The Nuggets made 4 reinforcements to become the top team. Did the president deceive everyone by making confusing remarks?

In fact, before the summer window this year opened, most of the things surrounding the Nuggets were bad news.

At the end of last season's regular season, the Nuggets fired the meritorious coach Mike Malone without warning, which triggered a huge wave of criticism in the public opinion field.

Last season's playoffs, the Nuggets fought for two rounds of tiebreaks, but they were finally out of the semi-finals. In the seven games against the Thunder, Jokic, as the leading star, almost tried all his strength, and it was no exaggeration to describe himself as "burning out" himself, but his individual strong output could not change the team's tragic fate of failure.

Entering the offseason, the Nuggets senior executives came out to make a living for no reason. In an interview, President Kroenke Jr. actually hinted that the team can trade Jokic under certain specific conditions. Although later facts proved that his statement was taken out of context by the media, this confusing remark still had a considerable impact, and made the loyal supporters of the Nuggets increasingly worried about the prospects of the team...

However, all the worries and concerns completely disappeared two days after the player market opened... Through the 4 consecutive clever operations, the Nuggets have clearly upgraded their lineup strength, and the prospects of the team also became sunny after this efficient operation...

Among the 4 operations, the Nuggets sent Porter away for Cameron Johnson was undoubtedly the most surprising thing.

Although, judging from the data, Porter Jr. averaged 18.2 points, 7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season, with a three-point shooting percentage of 39.5%, which is comparable to Huang Zhong's 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and a three-point shooting percentage of 39%. But in actual combat effects, Lao Huang Zhong is obviously the one with more reliable output and more stable offense and defense.

Especially outside the three-point line, another set of data shows that last season, Huang Zhong's three-point shooting percentage exceeded 40% when receiving the ball, and he averaged 2.1 three-pointers in this way. Both indicators ranked in the top 10 in the league. But in this list, I didn't see the name of Porter Jr.

In this year's playoffs, Porter Jr.'s ups and downs also became one of the important reasons why he was sent away. Although Porter's state fluctuations can be attributed to injuries, in fact, putting aside the injury and lengthening the examination timeline, this ups and downs have long been exposed in a large number of games.

In addition, Johnson and Porter Jr. have two years left in the next contract, but the average annual salary of the former is 15 million US dollars less than the latter. The higher cost-effectiveness has also become an important reason why Huang Zhong can successfully replace him.

Bruce Brown's return is another news that excited the Nuggets' camp.

In 2023, Brown played a very important role in the Nuggets' journey to win the championship, especially on the defensive end, the improvement of the hardness and size of the backcourt of the Nuggets is quite significant. But after winning the championship in the summer of 23, Brown gave up the player option in the original contract in order to get a better salary and instead signed a two-year, $45 million long contract with the Pacers.

Unfortunately, Brown got a high salary, but also lost the soul of the game. In the next two years, he played for three teams, the Pacers, Raptors and Pelicans, but he never found his new position and even experienced the most confused days of his career.

Time is coming to the summer of 2025, and Brown no longer wants to delay for a second. He decided to return to the team that valued him the most and decided to re-prove his abilities in the critical year of his career at the age of 28... In order to return to Denver's arms, he never even considered the issue of treatment, but decisively accepted a veteran's basic salary. After Brown returns, he will reconstitute the double insurance on No. 2 with Braun. The Nuggets finally no longer need to rely on a starting lineup to play for the whole year...

At the No. 5 position, Jokic also has a more reliable substitute. Through the transaction, they exchanged the King for a double-double gate Valanciunas. Valan is 33 years old, but his output remains solid after moving to the Kings last season, especially when Sabonis Jr. was injured, he successfully played the role of the firefighter in the No. 5 position. After moving to the Nuggets, Valan's responsibilities became clearer. He only needed to share about 15 minutes of playing time in each game, so that Teacher Yo could get some rest and breathing free time. This single role was more conducive to his high efficiency...

In addition, 22-year-old newbie Dalong Holmes, who suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the summer league last year, will return to the roster after a year of rest. In other words, Jokic's substitute plan has already (at least) two in the center position in the future.

On the bench, the Nuggets are no longer in a hiring shortage. The reason why the Nuggets played so hard in the playoffs last season was mainly because they really didn’t have reliable bench players. In actual combat, the team relied on six people to hold on for a long time, and there were very few chances of Watson and Strauser being able to explode and shine later.

But with the addition of Hardaway, the situation will be completely different. Hardaway, 33, played 77 games with the Pistons last season, averaged 28.0 minutes per game, and scored 11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists. But it is worth mentioning that if Hardaway can get more roles, at the peak of his career, he will be a scorer with an average score of nearly 20+ per game. After entering the Nuggets' system, Hardaway Jr. only needs to concentrate on attacking in limited playing time, and his role is a bit like Reggie Jackson in the 23-year Nuggets championship season.

With the joining of the four powerful players, the Nuggets have basically bid farewell to the embarrassment of no one available outside the starting lineup. The only regret is that after the Nuggets' roster upgrade was upgraded, Westbrook became a victim of the team's blood exchange. All signs indicate that it will be difficult for the young and old to return to Denver next season...

Finally, the Nuggets' full strengthening further aggravated the tragic level of the Western Conference championship next season. In the new season, the Nuggets are likely to return to the top team in the Western Conference Championship. But around them, the Thunder, Rockets, and Mavericks are all eyeing each other, and the names of the Lakers, Clippers and Warriors cannot be ignored. In other words, outside the Nuggets, the future competitive environment is even more suffocating and cannot be relaxed at all...