How to Build the Perfect NBA Team | The Incredible Denver Nuggets Title Run

finally the long wait is over after 47 years the Denver Nuggets can finally call themselves NBA champions the work is over you can go home now this is a long trip I think you deserve it and some Golden State Warriors send Jokic and the Nuggets away but what is being put out there is largely facetious and is having no impact on this game and Murray is depressed and hurt, oh my god his first thought was man are they going to trade me? It's over, Denver's chances of making the finals are ruined. Nicola Jokic, let me be clear, is a great player, but he has been elevated to a place where he has no business being one.

Nicole gets no respect, the Nuggets get no respect, I get no respect, who cares? I told you that Nicola Jokic is the best basketball player in the world. What would you say? I'd say duh Akola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets won it all overseas in the mid-2010s. Three-point shooting took over the NBA in an instant. the valuable players on a

team

were those who could shoot superstars and the league champions were almost universally guards and wings, the concept of

build

ing around center was laughed at and the idea of ​​doing so seemed to be a strange concept of the past, for Once it became clear that the Denver Nuggets were being built around Senator Nicola Jokic, many fans raised an eyebrow: He was going against the grain, defying the league rules that had been put in place, but everything about the roster of the Denver Nuggets 2023 championship was questioned and underestimated by the superstar who made everything possible for the rookie sitting at the end of the bench, many of these players had experiences of being ignored by other

team

s, basketball fans or the NBA media, that It's what makes their championship so sweet that they may not have been the flashiest names, but their roster had fantastic depth, strong coaching star power and a winning mentality, the Nuggets weren't always like this, although Once they were in an irrelevant franchise with talks to even relocate them away from Denver, now they are perhaps the most feared team in the league with an iconic championship ring under their belt, how did they overcome the obstacles that were presented to them and what were the moves? that finally led them to the promised land for a time?

When I thought about number 15 in Nuggets history, it wasn't Nicola Jokic. who came to mind, but Carmelo Anthony was drafted to a struggling Nuggets franchise in 2003 and helped them get all the way to the Western Conference Finals in 2009. Unfortunately, what should have been an era remembered for winning early It deteriorated and became full of drama. Melo requested a trade. He left Denver in the summer of 2010. He wanted to

build

on the Conference Finals team of the past; instead, Mello felt Denver was looking to rebuild and wanted none of that. The Nuggets finally granted him his wish, trading him a few months later in February. 2011.

For years after this, the Nuggets could never find anyone to replace the soft Superstar shoes they traded for Andre Iguodala in 2012, but after a disappointing playoff exit, he bounced to the team that beat them, They tried to put all their apples in the basket of Danilo Gallinari and Ty Lawson, but injuries quickly put an end to that idea. What was left of Melo's Fallout in iguodala's game was a team that was in the worst place imaginable, too good to get a high pick and too bad to get anywhere in the playoffs. It was NBA purgatory and the Nuggets were right in the middle, fortunately for Denver, their phenomenal 2014 draft quickly sent them from a team in the land of nowhere to a team with a purpose.

The Nuggets left this draft with Yusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris and Nicoli Jokic Nurkic. and Harris were excellent picks who would become solid starters, but no one remembers the 2014 draft for these two. This class is known as the Nicola Jokic class because with the 41st pick, Denver changed their luck forever, they selected Joker and it all infamously happened during a Taco Bell commercial, at the time when he was seen as a big man more overseas, there were tons of questions about his physical intangibles and his appearance, which caused him to slide down in the draft, as we all know, although Jokic ended up making his critics look like lame jokes, but the Nuggets.

They were unaware of the prize they had earned yet for now they would be in an awkward rebuilding phase which took place during the 2014-15 season they won only 30 games the lowest win total they have for the foreseeable future the highest pick they have ever received in a Nikola Yokochera draft he was seventh, making his rise to a contender even more impressive. Denver spent a considerable amount of energy on the roster development side and it paid off, not everyone recruited to the team was a success story. although in the 2015 draft with the seventh pick they chose point guard Emmanuel Moodier Moodier had a promising rookie season but never moved beyond the role player stage.

He was traded about three seasons into his career, the real trick during the summer of 2015 was the signing of a key figure who would stick around for years to come. Michael Malone Malone had been fired by the Sacramento Kings after just a season and a half, But what had been grass back then was that it wasn't Malone's fault that he couldn't save the king's franchise, no one could. Malone brought stability and leadership to an organization that needed it and became one of the longest-serving coaches in the game. League. The 2015-16 season saw the introduction of two rookies for Denver, the aforementioned more moody and then-obscure Nicola Jokic Jokic had played overseas during the 2014-15 season and did well by winning the Adriatic League MVP, a sign of things to come.

Jokic showed flashes of greatness in his rookie campaign, finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting and quickly went from looking like an auto-generated 2K Player on the court to a fan recognized as having Elite potential. Jokic made a handful of mind-blowing passes and his play emerged as his best play. A center being a great playmaker was unheard of and the fact that Jokic had such a feel for the game at only 20 years old was amazing, but if you ask most non-Nuggets fans during this time who he was Yokic, they looked at you like you had three heads, he wasn't even a consistent starter on his team and many valued his teammate Yusuf Nurkic over him at the end of the day Denver finished with 33 wins in the 2015-16 season thanks to the exchange of Carmelo Anthony from the past, the Nuggets had the right to trade with the New York Knicks in the draft, the seventh pick was once As a result, the way was again opened for them and this time they did not make a mistake: they chose a player who would become Irreplaceable for the franchise.

Jamal Murray Murray was seen as a strong scorer and shooter at the University of Kentucky, but the way he played was seen as a big question mark was whether he was a true point guard, many were so doubtful on defense that they called him a traffic cone. as if jokingly. There were questions about whether he could survive the physicality of NBA defenses, but Denver was never afraid to take risks in the 2016-17 season. That's when the Nuggets began to turn heads around the league. Denver's rise to the top was not a huge leap that occurred in one season, but rather it was a slow and steady race to the finish line for rookie Jamal Murray, although his career began with an accident, he opened his career in the NBA missing its first 17 shots, leaving many in Denver scratching their heads.

Did they just write up another flop instead of Murray letting this shake his confidence? He worked even more on his game after averaging a point per game in the first four games, he turned things around by averaging 13 points and 50 three-pointers in the next 10 games. Murray turned his critics into believers and finished with a modest 10 points per game on the season. Jokic was stellar and also increased his scoring to 17 per game. With 10 boards and, most importantly, five dimes, the big guy could pass and he was starting to gain a large following who admired his unorthodox playing style.

The Nugget saw the potential in him and decided to make Jokic a permanent starter on December 15, 2016 in place of Yusuf Nurkic. too long after nurkic was traded to Portland as he had requested out, this was when Nicola Yokachera officially started in Denver, it didn't take long for the winds to start building after starting the season 14 and 23, they finished with a record of 26 -19. finishing with 40 total wins, one would initially think this would give them a playoff appearance, but they fell just one game short of achieving that goal. Overall, the Nuggets figured out their team's identity going forward, it was time to continue building and they did just that in the summer of 2017.

What few fans know is that the Nuggets actually drafted future star player Donovan Mitchell 13th overall in the 2017 draft but traded him to the Jazz for Trey Lyles and Tyler Lydon, they were absolutely fleeced in this trade and it could have been a mistake that set their team back years, the Nuggets however were different and they continued to push forward in free agency, signing Paul Millsap, waiving Mason Plumley, who was welcomed to the Nurkic Steel, and bringing in Monte Morris and Tory Craig in two directions. contracts, these were all solid editions, most specifically Morris and Craig, who became valuable rotation pieces for this team out of nowhere.

Denver had a nose for finding Scrappy talent that the league had abandoned and much of its vaunted depth came from its elite Scouting, while the Nuggets made a leap in the 2017-18 season, the long-sought playoff target remained. out of reach. The team largely won 46 games, yet another season of Joker salesmen, now ranked among the stars. -Names full of great men like Anthony Davis or Joel embody, yes, the debates between these two that would plague the NBA media began here in the 2017-18 season. Jamal Murray also saw a massive jump in his points per game, going from a measly 10 to 17.

His efficiency increased dramatically, going from 33 from center to 37. Complementary pieces also began to shine Will Barton Wilson Chandler and Gary Harris They were integral players to the team's success, but this season is only remembered for one thing by Nuggets fans, how the last game of the season ended was between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the winner made the playoffs, it was the original game, everything was on the line and the Nuggets lost in yogic overtime and Murray did his best but Jimmy Butler and Carl Anthony Towns outplayed them, all great championship teams face adversity before coming out on top and this was Just another example, but this loss would not only fuel the Nuggets, but would make them think deeply that the front office soon decided that this would be the case.

They turned their attention away from trying to land role players and focused on chasing stars in the 2018 draft, they had the 14th pick and selected Michael Porter Jr out of the University of Missouri. To call this a pick bet would be an understatement. Porter Jr had been defamed. with back injuries during his high school and college seasons jeopardizing his playing career, but risk-taking was in the Nugget's blood, they saw his impeccable offensive play when healthy and felt that to justify this selection would not play her rookie season due to a previous back injury, but this selection was an investment in the future, she would become the third star awarded.

A year in which the Nuggets went from missing the Playoffs to advancing to the second round, but why not their squad? It's not that different from the previous year, so what was the change really? The change came from within in the summer of 2018. Extensions were given to Nicola Yogi Will Barton Monte Morris and Tori Craig. All of these players would make leaps in their game with the most significant thing being none other than Jokic himself. Finally Jokic, the man with the keys to the franchise, was an All-Star with an average of 20 points per game, seven dimes and 11 rebounds.

He had a great season becoming one of the best 15 players in the league. Nuggets fans had to pinch themselves every time he was on the court to go from an unknown 41st pick to this was unbelievable and he was still only 23 years old. Jamal Murray had also established himself as Joker's undisputed sidekick who dazzled viewers every night. with a scoring average of 18 points per game around these two it was ridiculous depth it was poison for the selectors you want accurate shooting then choose GaryHarris how about the ball handling then Monte Morris an offensive stroke Malik Beasley this well-constructed roster achieved 54 wins in the Second seed, they beat the Spurs by seven in the first round and even an extremely close loss in the second round against Portland Trailblazers in this series.

Both teams fought tooth and nail and three of the seven games were decided by raw points, the most heartbreaking L of Nicola Jokic's Nuggets era up to that point coming in game seven, where the Blazers barely survived and grabbed Portland's W. CJ McCollum scored 37 points decimating the Nuggets defense with his ridiculous jumpers into the Nuggets' box. The score of this game makes you cringe. Jamal Murray especially struggled in this key shooting game. Just 4 of 18 from the field. Paul Millsap also shot just 3-13, while Jokic was 11-for-26 from the field. It was a missed opportunity like nothing else in the Western Conference.

A Finals appearance was on the line and the Nuggets had not stepped up when needed. A long summer awaited them and they decided to accumulate even more depth. The versatile and athletic Jeremy Grant was the main piece acquired in July 2019 for the first time. More rounded out of this, although the Nuggets were once again quiet in terms of trades and free agency talks, but they didn't need anything else. Denver had finally tasted the bitterness that comes with playoff defeat and they wanted revenge. What followed the cell was their best playoff run in a decade for the Denver Nuggets franchise in 2020, achieving playoff success was almost as rare as seeing Ben Simmons hit a three-pointer, it didn't happen often, their runs in the 2009 Conference Finals with Carmelo Anthony were immortalized simply because it had been 24 years since they last got there in 2020, it had been torture. 11 years since Denver reached the Conference Finals, but finally, in the most abnormal environment imaginable, they triumphed over all the skeptics and got there.

Their streak included two 3-1 comebacks, the first team to overcome that deficit twice in a regular-season postseason. For the season, Denver took third place with 46 wins in 73 games. Michael Porter Jr made his long-awaited introduction to the team playing 55 games and averaging 9 points, showed flashes shooting 42 percent from downtown and having a surprisingly polished offensive game for the rookie. On the other hand, Jamal Murray was highly regarded as a top-tier combo guard, although he didn't get the same recognition as his Crime teammate Jokic, who had now been vaguely mentioned in MVP conversations. Murray had made no All-Star Game appearances up to this point.

Momentum and frustration were building on Jamal's side. How did scoring close to 20 points per game on one of the best teams in the west not get more recognition from the media and fans? Murray soon realized that the best way to prove himself was to perform when the light shone brightest in the playoffs in which he dominated the Denver Nuggets had a historic playoff run in the 2020 postseason that took place in the bubble in the They overcame a 3-1 deficit to the Utah Jazz in the first round, initially falling 3-1 in large part due to the ridiculous performances of the Jazz's Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell had two 50-point bombs in the first four games looking like an unstoppable monster, He pushed Denver to the ropes by hitting them with a lethal blow in the fourth game losing 51 points. and going up 3-1 at this point many believe the Nugget's season was dead, then Jamal Murray happened in the next two games Murray dazzled scoring 42 and 50 points in games five and six each time the Jazz seemed to be clawing. On their way back, Murray hit them with a dagger to the chest in Game 7, Denver's main player changed from number 27 to number 15. Joker had an

incredible

game dueling the opposing defensive threat.

Rudy Gobert efficiently scored 30 points with 14 rebounds, including a slew of clutch buckets down the stretch, Denver had survived completing the 3-1 comeback. Both Murray and Jokic had played stellar ball and this comeback was not only impressive but reflected their mentalities quite well rather than giving up when the going got tough. Although the Nuggets stayed focused and rallied, the heavily favored LA Clippers were their next opponent and, like Utah, they jumped ahead early and also took a 3-1 lead. Why did Denver like to take the hard way and make it so difficult? Who knows? At first they seemed to be down and beaten again in game five, through three quarters the LA Clippers led by as many as 13.

Kawhi Leonard looked like a well-oiled machine, while Jokic and Murray looked exhausted. This could have been For the Nuggets, it would have gone down as another forgettable postseason exit, but something changed once the clock rang in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets flipped a switch as the Clippers fell into a pit of foreign misery combined for 20 points in the quarter beating the Clippers. and overcoming the double-digit deficit, this victory shook the Clippers to the core because the next two games were comfortable losses in favor of Denver. Murray and Jokic continue to dominate with Jokic purchasing 34 in game six, while Murray scored 40 in game seven.

They officially arrived emerging as an Unstoppable Duo on one of the most important stages in basketball. This was the launch party for the Denver Nuggets. They had just come back from a 3-1 lead, surprising the LA Clippers again, but this

incredible

level soon turned into a discouraging level. The Los Angeles Lakers took over Denver and five in the Western Conference Finals, it was a close series. But in the end, the eventual champion Lakers defeated the talented Denver with their star power. It was a disappointing ending, but overall, the Nuggets had a lot to be proud of.

With this streak, these playoffs put Denver on the map. The team may not have been able to win it all in 2020, but 2021 looks like a promising year to finish the job. What could go wrong at first. Everything went

perfect

ly for the Nuggets in the 20 20 21 season. Nicoli Jokic took his game from great to incredible becoming a legitimate MVP candidate once he took control of the number one spot in March 2021, never letting it go towards his first MVP award in an overwhelming vote. Jokic averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds. and eight times a game he Not only was he widely considered the best center in the world, but many had begun to wonder if he was the best player in the league.

Michael Porter Jr continued to build on his rookie campaign by exploding to 19 points per game when he was just 22 years old. he shot 44 percent from downtown and appeared to have killed his back injury. Hell of the past, the Nuggets also built up their roster a bit by fleecing the Orlando Magic in a deal to acquire Aaron Gordon on March 25, 2021 with the departure of Jeremy Grant in the offseason AEG was a fantastic replacement Gordon would soon become a

perfect

piece in Denver's championship core after the All-Star break the Nuggets got hot with an eight game winning streak everything was looking up for them this would be the year they made it to the Champions League unfortunately the Nuggets soon They would discover that nothing is guaranteed in sports on April 12, 2021 Jamal Murray tore his ACL on a drive to the basket in just one play the future of the Denver Nuggets changed forever not only did this injury leave the Nuggets out of the competition for the current season, but it would also negatively impact the following season.

After that, in the blink of an eye, Denver's championship hopes had been completely crushed. Panic Rose in the air, what if Jamal Murray would never be the same after this? injury, what if Nikola Jokic got frustrated by the lack of help from him and walked away from him? What if this was the beginning of the end? Yogic was able to keep his team afloat and take them all the way to the second round, but they were rocked by the Phoenix Suns. In the sweep, the MVP may have been a nice consolation prize, but now Nikola Yokochera's future was thrown into doubt.

The 2021-22 season for Denver not only sold out Jamal Murray, but Michael Porter Jr was also bitten by the injury bug. behind him only nine games left in his season before it really began the second and third options for Denver had been erased in an instant leaving joker alone for many viewers this would be a frustrating season for the Nuggets, but in reality that was when Jokic really He established himself as the savior of the franchise, put the team on his back, became a true leader and led them. Denver won 48 games, exceeding the expectations placed on them, while Nicola Jokic had his best season, but you can't downplay how bad the Nugget roster was.

Outside of Jokic this season, the team went 2-6 without him and was destroyed by opposing teams when he was benched, many superstars in Yogich's position would have shrugged and given up, but Joker was different. , showed how committed he was to the city of Denver this season with ridiculous numbers and getting wins, he was rewarded for his efforts with his second MVP, but not all funny stories end with success, the Nuggets were destroyed by the Warriors in the first round of the 2022 playoffs, further highlighting how limited the team was without its stars it was a depressing series yogi was ejected in the second game and was sacked from the court by Draymond Green in the third game he was stripped by the greens almost The Nugget's season ended in game five.

Steph Curry put them to sleep. The agony of defeat had hit them once again. The Nuggets board looked in the mirror and knew that they could not continue disappointing their Superstar. They signed him to a five-year Max extension in the summer of 2022 and immediately went to work. The first was the draft in which the Nuggets had the 21st pick. Having a pick like that included in a draft class is usually a toss-up, but the Nuggets chose a player who would directly help their championship by taking out Christian Brown, a cutting defender of the University. of Kansas was chosen who would surprisingly evolve into the best version of himself during the 2023 Finals.

The offseason for Denver outside of this featured two moves that would prove to be extremely valuable. First they made a fantastic signing by bringing in Bruce Brown. Brown had shown flashes of being a solid role player in Brooklyn, but ultimately failed to put the three together and the D-wing was looking for a place to establish his name in the league by signing a two-year short-term contract with an option to player in the exchange. World Denver resigned. two pieces that had stayed with the teams from almost the beginning Monte Morris and Will Barton were sent to Washington in exchange for the infected Caldwell Pope, a former Lakers champion, kcp as Brown was trying to remind the league who he was after having a quiet and forgettable stin as a magician, was another great move, kcp would be a key contributor to the team.

These two additions, along with the health of their other stars, made Denver an incredibly built team, but if you looked at any major sports media publication, Denver was seen as an outsider in terms of championship talk, so what did click? How did they defeat their doubters and win the 2023 championship? The reality is that anyone who was surprised by Denver's success in the postseason had not paid attention to them in the regular season, they won 53 games. the fifth most of any Nuggets team and they had the West locked up from late December onwards, they were ranked number one without interference from the rest of the season Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr recovered well from injuries that still they had left.

The offensive strength they were known for in the past, key players such as the controversial Caldwell Pope, Bruce Brown and Aaron Gordon, also stepped up providing excellent shooting and two-way defense. Nicoli Jokic did the Joker thing as usual, averaging nearly a triple double and finishing second in MVP. When voting, many say he deserved his third consecutive championship, but if you ask Jokic himself, he doesn't care at all about his approach and the team's approach was to capture the Nuggets' first championship in franchise history and they did it in a way so simple that it surprised even their biggest fans before the 2023 playoffs alerted NBA analysts seemed to be sold on any other team, but the Nuggets chose the Sixers Celtics Bucks or Sons to win with many favors in the offer from the Giannis swarm, since the players who would appear in the playoffs no. jokic, but if there is any feeling that Denver had felt comfortable withover the years, it was that his teammates underestimated him, whether it was their top superstar recruited by Taco Bell in Jokic or their second choice in Murray, who had suffered one of the worst injuries in the NBA only to recover or their third star In MPJ having his basketball career in jeopardy due to back injuries, all these doubts about his team were nothing new, but in the end, when they took care of business, all the uncertainty was gone.

They evaporated and not only won but ate the other teams' breakfast in the first round. They took care of the Minnesota Timberwolves in five immediately. Jamal Murray made his presence known in these playoffs by averaging 27 points per game on 60 percent shooting. real shots in the playoffs Marie was something and rose to the occasion just as he did in the bubble yokic, owner of multiple-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert, also coincidentally averaged 26 12-9. Round 2 was the closest series the Nuggets played in. their championship run and met the hungry Phoenix Suns, the sons had just put together two intimidating big men in Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and many flat-out predicted that Phoenix would defeat the Nuggets even though Book and KD were averaging 30 each. .

Yokich's 34-point double triple stat line In this series it was too much for them, the Nuggets stomped the Suns, beating them in six and each victory was decisive. At this point, Nicoli Jokic had established himself as a flawless player in the playoffs, unlike other stars, he had always risen to the top. occasion in his career and never choked when his team needed him to. With the series tied at two, the Nuggets destroyed Phoenix in games five and six, clinching the series. Victoria, they had barely beaten the children publicized in a spectacular way. The Denver Nuggets had made it to the Conference Finals once again, ironically, since in 2020 they will play the Los Angeles Lakers, this time they had the last laugh in a clean sweep.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James were surpassed by Nicola Jokic and Jamal Murray, but Denver's depth and three-pointers. The entire team's shots guided them to the finish line. Denver had five players shoot above 40 percent from downtown in the series led by the Jokers. 47 percent three-point shooting. It was an amazing level of play by the MVP and his supporting team, the Nuggets. he took care of La in four, banished them to Cancun and took revenge on the bubble. Nightmares of the past. They earned their first Finals appearance as a franchise on a dominant 12-3 run in the three rounds in the West at this point.

Denver's critics had gone silent as the inevitable began to become clearer. They were so good that this strong game would continue all the way to the finals if the Nuggets, to little surprise, dismantled the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in five. It was a finals that was criticized by casual fans for being too boring due to the perfection with which Denver executed its game plan, three of the Nuggets' four wins were stress-free, while the only loss in the second game was a close battle that came down to Jamal Murray missing three in the Horns fans soon discovered that the Nuggets were simply better than any other team in the league. the offense flowed more smoothly and efficiently than any other team, they had more weapons and their best player was unconscious in games one, three and four, the Nuggets simply outplayed the talented Miami, often building a sizable double-digit lead and refusing to let it go, which made this team so special how in every game a different guy stepped up in the third game.

It was rookie Christian Brown of the ball people who played well. He scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting, picking apart the Heat's defense by cutting him in game 4. Bruce. Brown and from the bench they scored 21 points on 8 of 11 field goals with three three-pointers defensively Aaron Gordon did a fantastic job defending Jimmy Butler limiting the Superstar to inefficient numbers in addition to all this third option Michael Porter Jr had a terrible performance In Finals for many teams, their third star playing so poorly would kill them, but the Nuggets had so many options that it didn't matter at the end of Game 5.

Game 5 went down to the wire with the hard-fought Heat refusing to give up, but the defense of Denver won. This fight with Kentavius ​​Caldwell scored the steal that will live in Nuggets history forever. This Jimmy Butler turnover all but destroyed the Heat's momentum and Denver soon shut it down as their first champion in franchise history, Nicola Jokic, was appropriately named Finals MVP. at its finest given the fact that many believe Yokic was robbed of his third consecutive MVP just a few weeks earlier, but Jokic got the MVP that really mattered, establishing himself as one of the great centers of all time, it wasn't just that Denver will win it.

Everything except how easy they made it look, their streak was on par with some of the great historical teams, they went 16-4, never faced elimination and won most of their games. My double digits, some shout that they only played low ranked seeds in their championship. Chasing, but that's why getting the number one spot in today's game is so valuable. They played against those in front of them and dominated their opponents. They are all results of the excellent roster construction by Tim Connolly and Calvin Booth, the two executives who oversold this team. The board rarely complained at the draft.

They always treated their stars with respect and made forward-thinking changes that would pay off. They didn't panic when Jamal Murray got hurt. They invested in players the league had given up on and Aaron Gordon Bruce Brown. Monte Morris Tori Craig spoke with Caldwell Pope, the list goes on and on, at the center of it all is a superstar who played center, a position that was abandoned in the mid-2010s when Denver committed to Nicola Jokic in that faithful day of December 15, 2016. They were taking a leap of faith: every other contending team at the time was led by elite guards and wings.

Choosing Nicola Jokic, Serbia's plump 41st pick, to be the savior and leader of the franchise was a risky move that many felt would explode in his place. They clash, but his trust and belief paid off and there is no player in today's game that the Nuggets would have preferred to lead their franchise. This 2023 team did what so many other Nuggets contenders couldn't for 56 years before and that's finish the job for it. These players will be immortalized in Denver Nuggets history forever.