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Denver Nuggets GM’s Honest Jamal Murray Assessment Cited as 1 of the Reasons Why They Were Unable to Defend Their NBA Title

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Jordan Samar | Last updated 5/24/24

The Denver Nuggets are back to the drawing board after failing to defend their NBA championship with a second-round exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves , and one of the things they must address is how to keep their star point guard Jamal Murray fresh and healthy.

Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said that Jamal Murray was “worn down” toward the end of their 2023-24 playoff run, and he believes that things would’ve been different if he was 100 percent fit.

“This year, Murray was a little bit more up and down. If Jamal is in shape and in condition, he’s a totally different beast. He obviously wore down a little bit at the end of the playoffs,” Booth admitted via Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.

“Anthony Edwards is maybe the best on-ball defender in the NBA. He was gonna have to be in condition to get off the ball and move around a lot more, run him around. I don’t know if playing since last June, coming off the ACL, some of the soft tissue injuries he had, if he was in condition to do that in this series.”

After playing 65 regular-season games during their championship run, this year, Jamal Murray only managed to play 59 regular-season games for the Denver Nuggets. However, he had the best statistical campaign of his eight-year career, averaging 21.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 42.5 from three-point range.

Busy offseason ahead for the Denver Nuggets, Jamal Murray

Jamal Murray will play for the Canadian national team at the Paris Olympics. Because the Denver Nuggets are eliminated, the one-time NBA champion will get an additional four-week rest.

As for the Denver Nuggets, they will be looking ahead to the 2024 NBA Draft, where they have the No. 28 and No. 56 picks. The latest ESPN mock draft has them selecting point guard Tyler Kolek from Marquette and small forward Jalen Bridges from Baylor using those picks.