No team has repeated as NBA champions since the Golden State Warriors did so in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, and the teams that have won it all since have somewhat disintegrated after claiming the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Just 18 months ago, the Denver Nuggets won it all with an impressive starting five that was led by dominant center Nikola Jokić, and at the time, it was thought they were about to start a dynasty.
But they lost in the second round of last season’s playoffs, and they currently hold a mediocre 11-9 record and are only in eighth place in the Western Conference.
Jokic, the three-time league MVP, is averaging a triple-double and putting up the best numbers of his career right now, but he isn’t getting enough help, which led Bill Simmons to complain about Jokic’s lack of support.
Simmons also sounded the alarm about Denver’s prospects moving forward as a result, and he even claimed that no top-15 player has ever had less help from teammates than Jokic, per SiriusXM NBA Radio.
“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel for this to change,” Simmons said.
“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel for this to change.”@BillSimmons sounds off on the lack of support Nikola Jokić has in Denver.
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While Denver is a very solid offensive team so far this season and leads the NBA in fast-break points per game, their defense has been mediocre and their rebounding is lackluster.
When they won it all two seasons ago, they weren’t a defensive juggernaut, but they were strong on the boards.
Offensively, the one player on their roster who needs to step things up is guard Jamal Murray, their second-best player.
He’s shooting just 42.0 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from 3-point range in 17 games this season, as opposed to the 48.1 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from downtown he shot last season.
The good thing for Denver is the immense parity across the Western Conference, which means they could be a step away from returning to title contention at some point later this season.
