After a rough few seasons, the Nuggets finally look as if they are headed in the right direction again. But as the Nuggets sat at home and watched their former GM Masai Ujiri’s new team, the Toronto Raptors, compete for an Eastern Conference title, it’s impossible not to sit back and think about what could have been if Ujiri had stayed in Denver.
Following the 2012-13 season, a season in which the Nuggets won a franchise record 57 games but were bounced in the first round by a Golden State Warriors team that was just beginning to hit their stride, the Nuggets made quite a few changes that turned the organization upside down.
That season marked the fourth consecutive year and the ninth time in 10 years that the Nuggets failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs. As a result, longtime head coach and fan favorite George Karl was fired and the Nuggets let Ujiri, the 2012-13 Executive of the Year, leave for the Toronto Raptors.
Since Ujiri’s arrival in Toronto the Raptors have made trips to the postseason in three consecutive years. They ultimately fell to the Cavaliers 3-2 in this year’s Conference Finals, but they challenged Cleveland in a way few expected. It’s hard not to wonder where the Nuggets would be if Ujiri would’ve stayed in Denver.
Dan Williams and Marcello Romano discussed the topic last week on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7.
“The lasting imprint of Masai Ujiri in Denver was 57 wins, the most wins the franchise has ever had,” Williams said.
Williams believes that the Nuggets would’ve continued to see success following that season if Ujiri had never left.
“I think the Nuggets would’ve been another 55 wins the last couple of years” Williams said. “Clippers-esque.”
Even with Ujiri at the reins, the Nuggets still would have found themselves in tough situations when dealing with the Andre Iquodala departure and the drama surrounding Ty Lawson. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that Ujiri has now led two different mid-market teams to a conference finals in the span of a decade. His success in Toronto understandably has Nuggets fans wondering “what if?”
Listen to the full discussion below in the podcast below…
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/5-24-16-masai-is-looking-like-a-genius-with-good-timing-danny-cello
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