Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic, Gordon, Saric, Watson

If they have any hope of winning their second title in three seasons, the 2o24/25 Nuggets need star point guard Jamal Murray to be the best version of himself, opines Troy Renck of The Denver Post.

Even though Murray has battled injuries in recent years and submitted an underwhelming performance for Team Canada in the 2024 Olympics, Denver moved forward on a four-year, maximum-salary contract extension with him during the offseason.

Murray was highly effective in his 59 healthy games last season, averaging 21.2 points, 6.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per contest.

With Murray, three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic, and forward Michael Porter Jr. all signed to maximum deals — and power forward Aaron Gordon likely in line for a raise on a potential extension — the Nuggets may be locked into their current core for a while.

There’s more out of Denver:

• Far beyond the purview of the Nuggets’ fanbase in Denver, Nikola Jokic‘s greatness has reached international superstar levels, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Nuggets. The 6’11” big man’s superstardom was on display during a pair of recent preseason games in Abu Dhabi, when he was very much the star of the show.
• New veteran Nuggets big man signing Dario Saric is already impressing teammate Aaron Gordon, per DNVR Sports (YouTube video link).“So excited to play with Dario,” Gordon said. “He’s a hell of a talent, so versatile. [He] does multiple things on the floor — can pass the ball, can shoot the ball, can score, can defend, can play big, can play small… I don’t think you guys understand how big of an impact that he will have on this team, playing that backup center, playing that backup four.”
• Still dealing with a hamstring strain, intriguing young Nuggets reserve swingman Peyton Watson was able to fully partake in team practice Sunday for the first time in five weeks, reports Durando in another article. “We’ll see how that injury and how that muscle reacts to what he did today,” head coach Michael Malone said following the practice. “Because tomorrow, the hope is to introduce some more things offensively. … I want to blow it out tomorrow. We’ll be on the main court, which will be nice to finally get on the main court and play, maybe, three or four 12-minute quarters. And the hope is that Peyton feels good enough to be able to get through at least some of those (quarters) tomorrow.”