Substitute lost 8 points and 16 points! The Nuggets reinforcement effect is not good! It may be difficult for Jokic to win the championship

The new season of the NBA preseason kicked off in full swing. After offseason operations, the competition in the Western Conference has become fierce. From the perspective of paper strength, no one with the ability to challenge the Thunder, including the Clippers, Nuggets, Timberwolves and Rockets, has the unique strength. But after the preseason starts, the defending champion Thunder is still strong. He rests in the first round with eight major rotations and plays the Hornets in the third quarter; in the second round, 11 people were off against the Mavericks, and once lags behind by 32 points, but in the fourth quarter, he can still catch up with only 6 points. After winning the championship, the young man's self-confidence improvement is subtle. On the Lakers, Doncic and James have been on standoffs for a row, and the Lakers have lost consecutively. Although the two core players affect the team's offensive efficiency, the probability that the Lakers expect this group of people to defend the lower limit of the defense in the new season is almost 0!

The most surprising thing is the Nuggets. Last season, the Nuggets ranked fourth in the Western Conference in the regular season. After the playoffs started, they played 14 games in two rounds in 29 days. They eliminated the Clippers in the first round in the first round, and Westbrook made a contribution; they were eliminated by the championship Thunder in the second round, which is a bit regrettable, because there are only 6 people with the team who have the ability to play, and 4 of them are injured and fought to the point where they are out of ammunition and food! During the offseason, Westbrook jumped out of the player option and prepared to test the attitude of the free market. The Nuggets reacted quickly and immediately sent Porter away in exchange for Cameron Johnson. In addition, they signed Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, traded to Valan and sign Holmes one after another. The roster was soon full and quietly closed the door to Westbrook! Judging from the predictions of major US media, the probability of the Nuggets winning the championship is among the top three in the league!

But what about it? In the first two games of the preseason, the Timberwolves were in the first game, and the Nuggets finally lost 10 points. Win or lose is not important. After all, the Timberwolves did not play the core Edwards and Randle and played seriously with you. It doesn't matter if the starter loses on the court, because Jokic is not serious either; the embarrassing thing is that the Nuggets substitute (the main rotation lineup of the new season) lost 8 points on the court. You should know that the lineup of the opponent's Timberwolves is basically the one who cannot play in normal rotation in the new season. In a game, it was biased. In the game, the Nuggets narrowly won 4 points, with an average of 15 points on the starting lineup, and an average of 5 points on the third lineup. The Nuggets' lineup was poor and lost 16 points on the average! What is the level of strengthening the entire offseason?

With Westbrook's departure, the main bench rotation of the Nuggets' new season is as follows: Bruce Brown and Hardaway Jr. digest most of the ball (of course, Jokic and Murray will lead respectively), Valan continued the strength of the frame guard, Strauser and Najib provided the impact force to open up the space. The imagination is indeed quite beautiful, but the most embarrassing thing is that in these two preseason games, the Nuggets' connection is like a stagnant pool, and everyone is fighting for their own. Even in the battle with the Raptors, the Nuggets made a total of 31 mistakes, from Bruce Brown to Valan, from Strauser to Pickett, anyone who gets the ball is used a few times. You should know that the opponent is the Raptors! To follow this trend, if you can't wait until the playoffs, the Nuggets will likely start to give Jokic strength at the end of the regular season.

This summer, Jokic originally had the ability to complete a three-year, $200 million contract extension ahead of schedule. The Nuggets management was ready, but Jokic himself refused. In his own words, he doesn't want those things at this stage, he just wants to strive for the championship. He plans to stay in the Nuggets forever, and this is his answer. According to salary regulations, Jokic can sign a maximum salary contract of US$277 million for four years next summer, that is, based on the existing contract of 55.22 million + 59.03 million + 62.84 million (player options), the new contract covers player options in the first year, with salary: 61.75 million + 66.69 million + 71.2 million + 78 million US dollars respectively. First of all, Jokic's performance in the past five years is worthy of the title of No. 1 in the league, which is naturally worth this price.

But it is really difficult for him to win the Nuggets! Former general manager Booth is a leader of random actions. He broke up the lineup when he wins the championship, forcibly pulls out the seedlings and promotes growth, pushing young people to the top. As a result, in more than two years, only one Brian has gained a foothold. The key point is that he also gave Murray a 4-year, 208 million super maximum salary. The Nuggets' operation red line is also the first luxury tax line. In addition to the four starting players, Jokic + Murray + Gordon + Johnson, the remaining salary that the Nuggets can use is enough to make up for the basic salary. Then from another perspective, if a free agent really has a market situation, he will become willing to get a basic salary? This is true for Hardaway, and so is Bruce Brown. Valan was in a state of emotion at the beginning and was unwilling to come to the Nuggets, but eventually surrendered by the pressure of the contract!

Jokic has enough lower limit to lead the team and has proved himself to lead the team to win the championship in 23 years. But in the current lineup, he still lacks helpers because Murray's contract is too premium. In addition, after Westbrook left the bench engine, the Nuggets quickly closed the door. Unexpectedly, the two preseason games, the authenticity of these new players was tested. Of course, this is just the beginning of the new season, and they have plenty of time to run in and produce chemical reactions. But after Westbrook left, the Nuggets lacked a catfish that could muddy waters, and no one on the bench could do this. In essence, in the playoffs, the people who can use the Nuggets bench are at most Hardaway Jr. and Brown. What is the difference between this and the previous two seasons? It may be really difficult for Jokic to stay in the Nuggets and win the championship again!