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The New Look Of The Denver Nuggets Will Surprise This Season


Denver Nuggets

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets will open training camp on Oct. 1 with a new GM, a new head coach and new personnel. Even though the team has gone through an extreme face lift, I believe the new look of the Nuggets will surprise the 2013 NBA season.

When you examine Denver’s new GM in Tim Connelly, you find a young executive willing to put in the extra time and effort needed to have a successful franchise. He immediately gelled with Nuggets’ owner Josh Kroenke, as well as with new head coach Brian Shaw. Of course this is what everyone always assumes will be the case between GM, owner and head coach, however, it is more frequently a rarity in professional sports today. Denver will go into the 2013 season with these relationships perfectly intact.

For the players, their season will begin Oct. 1 on that first day of training, and the team will quickly start the preseason slate of games on Oct. 6. Before we know it, the Nuggets will be playing games that count on Oct. 30 when they open the NBA regular season on the road.

The fresh faces that will be dawning the Nuggets baby blue and gold will be guard Nate Robinson, guard Randy Foye, power forward Darrell Arthur and power forward J.J. Hickson. Rookie guard Erick Green will be playing overseas in order to hone his skills for the Nuggets next year.

At 5-foot-8, Robinson is a dynamo on the floor with a rare combination of speed, strength, remarkable athleticism and shooting ability. Foye is a steady player who can be a monumentally lethal threat for the Nuggets from beyond the arc. Arthur is a defensive force with the much needed ability to guard the pick-and-roll, one of Denver’s major weaknesses over the past several years. Hickson is a double-double machine who is fundamentally sound in the low block, rebounding by boxing out properly instead of trying to levitate above everyone, as many NBA players do today. In regards to the rookie Green, he will be a formidable basket attacker, passer, and will have the ability to knock down jumpers for the Nuggets in 2014.

From top to bottom, the Nuggets have the key components in place to be a surprise team in the NBA in the 2013 season. Look for them to change things in Denver by advancing past the first round of the playoffs and having the possibility of making a deep playoff run.

Randy Drautz is a Denver Nuggets writer for www.RantSports.com.  Follow him on Twitter @RDrautz, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.



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