The NBA offseason is nearly done after two months, as teams wrap up their final trades and signings. It's time to assign grades to each NBA team, division-by-division, to see which teams aced the offseason and which needed some tutoring before making all their moves. Next up is the Northwest Division.
Denver Nuggets | Grade: D Players in: Russell Westbrook (G), Dario Saric (F/C), Da'Ron Holmes II (C) | Players out: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (G), Reggie Jackson (G), Justin Holiday (G) Denver stumbled in its title defense last season in part because of a lack of depth. That situation only got worse this summer as they lost starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic as a free agent, because the team was unwilling to pay the luxury tax involved with giving KCP a big raise. Caldwell-Pope shot over 40% from deep last season while acting as the team's top defensive stopper, huge for a team that was last in the NBA in three-point attempts.
His replacement, Russell Westbrook, is only going to make that weakness worse. The Nuggets added Dario Saric in part because first-round pick Da'Ron Holmes II tore his Achilles tendon in his first Summer League game. But with KCP, Justin Holiday and Reggie Jackson all departing, coach Michael Malone will be forced to reply on unproven young players like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther.
That's a dangerous gamble to make just to save money when Denver has reigning MVP Nikola Jokic still in his prime. Minnesota Timberwolv.