Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the threats in the Western Conference
No.5) Denver Nuggers
The Los Angeles Lakers must not overlook the Denver Nuggets. The Denver Nuggets went from just missing the playoffs two seasons ago, to securing home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs over the entire Western Conference, excluding the Golden State Warriors. That just goes to show the progress that the Denver Nuggets have made and continue to make. The Nuggets didn’t make any drastic moves to acquire new players to add to their roster and that’s probably because upper management realizes that the team simply gets better with time.
Nikola Jokic, who is the franchise’s centerpiece, is just 24-years-old. Just like his team, Jokic has improved every season. He averaged 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists last season, and there’s no reason why he wouldn’t improve on that this year. Jamal Murray was the team’s second-leading scorer this past season and he’s just 22 years of age. Like the team and Jokic, he also gets better every season.
The Nuggets just missed the Western Conference Finals this past season by losing a Game 7 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, the Nuggets will add a healthy Michael Porter Jr. and an athletic forward in Jerami Grant to their already extremely deep rotation.
Nuggets are extremely well-coached, young, and seem to get better each and every season. Denver will be in the mix of teams finishing with the best regular-season records this season, meaning the Lakers may have to adjust to playing a mile high in order to surpass them.
The Nuggets will be a true threat in the West, but not for the Lakers. Jokic is highly skilled and one of the league’s best big men, but he struggles defensively. That’s a plus for the Lakers because they have Anthony Davis, who’ll be able to dominate Jokic on the low post offensively and probably defensively, too.
The Lakers have worlds more experience than the Denver Nuggets do, which although may result in a lower regular-season seeding, will benefit the Purple and Gold come playoff time. Not to mention, LeBron James would feast on any of the guys that would potentially guard him.