NBA Season Preview 2018-19: The Denver Nuggets have found their hero

In storytelling, a common template is the monomyth, or hero’s journey. It allows the storyteller to follow a simple pattern to create a story that many will be familiar with.

The hero’s journey begins with a call to adventure, where the hero is reluctant to answer the call, but through the assistance of a mentor or guide, receives encouragement and is compelled to begin. The second act is referred to as initiation, where the hero is tested, tried, will occasionally fail but ultimately succeeds, usually in part to adherence to virtuous values such as honor, integrity, or sacrifice. The third act is the return, where the hero either develops new attributes that improve them or a reward that improves society.

For the Denver Nuggets, their hero is Nikola Jokić, whose story began in Sombor, Serbia. The hero was an athletically gifted young man but loved racing horses and drinking soda more than he loved basketball. He was noticed by scouts with KK Mega, a Serbian team, and signed with them in 2012. He started practicing with professionals, refining his talents, and eventually becoming good enough to be named the MVP of the Adriatic League.

After being drafted by the Nuggets in 2014, Jokić would face more trials and challenges. Jokić wasn’t even the first center taken by the Nuggets that season, with Jusuf Nurkić joining the team via a trade with the Chicago Bulls. Jokić began as a backup, then started alongside Nurkić, then went back to the bench, before finally being named the starter later in the season.

Jokić excelled after the coaching staff finally settled on him as the starter, and last season, they realized they couldn’t deny him any longer. The franchise hero signed a five-year, $148 million extension with Denver in the offseason, locking him in for the next half decade with the team that drafted him.

In the second half of the 2017-18 season, the Nuggets had the No. 1 offense in the league, averaging 115.2 points per game. Only three teams made more 3-pointers per game than the Nuggets, and none of them were more efficient than the 38.1 percent mark the Nuggets had. Only three teams attempted more free throws per game than the Nuggets, and again, none of those teams were more efficient than the 77.9 percent mark the Nuggets had. The Nuggets were fourth in the league in field goals made per game, and fourth in assists per game.

They won 14 of their final 24 games, but in Game 82, needed to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves to get into the playoffs. They lost on the road in overtime, and their season was over, while the Timberwolves went on to get defeated in the first round against the Houston Rockets, 4-1.

What did the Nuggets do in the offseason to put pieces around their hero to help overcome the trials ahead of them? They traded Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, and Darrell Arthur to clear cap space and create openings in playing time for younger, more promising players. They drafted Michael Porter Jr. With the No. 14 pick and Jarred Vanderbilt with the No. 41 overall pick. They signed Will Barton and Isaiah Thomas in free agency, bringing back a Sixth Man of the Year candidate with the promise of a starting role and the former MVP candidate with the promise to give him a chance to show that he was healthy and capable of playing in the league. They signed Mark Price to be an assistant coach, adding one of the best shooters in NBA history to a team that is full of shooters.

While the league is seeing a revolution in defense, with players that can switch and guard every position on the court, the Nuggets are loading up their team with players that can score at all three levels. With a starting lineup of Jokić, Paul Millsap, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, and Will Barton, the Nuggets have five players that are capable of scoring 30 points any night. With Trey Lyles, Juancho Hernangomez, Isaiah Thomas, and Malik Beasley, they have four players off the bench that are a threat to shoot nearly 40 percent on 3-point attempts over the course of a season.

The journey won’t be easy for the Nuggets. The Northwest Division sent four teams to the playoffs last season, and as mentioned before, the fifth team missed a berth by one game. The greatest NBA player of all time left the Eastern Conference to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James addition to the playoff hunt makes things that much harder for Jokić and his band of sharpshooters.

But the process of becoming a true hero is never without challenges. The more challenging the quest, the more valuable the reward.