Denver Nuggets: Isaiah Thomas, Kawhi Leonard and the West

Before we go dark on the Nuggets for two months, some commentary on their frantic summer and place in the West.

Let’s just get it out of the way up front:

The Denver Nuggets are the third best team in the West.

They will score points at an alarming rate this season.  Their defense will be suspect and the subject of many hand-wringing, anti-Malone memes.  The defense will be improved from last-season, though and improvement is all this team needs. Millsap playing a full season automatically moves that needle.

A small disclaimer; It’s possible that Murray, Jokic and Harris regress.  Injuries are always a possibility and a season-killer.  If everything goes like it has.  If the fortune the Nuggets found in the draft, free-agency and on the trade market continue, we are in for an unprecedented run in Denver.

Let’s unpack the rest of the story before the shift to Broncos camp and the Rockies second-half: