Nuggets' biggest disappointment early in 2024-25 season

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The Denver Nuggets had a questionable start to the 2024-2025 NBA season. But with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic playing his best basketball, the Nuggets are slowly getting their season under control. Unfortunately, that doesn’t take away the biggest disappointment for the Nuggets this season, which has been the shooting struggles of NBA champion Jamal Murray.

Murray was a strong second option for the Nuggets in recent years. But more importantly, he played an instrumental role in helping the team win the championship in 2023, proving that he was the best partner to The Joker. Earlier in the 2024 offseason, the Nuggets signed him to a four-year contract extension worth nearly $208 million. The expectation was that Murray would continue to be a lethal secondary star next to Jokic for several years to come. However, it’s safe to say Murray is so far failing to live up to the deal.

Now with Jokic out for personal reasons, his prolonged absence is putting Murray into the spotlight. Make no mistake, Murray hasn’t exactly been the healthiest player as of late. While this could be a factor for his early season struggles, Murray’s struggles are surely affecting the Nuggets team overall. As of this writing, the Nuggets need him to be the Murray that they used to know.

Inefficient shooting nights

One of the more glaring signs of Murray’s struggles early into the 2024-2025 NBA season is his shooting. Murray is averaging a respectable 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. However, it’s his shooting percentages that should raise some eyebrows.

The NBA champion is only shooting less than 40% from the field overall and 30% from beyond the arc. As the second option for the Nuggets who is coming off a four-year contract extension, the franchise expected him to do better. In fact, Murray hasn’t played like a reliable second option for a championship contender, especially considering his game against Western Conference rival, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Murray only registered a measly 6 points in the Nuggets’ 119-116 loss. He only shot 2/7 from the field overall. Those are numbers that don’t scream as the second option of a contender. While Murray’s subpar performances shouldn’t worry Nuggets fans just yet, it’s a problem that should be monitored closely should his shooting slumps continue.

UFC backlash

Amidst a struggling season, Murray received plenty of flak from NBA fans for recently attending UFC 309. The Nuggets were in the middle of a road trip. However, that didn’t stop the NBA champion from flying out to New York to witness the event.

Given that Murray hasn’t performed up to par, fans believed that the NBA champion shouldn’t have been attending these events. It’s worth noting that around this time, Murray was coming off another bad game against a Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies. He only tallied 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field and only 1-of-6 from deep in the 15-point blowout loss.

While Murray has all the right to attend a UFC event in his free time, it certainly triggered some unnecessary drama to an already shaky Nuggets campaign. By being spotted in the UFC event, it puts more pressure on Murray to step up and rediscover his scoring touch.

Nikola Jokic’s absence

One of the issues that the Nuggets are dealing with right now is the absence of Nikola Jokic. Jokic has been out for personal reasons. Thus far, the reigning NBA MVP has missed out on three straight games, with the Nuggets dropping two during his absence. During that two-game stretch, Murray has failed to carry the load as the main option.

Due to Murray’s struggles, coach Mike Malone intervened and publicly claimed that the Nuggets needed Murray to step up. Fortunately, it seems that Malone’s clamor is having a positive effect on the NBA champion.

With Jokic out once again against the Grizzlies, Murray had a solid bounce-back game of 27 points, four rebounds, and six assists. He also shot more efficiently, finishing the game with 50% shooting both from the field and the three-point line. While it was a game that proved that Murray is defying his critics, it remains to be seen whether the Nuggets star can do it on a consistent basis.

Make no mistake, life has been harder for the Nuggets without their three-time NBA MVP. But should Jokic return with Murray returning to top form, the Nuggets should have no problems carving out another deep playoff run.

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