FRIDAY FACEOFF: Did the Denver Nuggets do enough to repeat as NBA champions?

Friday Faceoff: Did the Denver Nuggets do enough to repeat as NBA champions?

Vinny Benedetto, Nuggets beat writer: Yes.

The Nuggets didn’t make a splash move this offseason, but they didn’t need to, either.

Bruce Brown and Jeff Green’s free-agency departures hurt, especially in the wake of Vlatko Cancar’s offseason knee injury that is expected to sideline the reserve forward for all of next season. But all five starters are return from the franchise’s first championship squad. That team was more dominant than people seem to remember.

After the Nuggets coasted to the best record in the Western Conference, Minnesota narrowly avoided a first-round sweep thanks to an overtime win in Game 4. Phoenix needed two all-time performances from Kevin Durant and Devin Booker to win a couple of home games before Denver won Games 5 and 6 by 16 and 25 points, respectively. From there, the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the conference finals and were one uninspired performance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals from doing the same to the Heat.

Sure, other teams made bigger splashes this offseason, but odds are still on the Nuggets to represent the West in the next year’s Finals with good reason.

Nikola Jokic has shown no signs of regression, and having the best basketball player on the planet is a good start to a championship recipe. If Jamal Murray can continue the playmaking he flashed in the playoffs, he’s a perfect second option and should be in line for his first All-Star appearance this season. Michael Porter Jr.’s defense took a step forward in the postseason. If that continues, that’s one route to next season’s squad being even better. Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope provide consistent contributions to round out the starting five, and both are capable of hurting teams who decide to sell out on Jokic or Murray.

The bench will pose some tough questions for Michael Malone to answer, but there’s a good mix of young players with upside and established veterans for the coach to piece the puzzle together. If Peyton Watson and the three rookies aren’t ready for an elevated role, Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday are veterans capable of keeping things afloat for stretches of the regular season until a playoff rotation is finalized. Jackson should be able to get into a better rhythm thanks to a full offseason with the Nuggets and a more secure role.

The importance of depth decreases in the postseason, and the Nuggets already have one reserve that can be counted on in Christian Braun. Denver also has a favorable regular-season schedule with the fewest three-games-in-four-days stretches in the entire league.

It wasn’t a noisy offseason from the Nuggets, but the quiet suits Denver just fine.

Luke Zahlmann, Rockies beat writer: No.

In the last decade, only the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors repeated as NBA champs.

A wild offseason that once again saw the Western Conference bulk up will be too much for the Denver Nuggets to overcome when paired with other factors like fatigue and injuries. They only lost Bruce Brown as a key contributor, but the teams around them made large strides.

The Phoenix Suns added Bradley Beal as their headline addition and also bolstered their team’s depth after being ousted by the Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. Devin Booker and Kevin Durant will now be surrounded by veterans like Eric Gordon, Drew Eubanks and Chimezie Metu instead of borderline NBA players, on top of boasting what is likely the league’s top trio.

Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Warriors also added playoff contributors like Gabe Vincent and Chris Paul while keeping their rosters intact. The Sacramento Kings added Chris Duarte to an up-and-coming roster and the Los Angeles Clippers may even add James Harden if offseason rumors come to fruition.

Injury luck may play the biggest factor for the Nuggets and others. Multiple years of Nikola Jokic carrying the team to the playoffs gave way to a resurgence of playoff Jamal Murray and a healthy Michael Porter Jr. Relying on both to continue the trend would be betting against recent history. The two combined to play 167 games last year if you include 20 apiece in the playoffs.

That number came just a year after both combined to miss all but nine games of the previous season — Murray for rehab from an ACL tear and Porter from a third back surgery.

Murray staying healthy for the foreseeable future wouldn’t be shocking. Outside of the major knee injury, he has proven to be a reliable contributor who plays through injuries. Another ailment to Porter Jr. could change the roster’s complexion.

Christian Braun can likely fill the hole left by Brown. Another jump from Peyton Watson or Collin Gillespie could help too. But the Nuggets have no viable replacement for Porter, whose combination of size and shooting is among the league’s rarest.

Repeating is hard. The previous two teams to do it had Steph Curry and LeBron James running the show alongside a cast of fellow All-NBA players like Kevin Durant for the Warriors and Dwayne Wade for the Heat. Jokic has joined the conversation for best player in the world and likely holds the title. The pieces around him, whether due to health or underperformance, are unlikely to overcome the challenges of repeating as NBA champs.

It's unclear what big move the Nuggets could've made to bolster their repeat chances. As others made them, Denver chose to stand pat and keep the roster consistency that got it to a title in the first place.

That formula won't be enough to overcome the myriad challenges a team faces in a repeat bid.