're able to hammer some of those matchup iterations.

8:22I think that's the kind of stuff that I'm really curious to see how it continues to slide for Jamar de Rosen as the year goes on. And so I think so much of his value for the team next year is going to be tied to his lineup value without Yokech and without Jamal Murray. But in particular without Yokech, are they going to be able to get him in positions to be successful on a consistent basis as a score. That way they can really just start taking somebody to load off of their two best players. So I think there's a world where he'll be the. Most in he'll be the six best player on the team. But will he be the six most important player team or he couldn't be higher. Because so much like I said, it's just going to depend on like the versatility argument and is he giving them like ways to solve problems that they did not have before. But like I said, 18 points of game last year, y'all shooting 53% from two is nothing to sneeze at, especially on the shot value that he had this last year.

9:29Like Jamar is going to be a fun player for I think a lot of nuggish fans to watch because while he doesn't do all the things at a super high level. If you look at his numbers, he's a really good ball handler on the offensive band from a picking roll standpoint. It's a very good isolation score still. He's a very good spot of shooter from where he shoots at post up player. He ever just 1.2 points for post up last year, which is the lead. And he's also a really good transition player and he's really did play off a handoff, DHOs and he's really good off a screen. It's like if you look at his scoring profile, he's rated as good to very good to excellent at everything because he knows what he does best. He's just not an outside interview or outside three point shooter. But I think that Jamar is going to offer so much value to this roster man and I'm really, really excited to see how he continues to take steps forward as a basketball player with this roster. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited to see also just like again, him and Jokic, like the synergy that they figure out could obviously they have played against each other and a lot.

10:34You know, even last year, the nuggets were basically doubling tomorrow in the Rosen at the baseline because he was just like destroying them in the middle of the floor stuff because he was taking advantage of Mitch matches. It's just like he could not miss from that mid range area. That's going to be the kind of stuff that I think he's able to really replicate this next year. Apparently, Jokic has an interview coming out with that one I'm seeing all. But it's in Serbian. Yep, we're definitely going to need somebody to do the translation for that. But that's obviously really good news on the other side. I got some more players that I want to get into here and then I'm going to make my estimation. But on the other end of this, I'm very curious for y'all who you think is going to be the guy that ends up feeling out that six pot and then the seventh and then the eighth. There's so much more to get into with this conversation. Y'all know what time it is here. I locked on nuggets.

11:35Writing a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. What after accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them talk to each other. That's where Odu comes in. Odu is all in one business management software that brings every part of your business together in one power for platform from sales and accounting to inventory and marketing. Everything works in one place. Odu is one platform to manage, grow and scale your business. The best organizations know that success isn't just about talent. It's about having everyone working towards the same goal. And that's true in sports, just like it is in business. So even with that, y'all. The adjustment itself with coaching and with lineup stuff is always important. But what really is important in making adjustments and coaching and light ups, it's how smoothly those adjustments go. How everyone buys in to their job. Everyone knew their role and everyone has to be on the same page.

12:36And that's usually what separates good organizations from great one. Great organizations win because operations matter. And that's why you should get Odu. Odu is one platform to manage, grow and scale your business. Try for free today at odu.com slash locked on. That's O-D-O-O. dot com slash locked on will be back for more here. I locked on nuggets. And we are back for the second segment here at locked on. Shout out to you. Thank y'all so much for joining us each and every day. Make sure y'all like, share, subscribe on the YouTube side. If we continue to build up this great YouTube community. Also, make sure you give us a five star of you and apple. I tune to Spotify that way more and more people can listen to great content being made here at locked on nuggets. We're going through the projection for who the Denver Nuggets top eight players are going to be this upcoming season. I just made an argument for tomorrow to Rosen. I think that tomorrow scoring is going to be he's going to be the best score outside of Jamal.

13:38Murray and Yokeh and Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon. They've had maybe in the last of that iterations in 2021. I'm trying to think y'all who else would be a better score they've had on the team than tomorrow. Me Russ had moments, but obviously, you know, he had a lot of some downs as well. I don't even know who else to be. KCP obviously was an all fall threat. But in terms of scoring outside of Jamal Porter, Michael Porter. So, but Jamal Michael Porter Jr. Aaron Gordon, Nicolay Yokeh, tomorrow to roast might be the fifth best score they've had since 2021, which is is saying some things, but also saying a lot like the nuggets haven't done a great job. I'm facilitating that other allows underscoring roles, but also that's how good tomorrow to Rosen is as well. But for me, the next person that I'm going to jump to here that I think is going to be a part of their top eight rotation. If tomorrow road to motion is my six man, I think it has to be Marvin Bagley off. I think it has to be Marvin Bagley.

14:39So Marvin is going to be an iteration of the big man position, but he's going to exist in a way that they just simply have not had before. Bagley is so good with his touch around the rim and being able to utilize that athleticism and that quick burst. And they have simply not had a big man. They try this would make some plum Lee and they're trying to put boogie cutting to times and bow. But they've always been trying to find a way to run the double pig lineup in Denver. But they just quite simply didn't have the kind of athletes that you could play together with Yokeh. Where could be something you could do consistently. You all know realize y'all know this. Marvin Bagley is only 27 years old. He's only 27. The obviously was a top three pick in 2018 with a good Luca. But if you just kind of evaluate what he is, he's six foot 10 very rangel athlete. And I brought up some of these numbers for four.

15:41But if you just want to talk about like play type stuff, when he was with Dallas, he was a very good spot up shooter. He was an excellent transition player, 1.4 points per possession and transition. He was an excellent picking role man at 1.4 points per session. And then often to rebound, he was really good. 1.2 points per possession. It's often to rebound her. So like he used to kind of guy where you could literally say, Hey, Yokeh, we're going to put you in a screen and roll with Marvin Bagley. We're going to have a hang around as the rim as the lot finisher. And I think if you just put in context, all the stuff he's able to do defensively and then be able to offensively fill in where he needs to fill in, he's going to be a great replacement for Aaron Gordon, when Aaron Gordon's also out of the game or even when he's saying now. Like Matt was the first one to the Marvin Bagley train. But I actually think that I'm going to be second on that. And I'm going to say that Marvin Bagley is going to be their seventh best and most important player next year.

16:42And maybe best is not the best word because obviously that's a different way of evaluating it. But important. If the nuggets have a six foot 10 guy that they can simply say, Hey, we need you to play around the basket. And we need you to play hard and we need you to rebound. We need you to rim protect and then be able to switch out on defense and or play drop it times. Like he just gives them a lot of optionality. And that's exactly what it is that they need. So I'm really excited to see how he really continues to take a step forward with his game because nuggets fans. If you go back and watch his time when you're playing with the Dallas Mavericks, you can really just see like he did a really good job of playing up the Nazi Marshall and Cooper flag. He is a willing screener. He's a great roller and he has a really, really affected push out for a being almost Rishan Holmes light. And then on top of that, he's a good enough offensive threat that if you give him enough room, he can find a way to hit that shot, but also beat you off the dribble and drive to the basket for a dunk.

17:49He definitely was overdrafted. But I think some parts of the next effort players that like Bagley that are overdrafted is they have to like redefine their career. And they have to let people know even though they're not maybe mean active with this. They have to almost let people know. Even though I shouldn't have been the number two overall pick, what I just didn't work out. I'm still a very capable player that can do a lot of things that are important on a night in night out basis. And y'all being able to rebound. Being able to defend being able to finish around the rim. I mean that stuff is invaluable, especially if you look at how this team is lost. Like them not being able to do a lot of those things versus the Minnesota Timberwool in 2024. And then in 2026 that part of why they lost those series. You know them being really struggling with that versus OKC even at times. No, they simply could have just finished possessions. You know or even just being able to contest without falling. I mean they would have been able to get out of that series as well in six or seven games, maybe even five.

18:55But you just have to be able to find ways to win on the margin and Bagley feels like a margin player. Like he just someone that you can say here's a role. Here's what I need you to do and here how you can execute that as well. And then my last player on my top eight this upcoming season for the Denver Nuggets. That's tough because Spencer Jones to me. This is how it works for me. Spencer Jones has to do it all argument. He's been on the team. He's been in training camp. He played in the playoff last year. Very strong player making $6 million a year. Very versatile player. Alfa Diallo Alfa Diallo is supposed to be there like best wing defender they've had. And I don't know how long. Maybe outside of Christian Brown and KCP really needs to be Diallo. But then on the other end of that Lonnie Walker.

19:57Like him being able to be a legitimate three point shooter on volume is really important for this team. And then him being able to be a good athlete at that two goshpot is really important for this team. But then Tyas Jones right now is your backup point guard. Now I do not believe. And I'm having a very hard time believing that they're going to walk into next season with Tyas Jones and KJ Simpson. Esther two and three backup point guard. That seems. No, that seems like a stretch to me. But maybe that's what they believe. But then on top of that Julian Strathor I think has a great argument here and we haven't even mentioned to Ron Holmes this whole. Now there's also another world where Geron Holmes takes a step. And now Geron Holmes is being what he's supposed to be when he was drafted at number three 23 overall, which is a very rangey player. Really going to have the and a good score.

21:00So there's so much to get into with all this stuff. I cannot wait to figure out how this stuff looks and really to watch it happen as well. We'll have we'll finish this conversation on the other side here. I locked on nuggets. The problem of finding clothes that you can live it all day be comfortable and do whatever you need to do. Whether it's just chilling, go into meetings, playing golf, being on the move. That problem has been solved by Kozierth. The everyday polo is the answer. It's lightweight, built to move with you just easy to wherever I've got it on right now and it's fabulous. Plus the Kozierth essential socks. They're exactly what the name suggests soft, supportive, comfortable enough that you stop thinking about them halfway through the day. Plus Kozierth backs everything with a 10 year warranty and hassle free returns. So if something isn't quite right, you're covered.

22:02That makes trying them for yourself an easy decision. I've got the Kozierth everyday polo in blue and in black. Check them out at kozierth.com. Use the code locked on for 20% off. That's right. Locked on for an exclusive 20% off. And if you see a post purchase survey, please mention you heard about it right here. Kozierth.com. What's going on? We are back here for the final segment of locked on nugget shout out to you all. Thank you all so much for joining us each and every day. What kind of defense a player is baggy? That's a really good question. The best way I can put this into terms for you is Bagley is good at playing drop versus picking roll ball handlers because he is very long. And he also is really athletic as well. So he plays in between space really well. Bagley is primarily, I would say he is a really good.

23:04He's a rim protector. I wouldn't say really good at all, but he does have like upside there. For sure. Again, like he's a very quick burst athlete. And so typically, you know, with those kind of athletes, if they're smart, you know, they're able to do some things really well at the rim. Now, if you look at his numbers. So last year for Marvin Bagley in 2026, so this is includes two teams Washington and obviously with the Dallas Mavers last year, Marvin Bagley defended nine rim attempts per 100 possessions. So that was 81% tall in the amount of shot he defended at the rim per 100 possessions. Team shot 6.8% worse when he was the primary defender at the rim, which is 79% tall. So that is above average. And honestly, that's that's like positive. That's a good rim protector. So Bagley is an actual good rim protector above average rim protector with a lot of versatility. And then even when defending possessions in general, players shot 3% worse when he was

24:08the primary defender or 2.8% worse, which is 76% tall as well. So Bagley is the kind of guy that has a little bit of playmaking shops. You know, he can essentially like when you look at this stop percentage, it's about 2.5%, which is 60 second percent out of this last year. Excuse me. He's a guy that can help deter shots as well. So if you just kind of look at it, it's like you can see the vision for all the stuff that he needs to be able to do. Tony Beige, there's always remember in context of defensive rating as a, they say team stat. So if you're not on a good defensive team, then it's typically going to take yours down. But you do want to be able to see how you impact defensive rating. And I can tell you this that last year, you know, with the teams that he was on, they just did not have good defense of personnel with the wizards. And obviously, you know, when they got hurt, especially with the Mavericks. So he definitely is not a high level impact defender. So they're going to have to figure out like the line is to put around him,

25:09but it could work. And then somebody asked, so if we put together a bench lineup like Julian, Alpha, Jamar, Spencer, Bagley, could it be really good? Yeah, I mean, it could be now they're going to stagger Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, Christian Brown or Yoke, your Murray with those line up. So just remember to keep that in context. So they do have a world where they could be better. But my last person that I'm going to add to this list of top eight players. I'm going to say next year. I'm going to take a little bit of leap, whatever. I'm going to say it's going to be Julian Strother. Now here's why Julian, if he's there is eighth best player next year, that's good signs all the way around for everybody. That's a good sign for Julian. That's also good sign for Denver. Because for Julian, that means he's taking a step and maybe two steps. That's a basketball player for Denver. That means that he is taking steps and they're better because of it.

26:12And now they're playing them because they feel like he helps them win. Right now, Julian does not feel like a guy that is on the roster that definitely helps them win on a night and night out basis. That's the unfortunate part. But I do believe there is a world where he'll be able to consistently help this team, especially because he is going to be their bona fide three point shooter outside of Lonnie. That's coming off the bench this next year. And Lonnie obviously needs to make the roster. But I think Julian is, you know, he's a player that he should have more three point attempts than he does last year. And again, only 15 minutes per game. The only shot, two point six, three to game. The year before that was four point one. So what we've been waiting on Julian to take that leap at the three point shooter because last year he shot, you know, so he's got 29.7%

27:1334.9% and 38.7%. So he's continuing to get better. But this next year, y'all, especially three point rate. Like per 100 possessions Julian Strathler last year took 8.5 three's per game. Julian next year needs to be you as rookie year was at 12.6. He needs to be about 12 15 three to game or 12 15 three's per 100 possessions. Because it's important for Denver that he's putting those shots up. And this including means off the dribble as well. He's simply just someone that you have to have on the floor, be able to do a job in that job that job is going to be shooting. That job's going to be the connected passing and then obviously filling in defensively where he can. But if I have to say to Martin Rosen, Marvin Bagley and then Julian Strathler and this is not including Spencer Jones.

28:13And then hopefully Lonnie Walker, that team, if they can get that kind of play out of Bagley and out of Julian Strathler where they are clearly your seventh and eighth best players, then that just kind of elevates the ceiling of the team all the way around. My next question I had here is is Adam and on job watch. You know, they did. They obviously went out and hired. You know, another coach as well because obviously they're they're wanting to. How do I say it? They're wanting to really re institute that toughness this year because I think they lost some of that this last year and obviously that's something that affected everybody. But they do need someone. I think that's able to really help them to get some of that that draw back. And to be able to find ways to salvage runs and games and all that stuff. Like they just cannot go into this next year.

29:17Like they were this last year at the end of the year. So they went out obviously and they got Dave Yeager and Dave Yeager hopefully will help with some of this re institution of their, you know, defense or principles and really helping them to find an identity again as a really tough nose team. Because they just literally all cannot go into this next year and be like, all right, bet we're going to be the exact same team. And I think on top of that, we're also not going to play our bench. That bench need to get real run this year. We go, what they need to do is take everybody's minutes down. And even if that costs you some wins up front, you want to take some minutes down. And then on the other end of this, you want to be able to get to this and be like, you know, we figured out that Julian Alpha Spencer, Derosen, Tyus or whoever even Zeke or Holmes that like we got players on this roster and they're all doing different things. And you spent two first round picks, y'all in the 2020s on,

30:19on Duran Holmes, non-Zeknachi. You can't keep missing. Now you spent two first round picks on Christian Brown and Peyton Watson and Peyton Watson is no longer here. You spent another first round pick on Julian Strother. So right now your first round picks in that area are Julian Strother, Hunter Tyson and, you know, obviously Derosen Holmes and they're going to have to make sure, turn out Hunter Tyson Julian Strother Christian Brown and Derosen Holmes, they're going to have to make sure with Zeke, now that you got their getting actual play out of these guys. One or two of these people have to become a player. Julian really needs to and then Derosen Holmes with your skill set, you also really need to and I think Adam and with Yeager helping him, they really need to make sure they're prior to touching their development and all that. Let me know what y'all think in the comment section. Who is your top eight rotation player for the Denver Nuggets this upcoming year?

31:21And which player do you feel like it's going to be the most surprising that takes that step? Y'all know what time it is. This is Swypa and this is locked on Nuggets. See you on the other side. Thank you for making locked on your first listen every day. For your second listen, find the Locked on NBA podcast where there's no off season. West Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations, rumors and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find Locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.