Will the Nuggets Make The Playoffs this yr.? Normal Start/50 Game Season conditions

If we have (some type) of season this year, the Nuggets will be missing JR Smith and Wilson Chandlier - assuming they were going to resign them. Who know what will be happening with Nene also. (They may panic and do whatever Nene wants / says).

Can Lawson-Andre Miller-Affalo-Gallinari-KMart and Co lead the Nuggets to the playoffs?

If not, who takes their spot?

 

2. Over/Under: 50 wins for the Nuggets next season.









Henry Abbott, ESPN.com: Over. I know they keep losing people to far-flung places, but the post-Carmelo-trade Nuggets are as enthusiastic a bunch as you'll find anywhere.

Zach Harper, Daily Dime Live: Under. I can't believe I'm going to type this, but a George Karl team will greatly miss J.R. Smith. We don't know what the Nuggets will do in this flash-mob offseason, but they still don't have a go-to scorer at the end of games. Two of their best wing players, J.R. Smith and Wilson Chandler, will be stuck in China. They'll end up with a win total in the mid-to-high 40s, but that sounds like the ceiling to me.


Nick Smith, Salt City Hoops: Under, especially if they don't re-sign Nene and half the team is stuck playing in China. Denver hit the jackpot by getting Kenneth Faried late in the draft, but Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos are not about to fill the shoes of Nene. If those key players are gone, Denver just won't have the talent for 50 wins.

Jeremy Wagner, Roundball Mining Company: Under. The key to Denver's late-season success was its depth. The Nuggets already lost Smith and Chandler to the Chinese league (from which they cannot return until the end of the Chinese season), Kenyon Martin might have played his last game as a Nugget, and there is no guarantee that Nene will be back, either.


Royce Young, Daily Thunder: Under. It hasn't helped that two of last season's rotation players won't be back, as they've taken their talents to China, at least until March. Then, of course, there's the issue of getting Nene re-signed. Aside from all that, the remade roster after the Carmelo trade overachieved for two months. I don't see how they can sustain that performance for 82 games (or 50 or whatever).

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-110920/nba-northwest-division-debates


As a Rockets fan, it may be a good thing?

 

I hope that's the case too. I just don't see them let Nene walk especially with JR and Chandlier - not coming back til March or at all. He would be strongly featured in their lineup and they will pay him a lot.

Nene, Andre miller, Aaron affalo, danilo gallinari, and Ty Lawson are good players. It's definitely not a sure no with those guys.

It is without Nene though.

Who takes their spot then?

 

So Nene is worth at least 10 Wins to you versus the Koufos/Mozgov duo. I think they are definately keeping or doing some type of trade involving Nene.

Nuggets and Hornets are biggest candidates to fall out of playoff picture. What two teams take their spot?