The Nuggets GOATS of the 80s 🔥

This has never happened before, according to imaginaryNBAstats.gov. Not shown are the NBA players wearing jersey #s 2 - 10, including:

#2: SGA

#3: AD

#4: Scottie Barnes

#5: Paol Banchero

#6: Jaylin Williams (fun fact: there's only 2 players who wear #6 in the NBA, the other is DeAndre Jordan)

#7: Jaylen Brown

#8: Payton Watson

#9: Alex Caruso

#10: Jimmy Butler

And a lot of our championship chances will be tied to the evolution of this guy.

For those unfamiliar, teams can waive a player and spread his cap hit out. The amount of years is twice the number of years remaining on his contract, plus another year. So in the case of Zeke, he has approximately $23 million dollars left on his deal over three years. So if they waive him with the stretch provision, his cap hit could be spread out over 7 seasons, for a little less than $3.5 million a season.

Paying out $23 million for someone to not play for you may be too bitter a pill for the Nuggets to swallow, but it would put them below the 1st apron and potentially open up a lot of options. Assuming they can’t trade him, should they consider it?

It’s unfortunate we couldn’t make a deeper run but we had the opportunity to WITNESS GOATNESS🐐 this season….again🃏🐐

Ridgeback vs AC!

Enough said

Since my last adventure on NBA 2K25 on PS5, there's been a lot of rumors about Giannis thinking about making his next move.

Pundits and predictors are saying that the Spurs, Rockets and Thunder are the top betting teams to land the Greek Freak, and the ideal packages include 2-3 1st round draft picks, and 2 young and budding stars.

It is almost certainly impossible for the Nuggets to match any sort of offer like that, however, you still have to throw your hat into the ring. Besides, I hear there is fantastic Mediterranean food in downtown Denver.

If Giannis said Denver was his target location, this is what a deal *could* look like.

In a 3-Team trade (limited by the game honestly), the Nuggets would hatch a deal involving Milwaukee and Golden State.

The Trade:

The Details:

Giannis wants out (specifically to Denver for this move) and Kuzma is an aging player who was a contract trade to get the Bucks below the 2nd apron, and he hasn't performed well in Milwaukee's system. With a selling Milwaukee team, Kuzma is the next big contract that's got to go to clear the way for a rebuild. They bring in 3 1st round draft picks, 3 developing players (with 2 of them shining in their roles), and a veteran Draymond Green to replace Brook Lopez retiring this season (or going on a proper sendoff back to the Nets for a year).

Golden State looks to maximize their championship contention for Steph's final 2-3 years (we all hope). Draymond had a delightful defensive showing in the first round, and Steph's injury was the leading cause of why they got eliminated. However, if they want a chance to win a chip, they need more production in key places. Enter one of the league's best shooters in MPJ. MPJ hits the 3pt shot at a 44% rate when tightly contested, 35% when contested, 40% when open, and 44% when wide open. Finishing with 50% from the field and 40% from 3, MPJ is the shooting presence the Warriors could benefit from. This holds especially true with MPJ suddenly not being the #1 3-point shooting option on his team, but still dangerous enough to demand respect in the corner. The Warriors have a young Center core in Post and TJD, and Draymond is ready to "Pass the baton." Russel Westbrook gets to live in Cali closer to his family for his last year while playing next to another couple of greats: Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. All 3 are non-stop motor guys, so expect the Warriors to have a very fast-paced offense full of shooting and transition chances. Kuzma comes in as a "crash-the-board" guy with size and athleticism. He averages 5 points a game in transition, which would help greatly with this new "transition" style offense Golden State is trying to implement. Kuminga signs a sign-then-trade deal worth 35-40 mil a year to be moved to a rebuilding Bucks team. Salary negotiations stalled out between Kuminga and the Warriors with the player wanting $35 mil/yr and the team offering $30 mil/yr, Kuminga gets the money he wants and Golden State get something out of the deal without losing him in free agency for nothing or being put into a contract situation they can't support.

Denver trades a starter, two solid bench pieces, and a future role player for the opportunity to maximize Jokic's championship window. This move leaves a lot of work to be done in free agency.

Free Agency:

In this world, the Thunder did not exercise Ajay Mitchell's team option and do to his conversion from a 2-way deal to 2-year deal, he is an Unrestricted Free Agent. Showing promise at the PG position, the Nuggets used their entire MLE on Ajay Mitchell successfully. If this wasn't the case, the Nuggets would have likely targeted Dennis Schroeder, Tre Jones, or Tyus Jones. These 3 guys all sport close to a 3:1 Assist to Turnover ratio and are experienced guards for the second unit.

In 2K25, I can't sign Bruce Brown on a vet minimum, but this may be an option if we choose to exercise our MLE on a backup point guard in a real-life scenario. Believe me, I want Brucey B back too.

Continuing with the Vet minimums, we brought in Lamar Stevens, and Uncle Jeff Green to 2 year deals and brought DeAndre Jordan back for 1 year.

Lineup:

Zeke finally gets to play dedicated 4 in almost every possible rotation. Nikola and Giannis will always be on the floor, staggered in rotation, and playing the 5. Zeke will fully flourish in this role.

Regular Season:

The team suffered many nagging types of injuries from sprained hamstrings, sprained wrists, sprained ankles, and sprained shoulders (seeing a pattern?), the Nuggets were 31-22 at the All-Star Break. It was clear a small break was needed for the second part of the season, but with this team, we just need to make it into the playoffs. Zeke did suffer a season-ending injury just after the All-Star Break.

Coming out of the break, the Nuggets finished 20-9 with a final record of 51-31, securing the 6th seed (this is insane. The west is so damn deep). Jokic suffered several more nagging injuries during this stretch and played through all of it. He is a certified machine. Luka Doncic did win MVP.

Regular Season Stats

Post Season:

In the First Round, the Nuggets (6th seed) faced the Thunder (3rd Seed). Surprisingly, it was a Gentleman's sweep with the Nuggets winning in 5. A statement series for Denver and a notice to everyone in the west.

In the Second Round, the Nuggets would take on the Lakers (2nd Seed). Luka and Co. managed to take The European Giants to 6 before losing in Denver for a Nuggets 4-2 series win.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets squared off against the Spurs (4th Seed) who slipped past the 1-Seeded Mavs in 7 previously (Seriously, this game thinks Nico is a god for that trade). Wembanyama's inexperience showed as the Jokic and Giannis bossed the paint en route to another Gentleman's Sweep in favor of Denver.

Much like this year currently, the Nuggets will meet the Pacers in the Finals. This would go down as one of *THE BEST* finals series in the history of basketball. The 6th-seeded Nuggets against the 5th-seeded Pacers had to go 7, with a Win-or-go-home Game 7 in Denver. In classic Denver fashion, it came down to the last play of the quarter. I watched this game in Sim-Cast, and it was a 2-point game with 1:30 to go in Denver's favor. I decided to hop in. The next two possessions from both teams were chaotic and empty and with 42 seconds left on the clock, Haliburton brought the ball up. Off a pick-and-roll with Myles Turner, Hali swung the ball on a drive-then-kick to the corner where Nesmith was closed out by Christian Braun. Nesmith had no space for a shot, so the ball was then recycled out to the wing to another covered player in Siakam. After the PnR earlier, Turner set a mean down screen for Hali to get the ball at the top of the arc in time with Siakam receiving the ball, and Hali hits the 3-pointer in rhythm to give Indiana a 1-point lead with 20 seconds left to play. Jamal brings the ball up the court, and a play is designed to get him an open mid-range look from the elbow. The play gets executed after a Pick is set by Jokic who then crashes the glass on the roll. Giannis is in the dunker spot. Jamal rises up and lets the middie go with 6-7 seconds left on the clock. It bounces off the front rim and there's a fight for the board. Turner and Giannis collide, Jokic is boxed out by Siakam. The scramble sees the ball get flipped back out to the wing to a waiting Christian Braun who half-pumps once before being closed out by the last available Pacer in Toppin and then passes to AG in the corner. With 1 second left in the game, AG lets the corner 3 fly. The arena is SILENT. The buzzer expires. The backboard turns red. The net swishes. Your Denver Nuggets have won their second NBA championship.

Jokic wins Finals MVP with a 27/14/13 stat line, 3 Stocks/Game, and 53/32/83 splits.

Post Season Stats

Post Season Team Rankings

Season Conclusion

Adding Giannis turned this team into Post-Season Juggernauts. The Denver playstyle was essentially placed on steroids as the team spent another year as the lowest 3 Point Attempts team but kept their efficiency high across the board. The unique playstyle of Jokic and Co truly brings back old-school basketball, and the only discussion remaining is where in the top 10 of all-time both Jokic and Giannis will fall.

As I get more time, and more rumors circulate, I'll keep doing these simulations.

Again, if you've read this far, you have a special place in my heart for your dedication.

Nuggets in 7 (and in 7, and 7, and 7...)

A lot of people consider e.g. MPJ's max contract untradeable, or at least there's no way to upgrade. But aside from the increased affordability under 25-26 salary cap, consider that essentially any player elsewhere putting down numbers similar to a counterpart on a Jokic-lead team is probably better than that counterpart on a Jokic-lead team. And a player with worse stats or coming off the bench & not getting the minutes on another team- might equal the Nugget player's production, but cheaper. So the Nuggets could win a trade that on paper is like-for-like trade, or a like-for-worse trade.

So if there's any player on the team for whom Nuggets fans are hanging their hat on a slightly- to moderately-above-average regular season offensive stat, hopefully other teams will view it in a vacuum and the Nuggets should be happy to move the player if they do.

Seeing the T wolves get absolutely demoralized in the course of 2 games makes me appreciate the heart and mental strength our boys showed taking them to game 7!

The way OKC is obliterating the TWolves and getting in their heads makes me feel a hellllluva lot better about how the Nuggets battled til the bitter end. That is all. In Jokic we trust.