Nuggets 2015-16 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions
The Emmanuel Mudiay era begins now.
If that wasn't obvious when the Denver Nuggets made him the No. 7 overall pick in this year's draft, it became crystal clear when the team traded Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets for Nick Johnson, Kostas Papanikolaou, Joey Dorsey, Pablo Prigioni and a 2016 protected first-round pick.
In Johnson, Papanikolaou and Dorsey, the Nuggets added excellent depth off the bench to bolster their rotation (Prigioni was waived). In the 2016 first-round pick, they added another asset to build around Mudiay for the future.
Yes, they probably sold low on Lawson, whose value was diminished after he was arrested for a DUI for the second time this year in July. But it still wasn't a bad deal for Denver.
For new coach Mike Malone and new vice president of basketball operations Pete D'Alessandro, the rebuild was something of a slow one before the Lawson deal. Now, the team has fresh blood in the players brought over in that trade, while the Nuggets also re-upped Danilo Gallinari and Darrell Arthur.
Change was absolutely needed for the team that at one point was heard breaking the huddle chanting, "One, two, three...six weeks!" according to the Denver Post's Chris Dempsey. That represented the number of weeks left in the season and was a pretty clear indication that the team was starting to give up on the year.
The Nuggets ultimately finished 30-52.
Denver fans would like to think there is nowhere to go but up, no doubt, but that remains to be seen. With a new coach and several new players, there is going to be an adjustment period. It's little surprise, then, that Odds Shark has the team listed at 200-1 odds to win an NBA title. Only the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers have worse odds.
And so the rebuild to respectability all starts with Mudiay, and general manager Tim Connelly is excited to build the franchise around him, as he told Michael Lee of the Washington Post:
"It’s always good when you get a guy you can grow with and you can trust. Not just the game but who he is as a person, what he’s been through, his childhood, going to China, the injuries, sticking it out, coming back and making an impact in the playoffs. We’re not just excited about the player, we’re excited about the guy as well.
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Mudiay won't be alone, of course, as Kenneth Faried and Gallinari will give him solid running mates. From there, however, the Nuggets are a team of role players, which makes it hard to imagine them improving too much from their 2014-15 campaign.
Perhaps Mudiay and the fresh start will make all the difference, however. One way or another, don't expect any more chants counting down the regular season.
For the full schedule, be sure to check out NBA.com.
Analyzing Marquee Matchups
New York Knicks
First Meeting: Sunday, Feb. 7
This matchup is largely intriguing because of a report that emerged in July, per Marc Berman of the New York Post:
"Nuggets rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay told confidants after the draft he was, in retrospect, happy the Knicks passed on him at No. 4, as he was unsure he would have been a good fit for the triangle. Despite public comments to the contrary that he felt team president Phil Jackson could “make me a star,’’ Mudiay said he felt he was a better match in a more freewheeling Denver offense, according to sources.
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OK, OK, so that isn't a completely incendiary comment. It's hard to blame a guy for having preferences, especially based on the types of offenses he thinks he would work well in. And, to be fair, Mudiay didn't exactly come out and say it publicly, either.
Plus, he's right. Denver is a better fit than New York.
But come on, who likes learning that a player preferred a different team? And while Mudiay may have been happy to end up elsewhere, it has to burn him at least a little bit that the Knicks—and two other teams after them, as well—passed him by.
That makes this particular matchup at least a little interesting, wouldn't you say? The Knicks get to face the player they could have had who didn't really want them. Mudiay gets to face the team he didn't think fit his style but that also didn't think he was worth picking at No. 4.
Are we stretching here a bit? Maybe. But in the year of Mudiay in Denver, facing New York will nonetheless have its storylines.
Oklahoma City Thunder
First Matchup: Sunday, Dec. 27
If the Thunder can actually stay healthy this year, they'll be one of the top teams in the Western Conference and certainly the favorites to win the Northwest Division. And it's an especially important year in Oklahoma City, with Kevin Durant's free agency looming.
That means if the Nuggets are going to have any chance of winning the Northwest—a huge long shot, of course—they are going to have to go through the Thunder and Durant, Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka.
Even against a Thunder team that dealt with a ton of injuries last year, the Nuggets only went 1-3 against Oklahoma City in 2014-15. This year, the Nuggets will use the Thunder as a measuring stick to see just how they stack up in the Northwest.
Record Predictions
It's hard to imagine the Nuggets getting much better, but it's certainly hard to imagine them being any worse. Mudiay probably isn't an upgrade to Lawson in year one, but Mudiay plus Johnson, Papanikolaou and Dorsey is, at the very least, equivalent. The hope will be that a new coach in Malone gets a bit more out of the returning players and that Mudiay gives them a Rookie of the Year season.
It's a new day in Denver, and fans have the right to cautious optimism. The Nuggets aren't going to be very good, no, but they should be fun to watch, and a 32-50 record seems like a fair estimation of what they might be able to accomplish. There is enough veteran presence along with an infusion of young blood that at least last year's poor attitude shouldn't be an issue again.
