NBA Free Agency 2018: Winners, losers, and shockers

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DENVER, CO – JULY 9: The Nuggets announce new contracts for Will Barton and Nikola Jokic at the Pepsi Center on July 9, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /

Winner: Denver Nuggets

Heading into 2017-18, the Nuggets were a popular pick to break through and make noise. They suffered through a year of horrible injury luck and fell short of the playoffs on the last game of the season.

Bringing everyone back and running it again was a good idea. The West will be even tougher this year, but so will Denver with better health. The Nuggets retained all their major pieces and took a swing on Isaiah Thomas, bringing him in on a deal for the veteran’s minimum.

Denver locked up Nikola Jokic long-term and were right to do so. Jokic is often brought up in the unicorn discussion for his offensive prowess, court vision and deft passing ability in a big man’s body. Sure, he has his defensive shortcomings, but his on-off was +9.8 per 100 possessions this past season.

Barton also got the long-term contract he was after. He grew into an invaluable part of the team, leaning on his versatility to span three positions. That versatility led to career-highs in points (15.7) and assists (4.1), while chipping in 5 rebounds in 33.1 minutes (also a career-high) per game in 2017-18.

In Thomas, Denver will have another option to run the offense and someone to round out their backcourt depth chart. Assuming he gets healthy and can even be 75 percent of who he was pre-hip injury, the small money deal will pay off huge dividends for the Nuggets.

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