The New and Improved Denver Nuggets

With the addition of Paul Millsap, a full year of Nikola Jokic and the improvement of Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, Denver has a strong chance to be this year’s breakout NBA team.

Paul Millsap drives on Nikola Jokic. (Denver Post)

Seemingly every year in the NBA an unexpected team comes out of the woodworks and grabs a 5th or 6th seed in their respective conference. Whether by overachieving or capitalizing on a weak schedule, these teams have a chip on their shoulder; they’re out to prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Last year, this team was the Utah Jazz. Third year head coach Quinn Snyder had created a culture everyone bought into, point guard George Hill was acquired via trade, Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward came to fruition, and the Jazz won 50 plus games in the West.

General consensus says that it takes three or more years for coaches to build a winning talent. Of course, this is byproduct of player’s enveloping their potential and front offices adding players to a core group of talent; however, this should not deny coaches of their ability to build a culture.

We’ve seen it in Miami. Eric Spoelstra nearly won this past years’ coach of the year award partially because of the healing home Miami provides. Golden State has built a fantasy team based on the same ideals — an unselfish environment. A winning environment.

The best coaches are those who can be both great schemers and demand respect from their players. It is a part of why coaches like Fred Hoiberg and David Blatt don’t (and won’t) survive for long. The NBA is a melting pot of personalties making millions and millions of dollars. To build a team that doesn’t self implode and plays well towards a common goal is extremely hard — especially when each and every franchise has the same amount of money to work with. And yet outside factors like market size and team success makes every free agent decision a buffet line; which is why in some scenarios picking and plugging a player’s coach (I.E. Tyronn Lue, Luke Walton) is a safe option.

But this isn’t an option for small market teams. The threshold of risk/reward is low, and most small market teams don’t have a legitimate top 10 budding superstar (Except of course, for the Milwaukee Bucks, and they will be needing to fire Jason Kidd if he doesn’t let Giannis Antetokounmpo run free in the PnR sometime soon) therefore making a coaching hire like so quite pointless.

This makes it nearly impossible for small market teams to just be consistent playoff contenders. Tanking has been a last resort option until as of late — it causes a fanbase to test it’s patience and an ownership to watch ticket and jersey sales pour down the drain.

Finding a middle ground between mediocrity and building a winning culture without the ability to draw in big time free agents is the ultimate chess game, particularly when its an individual’s job and legacy on the line. Many general managers and executives end up making moves to keep their job, instead of building a winning team for two years from now. Even with a regulated cap, small market teams are destined for failure.

Theo Epstein, a name every baseball fan knows, faced the same predicament in 2010 as the general manager of the Boston Red Sox. Once a franchise starts winning, they’re expected to stay in contention for a playoff run every single year. Epstein, under pressure of ownership, went into free agency and unnecessarily paid Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzales a combined 14 years, 296 million dollars just to have them both be injured an non-factors as stars out of their prime. Making decisions outside of building a team’s success to come is shortsighted. Yet many still do out of fear of losing their job.

But sometimes a perfect storm of fortune, good player evaluation, with a coach who can both build a culture and run an efficient system, something magical happens. For a few years, teams like the Utah Jazz can enjoy success. Until, their all-star homegrown son leaves for a bigger market for the money and a better chance of winning a championship. (Yes, you, Gordon Hayward.)

This is the small market cycle.

In a world where loyalty is fickle, building a playoff contender while young stars are still under contract is vital. Can it be done?