The Whiteboard: Denver is going its own way — again

To say the Denver Nuggets are moving in silence might be an embellishment; it's hard to evade attention when the best player alive is on your roster.

But after a spiritless start to the 2024-25 campaign which saw Denver fall to 16-13 two days after Christmas... the bulk of national attention shifted away from the Nuggets, and onto the potential new kings of the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and recently, the new-look Los Angeles Lakers.

That shift in focus makes sense, no doubt; OKC has been ripping apart the NBA all season long and the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic. I understand why people want to tune in. But since those somewhat tepid first 29 games, the Nuggets have gone 19-6 (and won their last seven) Nikola Jokic is as good as he's ever been (maybe better, depending on your advanced stat of choice) and the Nuggets offense is humming — just not in the way modern offenses typically "hum."

The Nuggets are blazing their own offensive trail

Since Dec. 1, the Nuggets have the No. 2-ranked offense in the NBA, behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers. On the season at large, Denver is ranked No. 3, and in the past 15 games, the Nugs claim the top spot. No matter how you slice it, this Denver team is as efficient as they come.

They're also eschewing the modern NBA's trend of increased 3-point shooting — again.

When the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Finals in 2022-23, they shot the fifth-fewest 3s per game in the league (31.2). Their championship made front offices around the league rethink how effective a modern offense can be while shooting fewer longballs than the rest of the league... but then Boston steamrolled its way to a title while shooting the most 3s in the league and everyone decided that high-volume 3s are the wave of the future, after all.

Denver will not comply! This year, as the rest of the league tries to emulate last year's Celtics team, the Nuggets are trying to emulate... themselves, from two years ago. Denver's 3-point attempts this year (31.2) are almost identical to those from their championship year. But as the rest of the league hoists more longballs, that mark is now the fewest in basketball.

Two years ago, nine teams shot over 35 3-pointers per game. This year, 24 teams hoist at least 35 of them. Last year's champions, the Boston Celtics, are still leading that charge, shooting 48.2 3-pointers per game, an increase of nearly six attempts per game from last year — and they were already at No. 1 last year.

The disparity in attempts between Boston and Denver (17.1 attempts per game) is the starkest difference between No. 1 and No. 30 we've seen in five years, since the 2019-20 Houston Rockets (45.3 3-point attempts) and Indiana Pacers (28.0).

Denver's lack of attempts doesn't signal a lack of shooting ability, though. They're No. 5 in the league in 3-point percentage led by Michael Porter Jr's clip of over 41 percent. Low volume, but high success.

Varied offenses still exists in the NBA

If there's someone in your life who keeps complaining about all NBA offenses looking or playing the same, just put a Nuggets game in front of them like they're an iPad baby and watch how stimulated they become.

Denver's superstar center posts up like 80 times per game, its point guard shoots more "long midrange" shots than most anyone else in the league, its third-leading scorer is obsessed with taking contested jumpers and the team is well on its way to a top 3 finish in the Western Conference.

This year could be an inflection point for Denver; a deep playoff run would be vindication that buying into the league's trends isn't a prerequisite for sustained success. Denver's recent results show they may be onto something.

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NBA news roundup

• The talk is over — now the fun part starts. Luka Doncic made his Lakers debut on Monday, posting 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in what amounted to a practice game for LA in a blowout win against the Utah Jazz.

• Jimmy Butler in Golden State is ... working? It appears that way, at least, as the Dubs are 2-0 with Jimmy in the lineup. After scoring 20 points exactly two times since November, Butler has scored at least 20 in both games with the Warriors. Okay.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers' three-game losing streak might have been a fluke. Since then, Cleveland has ripped off six wins in seven tries including a thorough beatdown of Minnesota last night. De'Andre Hunter scored 12 in his debut, Evan Mobley broke the Wolves offense every time down the floor and the Cavs just need to go 17-12 to hit the 60-win mark.

Is the Magic gone?

Orlando is 3-11 in its last 14 games, with the worst offense in the league over that stretch. The glee this team exhibited in the early season has been squashed by the reality that getting better in the NBA is really, really hard.

If there's one shred of light in Orlando right now, it's that the guys who are supposed to raise this team to great heights... are trying their best. Franz Wagner is averaging well over 25 points per game since returning from his injury; Paolo Banchero's re-acclimation has been slower, but overall, Orlando's two guys have still played like the team's clear building blocks.

That bulb dies out somewhat quickly, though, when you realize that Orlando's roster outside of its two-star forwards isn't close to competing yet. For the record, I like a lot of Orlando's young talent; but the drop off in offensive creation on this roster from Franz and Paolo to... everyone else, is starker than perhaps any other team in the league.

I still believe in Orlando's progression... but please, Magic front office, go get about five reliable scorers this offseason before things get even uglier.