The Nuggets are fun. They’re full of fascinating talent under age 30. They could be a playoff team, if all goes according to plan. And this could’ve been said about them each of the last three 30-win seasons.
But little has gone according to plan in the five years since Denver traded Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks for a haul that included Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgov, Kosta Koufos, a 2014 first-round pick, the right to swap 2016 first-round picks and two second-round picks.
The early returns were encouraging for the Nuggets, who made three straight playoff trips under coach George Karl from 2011-13, with Gallinari and Chandler as key cogs on a team that won 57 games three years ago.