2022-23 NBA Season: Denver Nuggets Offseason Recap And Season Preview

With Nikola Jokic winning back-to-back MVP awards and both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. returning from injury, can the Denver Nuggets be real championship threats in the Western Conference? Here’s what Denver did this offseason in preparation for the 2022-23 NBA season.

Only 13 different players in NBA history have won the league’s MVP award in back-to-back seasons and Nikola Jokic just so happens to be one of them. At 27-years-old now, Jokic has changed the way the league looks at centers and he is coming off yet another MVP season in which he averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

All-in-all, going 48-34 with Jokic claiming another MVP award was not a bad season whatsoever for the Nuggets, especially given that both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. missed either the entire or almost the entire season.

However, expectations within this organization are high right now and everyone on this roster believes that the Nuggets can contend for a championship. They may have flown under the radar this offseason, but the Denver Nuggets made a lot of different moves this summer to potentially set themselves up for a lot of success this year.

Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon are just a few of those that remain from a season ago, as the Nuggets have reshaped and revamped their roster with a ton of new, proven talents that can elevate this team to contention status.

“We are definitely very happy with where we are at as a team in terms of our roster,” Denver Nuggets assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis told Fastbreak on FanNation in an exclusive interview. “I feel like we got better, we got stronger and more defensive-minded, so we are definitely happy about this roster.”

With Murray and Porter Jr. returning from injury and Jokic playing at the highest-level possible, could this be the year that the Nuggets finally break through in the Western Conference? Denver made a handful of moves this offseason and each one could be very important in terms of them being a team that can contend for a spot in the 2023 NBA Finals.

NBA Draft: Christian Braun (21), Peyton Watson (30), Ismael Kamagate (46)

When you look at the draft the Denver Nuggets had as a whole, it is very clear to see that the mindset was finding young, versatile players that can contribute in multiple ways.

Their first pick in Christian Braun fits this depiction perfectly and Balcetis acknowledged this as well, stating that Braun “is one of the tougher kids from this draft class.” From being a three-point shooting threat to being a terrific on-ball defender, Braun is definitely a rookie who could wind up seeing some time throughout the course of the 2022-23 regular season, possibly becoming a key, versatile “do-it-all” type of player for Denver.

In Summer League, Braun ended up playing in a total of four games, averaging 11.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 30.4 percent from the floor.

Christian Braun with some BOUNCE ⬆️

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As for Peyton Watson, he is not as “NBA-ready” as Christian Braun, but the upside he possesses on the defensive-end of the floor is something that caught Denver’s attention. “He has shown flashes of being polished offensively, but right now defensively, he can already guard at an NBA level and he has All-Defensive potential at this level,” Balcetis said of Watson.

The Nuggets were presented with options in the second-round of this year’s draft and while they could have pursued someone who could possibly fill a two-way roster spot, they instead went with Ismael Kamagate, a “draft-and-stash” option that presents a ton of long-term potential.

Kamagate is only 21-years-old and was already named the 2022 LNB Pro B Best Defender with Paris Basketball. Having a 7-foot-3 wingspan, the young French center is definitely a long-term building block that the Nuggets will look to add in future years for depth behind Jokic.

This draft was all about looking towards the future for Denver and they accomplished everything they had set out to do. They got a guy in Christian Braun who can do a little bit of everything, they got a lengthy defender in Peyton Watson who still has a lot of untapped potential on both ends of the floor and they added what looks to be a high-level defensive big man in Ismael Kamagate.

Maybe they did not get the immediate help they were in need of entering the offseason, but the Nuggets addressed these needs following the draft in free agency.

Free Agency/Trades:

Re-Signed: Davon Reed (2yr/$3.96M), Vlatko Cancar (3yr/$6.82M)

Additions: G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Trade - WAS), G Ish Smith (Trade - WAS), Bruce Brown (2yr/13.28M), DeAndre Jordan (1yr/2.9M)

Departures: G Monte Morris (Trade - WAS), G Will Barton (Trade - WAS), G Facundo Campazzo (FA), Austin Rivers (FA - MIN), C DeMarcus Cousins (FA), F JaMychal Green (Trade - OKC)

Losing Monte Morris and Will Barton leaves some big holes to be filled on this roster, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith and Bruce Brown are three key additions that instantly give the Nuggets more overall depth and experience around their stars.

Caldwell-Pope is a player the Nuggets have had their eyes on for quite a while now and he has produced on both ends of the floor on every single team he has been on. The 29-year-old wing is coming off a year in which he played in 77 games and averaged 13.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game on 39.0 percent shooting from three-point range.

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are both terrific passers, making Caldwell-Pope someone who could realistically lead this team in three-point shooting during the 2022-23 season.

The reason Ish Smith is a great addition for this franchise, besides the fact that he brings 12 years of experience with him to Denver, is because the Nuggets are “all-in” on Bones Hyland having a massive second season in the league.

Not only will Smith be a terrific mentor for the young guard, but he will be able to stabilize this backcourt when Murray is not in the game. For his career, Ish Smith has posted a very respectable 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio, making him a great replacement for both Austin Rivers and Facundo Campazzo in the backcourt, two ball-handlers Denver did not bring back from last season.

Coming over from the Brooklyn Nets, Bruce Brown is another one of those “do-it-all” types of players that really does not have a set role in this league. He has proven to be a really strong rebounder even though he is only listed at 6-foot-4, he can score in the paint, he can play virtually any position and best of all, Brown has proven to be able to hold his own defensively against taller, stronger players in this league.

Getting tougher, smarter players was the main goal of the Nuggets this offseason and they got exactly that with the addition of Bruce Brown.

Even someone like DeAndre Jordan is a good pickup for this team simply because of the fact that he is a former All-Star talent that understands his role as a backup late in his career. Jordan was one of the better centers in the league in his prime, which makes him a great leader and mentor in this frontcourt alongside Nikola Jokic.

Nobody is talking about the Denver Nuggets and the offseason they had, but when you compare them to everyone else in the league, the Nuggets truly did make some of the best moves out of any other team this summer.

2022-23 Season Outlook:

The Denver Nuggets have made it to the Western Conference Semifinals three of the last four seasons and they have not had less than 40 wins in a season since the 2015-16 season. Head coach Michael Malone has this team constantly trending upwards and assuming they can be fully-healthy this year, the Nuggets truly have what it takes not only to post 50-plus wins, but potentially win the Western Conference.

Nikola Jokic has won the MVP award in back-to-back seasons and this may not be the best of what is to come for Jokic in his career, especially since he is only 27-years-old!

When Jamal Murray suffered a torn ACL at the end of the 2020-21 season, he was playing at an All-Star level and for years, the Nuggets have had a belief that Michael Porter Jr. can be one of the better wing scorers in the entire NBA.

These three alone have the capability to take the Nuggets deep into the postseason and now, they finally have a well-balanced roster that can play on both ends of the floor.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith and Bruce Brown are all key additions that will make a difference, Bones Hyland is in store for a massive second season in the league, Aaron Gordon can finally be the No. 4 option on this team, giving him more and better scoring opportunities, and the team still has young talents who could step into big roles in Zeke Nnaji, Christian Braun and Davon Reed.

The Nuggets have everything they need to make a championship push and the expectations for this team should be to finish as a Top-3 team in the Western Conference during the regular season.

What happens in the playoffs is yet to be seen, but do not be shocked if the Nuggets are representing the Western Conference in the 2023 NBA Finals when all is said and done.