This is the BEST Nuggets Team We’ve EVER Seen

This is the BEST Nuggets Team We’ve EVER Seen

Yo, what’s going on y’all? It’s Con and the Nuggets look insanely dominant to start this season. They are 10-2, one of only five teams to ever win nine of their first 12 games by double digits. And they just beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is not something the Nuggets are usually capable of doing. That is their one big kryptonite, but they did it tonight. They’ve looked amazing so far. This is easily the best Nuggets team we have ever seen. Of course, they won their first championship a few years ago. This team I feel is absolutely better for a number of reasons. The first one is Joic is playing at a new level. It feels like somehow every year Joic, who is already one of the best to ever play the game, levels up in a new way. And right now he’s having the best start to a season he has ever had. After a few slow games to start the year, he’s putting up 28.7 points a night, 13 boards, 10.8 assists, while shooting 67% from the field, and 42.6% from three. That is a 76.9 true shooting percentage, which is not only the highest true shooting percentage by a player averaging 25 plus points per game ever. It’s the most by a lot. The second highest mark is Kevin Durant from I think it was 2022 2023 who averaged above 25 points on 67.7 true shooting percentage, 10.2 points below. He is having one of the most efficient volume scoring seasons ever. In fact, if it keeps going this way, it might just be the most. I swear I don’t think I’ve seen Joic miss this entire season. It doesn’t matter what the defense is. It doesn’t matter if he’s on one foot, two feet, fading away, turning around, getting pushed over, wide open. Like, it doesn’t matter. Joic is making literally everything. And of course, the big thing has always been like, “Oh, do we try and make him a score and take away the playmaking?” You can do that. But Tyron Lou specifically said that’s what the Clippers tried to do a couple days ago. And he put up a 50 bomb. One of the most efficient 50 bombs ever. In fact, I think it might have been the most. So that doesn’t work. And of course, you know, you can set a double, but he’s an elite playmaker that has more weapons around him than ever, and he’s finding them in exactly the spots that they need to be. They have built out this unbelievable roster around Jokic. And I like their off seasonason a lot. I felt like they did a good job to elevate this squad. But we’re seeing it live. It’s highlighting his strengths. It’s allowing him to kind of pick and choose, okay, this night, do I playmake a little more? Do I score a little more? He’s able to adapt his game because he is one of those players. He’s a basketball chameleon to whatever his teammates need. And his teammates now in turn are more able than ever to adapt their games and do what needs to be done to aid Nicole Joic. For example, the team’s really been holding it down defensively. like this squad. You don’t typically think of a team being able to build an elite defense around Joic who’s never been a great defender. He’s had some uh pretty solid games, some really good stretches. He’s got good hands. Like there are good defensive traits, but he’s not this elite rim protector like a Rudy Goar or something like that. They’re a top two defense in the NBA. They’re second. And if you’re not counting the Oklahoma City Thunder defense, which is literally unhuman and maybe the best we’ve ever seen, they’re number one. I would not have been able to tell you that that was going to be the case for the Denver Nuggets. And I think that the improved pieces are part of that. I also think David Adelman is just a really good coach. The scheming has been great. Uh the way that they’re changing up coverages, the way that he’s utilizing the personnel on this roster, everybody’s just kind of communicating. They’re in the spots they need to be. Are they actually the second best defensive team in the sport? I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s going to hold. But I do think at the very least they are a good defensive team. And you combine that with this offense, which is also top three. They’re the only team in the league top three in offense and defense. That in and of itself makes you not just a championship contender, but one of the favorites in the NBA that goes along with a net rating right now for them of 13. They have a 13 net rating. That would put them, I think, third best of all time, only behind last year’s Thunder and the 96 Bulls. Like the Nuggets, sure it is early in the season. It’s not the biggest sample size, but still they’re doing this impossible type of stuff. And a lot of it, even if some of the absurd numbers don’t stay at the heights that they are, feels very replicable. Like they can do this on a night innight out basis. And of course, like I said, Joic playing his best basketball. I mean, I’m a Thunder fan, but I’ll tell you right now, like Joic is probably the MVP with the numbers that he’s putting up and how good this Nugget team has been. Uh, but it’s not just him. It is like Jamal Murray who’s giving them 22 a game, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.2 dimes. The playmaking continues to get better to the point where I think Jamal Murray is a really underrated playmaker at this point and he’s not even shooting that great like 45.6% from the field and 34% from three. I think that number is going to climb and if it does we’re going to see more scoring output from him. They’re going to need a little bit more because Christian Brown is now out for 6 weeks with an ankle injury. So, he’s going to have to scale up a bit. But, we’ve seen Jamal Murray do that. And if he can play like this and elevate the way that he has in the past in the playoffs, that makes them even more terrifying because this Jamal Murray Yogic twoman game is still one of the most lethal in the sport. In fact, it may be the single most lethal. And it feels like it’s only getting better as these two players improve and their teammates are more capable around them to open up extra, secondary, tertiary options outside of those pick and roll actions. Like Aaron Gordon, I can’t believe we’re in the timeline where Aaron Gordon is one of the most lethal shooters on the planet. 19.9 points per game. We’ll round it up to 20 for him. Six boards and one and a half assists. Shooting 53% from the field and 47.4% from three to go with 89% from the line. He’s just under 504090. And Aaron Gorn is shooting a good number of threes a night. He has become a decent volume automatic shooter. It’s crazy. I never would have seen that coming over there in Orlando. It always felt like, you know, maybe he could be capable, but to reach this point where you physically cannot leave him open for even a second is mindblowing. And when you have a playmaker like Joic, an amazing scoreer like Jamal Murray, it just creates this unbelievable big three between the three of them that is so synergistic that just clicks in every way you would want offensively. Plus, of course, Aaron Gordon is a solid defender, too. And then we have to talk about the additions they’ve made to this roster. Tim Hardaway Jr. is averaging 11 points per game on 46% from three on five and a half attempts a night. He’s a kind of guy that they really missed last season, a volume three-point shooter. They really could have used someone like that in the series against Oklahoma City. Now they have him and again they’ve got great players like one of the best passers ever in Jokic to find him on open shots. Uh Bruce Brown is giving them six and a half, four and a half, shooting 46% from the field and 42% from three himself. Not crazy volume, but he’s been capable and is giving them a good defender. Vionis Valenunis, who I wasn’t that high on compared to some other people when it came to his signing, but he’s been pretty good. 8.7 points, five rebounds, 56% shooting. Uh the team is vastly worse with him on the court than off the court, but that’s because of course he’s replacing Nicole Joic. And even still, when he’s on the court, uh their net rating is just a -2.3, which is like a 19 drop off, which again speaks more to Joic. But the fact that they aren’t like this deep negative when Joic is off the court is a big win for the Nuggets because a lot of time throughout the Jokic tenure that has been the case. If Joker’s not out there, they kind of suck. Now they’re not fantastic, but they’re not like the worst team in the world. And that in and of itself is a very valuable asset. Really, the only guy that they brought in that’s been bad has been Cam Johnson, which is shocking because that’s the piece I felt the best about. Uh, but he’s just putting up 7.2 2 points, shooting 37% from the field and 21.1% from three. And he’s getting good looks, which is both encouraging and concerning. Encouraging because he’s been such a good shooter throughout his career that it’s really hard for me to think that he’s just going to be terrible. One of the worst shooters in the league the entire season, especially with this good of looks, but also like, you know, we’re 12 games in. It’s not a lot, but it’s a decent sample size now to the point where even on these wide open looks, he just can’t seem to hit them. It feels like he’s trying not to step on people’s toes. He doesn’t quite know where to be. I figured it would take some time for him to get integrated into this offense to really feel comfortable after a couple years playing in Brooklyn where like there’s no expectations. He’s just being asked to be one of the top guys, a top option. Now he’s like the fourth option on any given night. And with the way he’s playing right now, more like a seventh and eighth option. I still think he’s going to turn out to be a good player and they need him to by the time they reach the playoffs. to beat Oklahoma City and win the finals, they’re going to need a better version of Cam Johnson, but I also think that will come at some point. I don’t anticipate he’s going to be this bad all year. But it is one thing to note of slight concern with this team. And then Christian Brown also after last year taking a bit of a step forward and you know he earned a huge payday this summer has been really bad shooting the basketball 21.4% from three is giving them about 11 and a half four and a half and three. Like I mentioned, he’s now up for six weeks with an ankle injury. And hopefully when he comes back from that, he’ll look more like the Christian Brown that we’re used to that did show shooting improvement last season. But that is at least one note of concern with him, too. Uh but honestly, I mean, none of this has mattered. If anything, it’s a testament to how much higher it feels like the Nuggets can go because they’re already putting up these historic numbers. They’re decimating teams left and right. and their biggest pickup of the off seasonason. Cam Johnson, a guy that made the Nuggets like unanimous winners in most people’s eyes when it came to this summer, is not playing very well. In fact, he’s playing terrible. And Christian Brown, who was pretty good last year, has also been bad. Like, it feels like those two guys are probably going to figure it out. And if they do, I don’t like I don’t know what you do with this team. Like, I’m just picturing what I think will eventually be the Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and this Nuggets team. And it’s going to be some of the best basketball we’ve ever seen played. one of the best defenses ever and an offense that is also climbing up steadily. A team that’s been dominant without an allNBA all defensive player in Jaylen Williams and this Nuggets team led by one of the best to ever do it in Nicole Joic going up against one of the other best to ever do it in Shaggel just Alexander. Uh and now you’ve got more weapons alongside Joic who was a sevengame series last year but now the Thunder have more experience and hopefully they’ll be healthier with JDub’s wrist and of course Chad Homegrren now not coming back from a hip injury and he’s looked better and the Nuggets you know Michael Porter Jr. had that shoulder thing and Aaron Gorm was doing with the hamstring. Like if we got a series of these two teams at 100% strength, it it’s like maybe the peak of the sport that we have seen so far. And I hope that’s the case. I think that’s the series we eventually get because they’ve been definitely the two most impressive teams in the NBA so far. To me, as a Thunder fan, the top threat to the Thunder repeating is the Denver Nuggets. It’s them. There are other teams that I think are really good, but Denver to me is the clear squad. If it’s not going to be the Thunder going back to back, it is going to be the Denver Nuggets. When you give Joic this amount of weapons and he’s playing at this level, it’s really hard to imagine any team beating them. Like the Thunder are playing like one of the best teams ever. And I’m sure there would still be many people who would lean the Nuggets in a series because of what they’ve showcased so far. And I can’t wait for their first eventual matchup, which isn’t until February. And hopefully by that point, they are both back at full strength. And that is going to be Mussy TV. I can’t wait. But yeah, this Nuggets team has been unbelievable. And I thought they’d be. I picked them to be second in the West. I picked them again to go to the Western Conference Finals and go up against the Thunder. And they’ve lived up to that billing and even more. I didn’t think they’d be this good defensively. I definitely wouldn’t have told you they’d look this good overall or offensively with Cam Johnson struggling the way that he has. But it just hasn’t mattered because they’ve got so much talent. They’re really well coached. They are deep. It’s an unbelievable squad and they’re led by one of the greatest players ever who currently is on pace to win another MVP award in Nicole Yic who somehow keeps taking steps forward as a guy who is already considered by many to be maybe the best offensive player to ever play the game of basketball. So, those are my thoughts on the Denver Nuggets. It’s not even a conversation that this is the best Nuggets team ever. Uh, let me know what your thoughts are on them. Uh, do you think the defense is for real? What do you think about Cam Johnson? Is Yokic your MVP right now? All that type of stuff down below in the comments. Let’s run through the rest of the games pretty quickly. There’s not a lot to say about this slate. Uh like we had the Lakers knocking off the Bucks 119 to 95. Dominant effort. The Bucks kind of made a bit of a comeback after being blitzed in the first half, but Luca Donic and Reef slammed the door. Luca with 419 and six. Reeves with 256 and 8. Uh they were both phenomenal continuing to step up in the absence of LeBron James. Speaking of LeBron, James, Bronny actually started in this game but only played nine minutes of two shooting. Uh not really a lot happening there. But DeAndre Aton 20 and 10, he’s been really good as of late. Giannis at 32 and 10, but really nothing else outside of him. Uh the shooters kind of got going and that’s how they got back in this game, but it was just it was too little too late because they were so bad in the first half on really both ends. The Thunder knocked off the Hornets in dominant fashion, 109 to 96. Uh just another 30 and under 30 minutes for Shay, 334, 7-2. Chad had 25 with eight rebounds, two assists. He has been so good this season. I still cannot believe there are some people that tried to tell me that Chad was overpaid with his extension this summer. And that’s just stuff that people that don’t know the sports say. Um the defense was stellar. AJ Mitchell had 14. Uh for the Hornets, Ryan Calbrer continues to play really, really solid as their big uh one thing I didn’t mention also is Jokic is on pace to have the best two-point field goal percentage ever. Only passed up right now by Ryan Calbrer who’s shooting like 80% from uh two. Actually, I can check the number. 84.7% from two. He really doesn’t miss the height. Uh he gives him a really solid rim protector. I’ve been impressed as someone who wasn’t like super high in him coming to the draft. I wasn’t low, but I wasn’t, you know, thinking the most of him. Um but yeah, I mean, they just got kind of clamped up by a really good defense. They shot well from three, but there was nothing going on in the paint for this Hornet squad. Uh the Raptors win another game knocking off the Pacers who are now 1 and 12. Oh my gosh. Uh but yeah, the Raptors have looked really good as of late. They definitely do a video. Hold me to that. But 22 from RJ Yaka Purle. Uh, you got a 14 point 11 rebounds, six assists game from Scotty Barnes, 19 from Brandon Ingram. Mamu had 12. He’s been such a good offseason pickup. I liked a lot of what he did last year in San Antonio. And I did feel like he flew a bit under the radar as a new backup big for the Raptors. He’s been awesome, but this is a really talented team. Uh, they’ve looked really good as of late. Again, they’re definitely OD video. Uh, and then for the Pacers, I mean, it’s just it’s crazy how how bad they’ve been this season. Like, I know they’re injured, but it’s just a completely different team. They really miss, of course, Tyres Hallebertton. really miss Benedict Mattherin. They really miss what Miles Turner brought to the table as that rim protecting and stretch shooting big. Uh it’s just a team that’s decimated and ultimately it’s going to be good for them in my opinion because they’re going to get one of the top picks. They’ll again be one of the front runners to make the finals next year with a little bit of reshaping of the roster with whoever comes in whether it’s AJ or Darren Peterson or Camboozer and you add Hallebertton back. But there, you know, they’re going to have to bring in a new center. I don’t know who that’s going to be but they’ve got to find somebody. But the way that this front office has built up this team, I feel confident they’ll be back next season. And ultimately, I think being as terrible as they are is going to be really good for them. It’s them, the Wizards, and the Nets all still with one win. But actually, the Nets and the Wizards play tomorrow in the Ultimate Tank Bowl. I cannot wait. And finally, the Cavaliers knocked off the Grizzlies in a comeback win. Grizzlies cannot catch a break. John Morant leaves this one again with an injury. Jiren had 26, but shot six of 23 from the floor. And for the Cavs, the comeback was mostly led by Donovan Mitchell who scored or assisted on basically every basket down the stretch. A decent game from Evan Mobley 2213 and four. Jared Allen at 16. No, Daryus Garland again in this one continuing to rehab from his injury. But yeah, I mean the Cavs really couldn’t afford to lose this one. I might start to get a little bit worried. In fact, I’ve been a little underwhelmed still. Like there were a a couple games here and there we’ll mention in these recaps. Hey, the Cavs are looking a bit more like the Cavs. I was expecting, but then there are games like this where I really don’t feel like they should be down for a majority of the game against this decimated Grizzlies team, never mind when John Morant leaves with injury. Uh, but I guess, you know, Garland definitely makes a difference. I think once he gets back and he’s fully healthy and in the lineup all the time, they’ll look better. But the Cavs have not been as convincingly good as I was expecting to start the season. But those are my takeaways and my thoughts from the NBA today. Let me know down below in the comments. What were your takeaways? What are your thoughts on the Denver Nuggets or any of the teams that played? Just anything in general. Leave like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future videos. Hype the video, too, because I always forget to mention that. Um, but yeah, I appreciate y’all. I’ll see y’all later. Re say back.

The Denver Nuggets have looked dominant to start this NBA season with Nikola Jokic playing some of his best basketball, Jamal Murray stepping up, Aaron Gordon continuing to improve, and despite Cam Johnson and Christian Braun not living up to expectations. They are setting franchise records, beat their nemesis the Minnesota Timberwolves, and feel like they’re on a collision course with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic again on a collision course for the MVP award. Even though the Nuggets won the 2023 NBA championship, they’re better now.

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0:00 – Intro
0:31 – Is this the best Jokic has ever been?
2:51 – The defense is actually great
4:17 – Jamal Murray has been awesome
5:10 – Aaron Gordon is elite now
6:00 – The offseason pickups are cooking
7:16 – Cam Johnson has been disappointing
8:25 – So has Christian Braun
8:58 – They still feel far from their ceiling
9:21 – Nuggets vs Thunder would be cinema
11:39 – The rest of the NBA games
15:34 – Outro