2022-23 Denver Nuggets Season Preview
Nikola Jokic captured last year’s NBA MVP award, but the Denver Nuggets as a whole are hoping to achieve more team success this season. After earning the No. 6 seed in last year’s playoffs, the Nuggets were quickly taken care of by the eventual NBA champions from Golden State. What can Denver do differently this season to get Jokic some help in the box score each night?
Denver Nuggets Betting Odds
| 2022-23 NBA Odds as of Monday, October 3 | Courtesy of DraftKings |
|---|---|
| NBA Championship Odds: | +1800 |
| Northwest Division Odds: | -140 |
| Regular Season Win Total: | 49.5 (o -140 / u +115) |
| Opening Night: | -7.5 at Utah Jazz (o/u 217.5) |
The Nuggets played all of last season without starting point guard Jamal Murray and almost the entire season without starting small forward Michael Porter Jr. Both should be set to start the 2022-23 regular season with a clean bill of health.
Nuggets Add Depth
The Nuggets used their only selection of the 2022 NBA Draft on Kansas shooting guard Christian Braun. He showed improvement in each season he was in Lawrence, going from 5.3 points per game to 9.7 to 14.1 in his final year. Braun shot 37-percent from downtown while improving his assist and rebounding numbers each season as well. In his final season, he averaged 34 minutes played per game. Braun will slot in as the third or fourth shooting guard/small forward off the bench playing behind guys like Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Bones Hyland. Braun should contribute as a solid role player off the bench netting 10-15 minutes per game to start the season.
Active in the Trade Market
The Nuggets acquired Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith from Washington in exchange for Monte Morris and Will Barton. This move likely wouldn’t have been done had Murray and Porter Jr. not been healthy enough to come back from injury as Morris and Barton were big contributors while their teammates were absent. Journeyman Smith has always been a solid role player wherever he’s played and Denver knows what they’ll get from him. Caldwell-Pope hopes to fire away like he did on the Pistons, Lakers and Wizards averaging 4.7 3-point attempts per game through out his career. Smith and Caldwell-Pope have experience playing together not only last season in Washington but in 2016-17 in Detroit as well.
Denver Nuggets’ Season Outlook
The Nuggets have the core they want in Jokic, Murray and Porter Jr. all healthy and playing together once again. Denver has the talent and experience to crack the top-4 in the Western Conference standings. but they’ll have to get past many other talented teams to do so. We wouldn’t be surprised to see this team in the Western Conference Finals this season. Jokic has already be re-signed to a 5-year $264 million supermax extension, so the team has shown that they are committed to winning in the very near future.
Denver Nuggets’ Projected Starting Five
PG: Jamal Murray
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
SF: Michael Porter Jr.
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Jokic
NBA Scores, Odds and More
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