Jared Dudley’s goal as the Nuggets’ first-year defensive coordinator has been to restore the team, at minimum, to its mid-tier status that was enough to win a championship in 2023.
He’s not naive to the fact that Nikola Jokic and the offense are what make them a high-functioning team. Denver has already proven that it can go all the way with a 15th-ranked defense. The top half of the league will suffice.
But Dudley couldn’t have predicted that he would be fending without his two best defenders for a month at the outset of his tenure as David Adelman’s top assistant coach.