Are the Nuggets best set up for NBA’s immediate future? ESPN weighs in

On the same day ESPN published a story saying the Boston Celtics window is closing and that it is win or bust in beantown, the same network claimed that the team is best set up for the next three years of NBA action.

In ESPN’s future power rankings, which projects success over the next three years, they ranked the Celtics No. 1, followed by the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors. The way ESPN calculated the future was in algorithm based off league insiders thoughts, which determined a number for how each team will do in the coming years. ESPN used a weighted scale of current players (58.3% of the score,) front office quality (16.7%,) projected salary cap situations (8.3%,) market appeal (8.3%) and future draft assets (8.3%) to come up with an overall number that pitted teams against one another.

The Nuggets climbed from No. 9 on last year’s rank to No. 2 ahead of this season, with former NBA GM Bobby Marks writing:

The NBA champions are built to have sustainable success for the foreseeable future and as a result move up seven slots in the FPR. Denver ranked No. 2 in players, as the starting five of MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon are all under contract through at least 2024-25 (Caldwell-Pope has a player option and can be a free agent in 2024). The strong roster building, championship success last season and financial commitment by ownership explain why Denver ranks No. 3 in management.

The group who worked on this ranking gave the Nuggets the second-best grouping of players and third-best management team across the league but listed future money as the team’s biggest deterrent.

ESPN notes money as the biggest issue for the Celtics too, who are walking a tightrope with the NBA’s new restrictions on tax-paying teams. In reality Boston should face those penalties before Denver and given the Nuggets just won a title, the two teams should probably be closer than the nine-point gap on the overall ranking—the same difference between the Nuggets and No. 10 Lakers.

The Celtics have taken over as many folks favorite to capture an 18th NBA title this year. Behind a seventh-game exit in the East Finals when seeking its second-straight trip to the NBA Finals, the Celtics have reloaded via two mega trades for All-Stars Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis to surround Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Meanwhile, the reigning champ Nuggets were actually tied for No. 2 in the ranking with a play-in team from a season ago in Oklahoma City. Nobody will doubt that the Thunder’s future is bright, with more first-team All-NBA players last season than the Nuggets in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, since Nikola Jokic was somehow on the second-team. OKC has a nice young core with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddy plus the most draft assets to boot.

But the Thunder didn’t just win an NBA title and didn’t even really have a center last season let alone the best starting five in the sport like the Nuggets. Sure Denver may run into issues here soon with Jamal Murray set for a contract extension and Jokic the highest-paid player in the sport, but the Nuggets have done the hard parts of assembling a ring-worthy squad. Keeping Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope may be a challenge, but it appears Calvin Booth has a strong plan in place to keep surrounding Jokic and Murray with capable performers.

There are a lot of reasons to be high on other teams, it’s an exciting time to be an NBA fan—I just personally wouldn’t bank my future on Porzingis, who has half as many career postseason games (10) as Jokic played just last season (20,) or an aging Warriors team that somehow got older in adding Chris Paul, or even Memphis who has long-term questions about their point guard’s personality. Denver doesn’t have these big questions, they just proved it and they’re young—but so it goes, they’ll have to prove it again to beat the hype cycle that drives the league’s narratives.

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