Those two years of instability, however, have given way to what appears to be the foundation of the next contender in the Mile High City. Former Kings coach Mike Malone has come in and steadied the ship — which was helped by Denver finally shipping Ty Lawson out of town during the offseason. The Nuggets had no problem moving on from Lawson because they used the seventh pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to take Emmanuel Mudiay, who looks like he could be a future star at the position.

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He is just one of many young players with promise on this roster, including fellow rookie Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, Will Barton and Jusuf Nurkic, not to mention remaining veterans like Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried. Combined with the possibility of up to four first round picks in this year’s draft (and the overwhelming likelihood of at least three), it’s a mix that gives Denver a very promising stable of young talent to build around moving forward. After the instability of the past two seasons, solid footing is a nice change of pace in Denver.

2016 draft picks

First round: Their own or the Knicks, whichever is better. Denver also gets Portland and Houston’s picks if those teams make the postseason, and gets Memphis’s pick if the Grizzlies do not.

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Second round: Charlotte and Oklahoma City’s picks.

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2016-17 salary cap space (with projected $90 million cap)

$24.1 million (Nine players for $55.6 million; non-guarantee for Joffrey Lauvergne for $855k; player option for Darrell Arthur for $2.9 million; five draft picks for $6.5 million)

2016 free agents

PG D.J. Augustin, SF Mike Miller

Five questions to answer

1. What is Kenneth Faried’s future?

Faried is a unique test-case for where the game is going today. Faried played for Team USA in the 2014 World Cup and has a very reasonable contract for the next three years ($12 million next season, followed by $12.7 and $13.4 the two years after that).

But Faried also has plenty of holes in his game. He is an energetic presence on the court, but his size (he’s listed at 6-foot-8 and under 230 pounds) makes it difficult to play center defensively against bigger opponents. Meanwhile, his offensive game is limited, making it impossible to use him as a stretch-4 (he’s attempted one three-pointer this year, and is 1-for-12 in his career), which is where his size would make him the best fit moving forward.

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So does Faried have a future in Denver? That remains to be seen. The destiny for this team would seem to be a fast-paced approach featuring Danilo Gallinari operating as a stretch-4 next to rookie Nikola Jokic, with Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris in the backcourt and joined by another wing that can defend and shoot three-pointers to space the floor. Faried would be an interesting fit as a piece off the bench, but would he be willing to do that?

2. What does Nikola Jokic’s emergence mean for Jusuf Nurkic?

Last year, the Denver Nuggets had a rookie center that was impressing people around the NBA, and looked like a long-term part of Denver’s rebuilding plan.

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This year, the Denver Nuggets have a rookie center that is impressing people around the NBA, and looks like a long-term part of Denver’s rebuilding plan.

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The first center was Jusuf Nurkic, and the second is Nikola Jokic. And Jokic’s emergence this season has prompted the question above. In a rookie class full of standouts, Jokic is likely the leading candidate — or at least should be — to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis. He’s averaging 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists per game, all while shooting over 50 percent from the floor and just under 35 percent from 3-point range. Nurkic has become the backup center, averaging 7.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in 15 minutes per game — perfectly respectable stats, but without the same level of offensive efficiency and versatility Jokic possesses.

So what do you do with two centers? Denver has tried to play them together on a very limited basis (14 total minutes) with no success (minus-12 points). The Nuggets could just keep them both, and ideally get strong center play for the vast majority of every game. Or, in the most intriguing scenario, they could move on from Nurkic, using an asset that doesn’t have as much value to them to get one that could help them more — likely either a stretch-4 or another wing to play next to Gallinari. Like everything else with the Nuggets, there are an abundance of options. It’s simply a matter of which of them the Nuggest choose.

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3. Can Emmanuel Mudiay learn to shoot?

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There is so much to like about Mudiay’s game. A big, physical guard with impressive court vision, Mudiay has the skills to become one of the elite point guards in the NBA as he matures.

Well, almost all of the skills. Mudiay came into the NBA with significant questions about his jump shot — and those questions have carried over to his pro career. He’s shooting just 35.5 percent from the floor this season, including a dreadful 45 percent in the restricted area — far lower than the league average of about 60 percent.

Still, there are some signs for optimism here. For starters, given Mudiay’s sturdy frame (he’s listed at 6-5 and 200 pounds) his struggles to make shots at the rim should be short-lived. And he’s shooting 31 percent from three-point range on over three attempts per game. If he can get that number up to 35 percent, or even a little over it, he’ll become a credible threat. He’ll have to do that if he wants to fulfill his potential as an elite floor general.

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4. What will they do with all these picks?

At some point, a team can have too many young players. At the end of this summer, Denver could be reaching that point.

The Nuggets already have nine core players under contract, with three of them — Wilson Chandler (28), Danilo Gallinari (27) and Kenneth Faried (26) — over 25 years old. If the Nuggets wind up with three first round picks, as it seems they will, they could have 14 players under contract that are under 30 years old by the start of next season.

On the one hand, that’s a good thing, as it means you have the chance to improve as the season goes on. But it also means there will be plenty of growing pains along the way, and they could be without some of the sage veterans Denver had this season like Jameer Nelson and Mike Miller to provide an example of what to do moving forward. Given that, Denver seems certain to be involved in trade talks for any difference-making veterans that hit the trade block this summer, either on draft night or in July.

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5. Can Wilson Chandler make a full recovery?

At multiple points through these questions, it has been mentioned that Denver will likely be looking this summer for either a stretch-4 or a bigger wing that could play both forward spots and provide three-point shooting and some defensive prowess. They might not have to look far, however, if Wilson Chandler can recover from hip surgery.

Chandler has sat out the entire 2015-16 season after undergoing surgery in November, but he would provide Denver with exactly the kind of player the roster is currently lacking. At 6-8 and a career 34-percent three-point shooter, Chandler would give the Nuggets another versatile forward to pair with Gallinari on the wings, allowing them to more effectively transition to playing smaller.

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Going the other way, Chandler could also be an intriguing trade chip this summer. Like Faried and Nurkic, Chandler is on a good contract, and he is a competent wing player — something every team in the NBA is looking for these days.

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