Denver Nuggets First Preseason Loss: 3 Questions

The quick, easy answer is:  No.

Denver’s young star quartet hasn’t been particularly consistent in the preseason.  They haven’t exactly been inconsistent, either.

It’s complicated.

The question should be asked, though, in our frenzied wait for the start of the season, we’ve elevated these young men to heights normally reserved for Denver Broncos’ players.  We got cheated out of them in last season’s mad dash to the playoffs with Gary Harris’ injury.  Before that, with Millsap out, Will Barton’s role was that of a jack-of-all-trades, so we’ve seen little of Barton in a consistent role.

Jamal Murray is equal parts exciting and frightening.  The league always has a fresh crop of Murray-like guards that seem long on potential but never seem to get over that streak-shooter hump.  This is the season that Murray should show us which way his star is shooting.

It’s not just Murray, this is an important season for all of the Nuggets big three.  There needs to be a graduation to 20 points-per-game for two of the three.  They need to go from intriguing, young players to solid NBA starter designations at the minimum.  Jokic should push for an All-Star nod.  Harris and Murray are capable but the Western backcourts are stacked and the big names aren’t quite ready to relinquish the stage.

So the question is whether Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris are overestimated by Nuggets fans.  Of course we are, that is inevitable.  What these guys don’t appear to be is overrated.  With six days until the season, the answers are just around the corner.