2020–21 Denver Nuggets season

2020–21 Denver Nuggets season
2020–21 Denver Nuggets season
Head coach	Michael Malone
President	Tim Connelly
General manager	Calvin Booth
Owners	Ann Walton Kroenke
Arena	Ball Arena
Results
Record	47–25 (.653)
Place	Division: 2nd (Northwest); Conference: 3rd (Western)
Playoff finish	Conference semifinals; (lost to Suns 0–4)
	Stats at Basketball Reference
Local media
Television	Altitude Sports and Entertainment
Radio	KKSE
< 2019–20	2021–22 >

The 2020–21 Denver Nuggets season was the 45th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the franchise's 54th season of existence overall.

Quick facts Denver Nuggets season, Head coach ...

On May 3, the Nuggets officially clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season.^[2] In the First Round, the Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games, before getting swept in the conference semi-Finals by the eventual Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns.

Nikola Jokić was voted league MVP for the regular season, thereby becoming the first player in franchise history to win the award.^[3]

Jamal Murray was setting career-highs in points and FG% until tearing the ACL in his left knee in April. Following surgery on April 21st, he missed the entire 2021–22 season and would not return until October 2022.^[4]

Michael Porter Jr. broke out with more playing time in his second year removed from his second back surgery. He scored 19.0 points per game in an increased 31.3 minutes a night, shooting 44.5% from three.

A March 2021 trade for Magic forward Aaron Gordon in return for long-time Nugget Gary Harris completed the core of Jokić, Murray, Porter Jr., and Gordon that eventually won the NBA Finals in 2023.^[5]

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Northwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div	GP
z – Utah Jazz	52	20	.722	–	31‍–‍5	21‍–‍15	7–5	72
x – Denver Nuggets	47	25	.653	5.0	25‍–‍11	22‍–‍14	9–3	72
x – Portland Trail Blazers	42	30	.583	10.0	20‍–‍16	22‍–‍14	6–6	72
Minnesota Timberwolves	23	49	.319	29.0	13‍–‍23	10‍–‍26	5–7	72
Oklahoma City Thunder	22	50	.306	30.0	10‍–‍26	12‍–‍24	3–9	72

Western Conference
#	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	GP
1	z – Utah Jazz *	52	20	.722	–	72
2	y – Phoenix Suns *	51	21	.708	1.0	72
3	x – Denver Nuggets	47	25	.653	5.0	72
4	x – Los Angeles Clippers	47	25	.653	5.0	72
5	y – Dallas Mavericks *	42	30	.583	10.0	72
6	x – Portland Trail Blazers	42	30	.583	10.0	72

7	x – Los Angeles Lakers	42	30	.583	10.0	72
8	pi – Golden State Warriors	39	33	.542	13.0	72
9	x – Memphis Grizzlies	38	34	.528	14.0	72
10	pi – San Antonio Spurs	33	39	.458	19.0	72

11	New Orleans Pelicans	31	41	.431	21.0	72
12	Sacramento Kings	31	41	.431	21.0	72
13	Minnesota Timberwolves	23	49	.319	29.0	72
14	Oklahoma City Thunder	22	50	.306	30.0	72
15	Houston Rockets	17	55	.236	35.0	72

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Will Barton	56	52	31.0	.426	.381	.785	4.0	3.2	.9	.4	12.7
Bol Bol	32	2	5.0	.431	.375	.667	.8	.2	.1	.3	2.2
Facundo Campazzo	65	19	21.9	.381	.352	.879	2.1	3.6	1.2	.2	6.1
Vlatko Čančar	41	1	6.9	.458	.273	.769	1.2	.3	.3	.0	2.1
Gary Clark	2	0	2.0	.000	.000	.000	.5	.0	.0	.0	.0
PJ Dozier	50	6	21.8	.417	.315	.636	3.6	1.8	.6	.4	7.7
Aaron Gordon	25	25	25.9	.500	.266	.705	4.7	2.2	.7	.6	10.2
JaMychal Green	58	5	19.3	.463	.399	.807	4.8	.9	.4	.4	8.1
R. J. Hampton	25	0	9.3	.417	.278	.750	2.0	.6	.2	.1	2.6
Gary Harris	19	19	30.6	.442	.320	.733	2.5	1.7	.9	.2	9.7
Shaquille Harrison	17	0	16.3	.345	.214	.813	2.3	.9	.9	.3	3.3
Isaiah Hartenstein	30	0	9.1	.513	.000	.611	2.8	.5	.4	.7	3.5
Markus Howard	37	1	5.5	.377	.277	.778	.6	.5	.1	.0	2.8
Nikola Jokić	72	72	34.6	.566	.388	.868	10.8	8.3	1.3	.7	26.4
JaVale McGee	13	1	13.5	.478	.000	.667	5.3	.5	.2	1.1	5.5
Paul Millsap	56	36	20.8	.476	.343	.724	4.7	1.8	.9	.6	9.0
Monté Morris	47	13	25.5	.481	.381	.795	2.0	3.2	.7	.3	10.2
Jamal Murray	48	48	35.5	.477	.408	.869	4.0	4.8	1.3	.3	21.2
Zeke Nnaji	42	1	9.5	.481	.407	.800	1.5	.2	.2	.1	3.2
Michael Porter	61	54	31.3	.542	.445	.791	7.3	1.1	.7	.9	19.0
Austin Rivers	15	5	26.9	.418	.375	.706	2.3	2.6	1.2	.1	8.7
Greg Whittington	4	0	3.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Will Barton	3	1	27.7	.442	.333	1.000	4.3	2.7	.7	.3	16.3
Bol Bol	3	0	2.0	.000	.000	.000	.3	.7	.0	.0	.0
Facundo Campazzo	10	9	27.0	.392	.396	.842	3.0	4.1	1.4	.4	9.3
Vlatko Čančar	5	0	4.2	1.000	1.000	.800	.6	.2	.2	.2	2.2
Aaron Gordon	10	10	29.9	.434	.391	.640	5.4	2.0	.5	.3	11.1
JaMychal Green	10	0	19.0	.444	.300	.889	5.2	1.1	.2	.2	5.4
Shaquille Harrison	9	0	4.4	.750	1.000	.667	.9	.3	.3	.3	1.0
Markus Howard	9	0	12.4	.405	.423	.500	.8	.4	.0	.1	4.7
Nikola Jokić	10	10	34.5	.509	.377	.836	11.6	5.0	.6	.9	29.8
JaVale McGee	4	0	8.5	.300	.000	.333	3.0	.8	.3	1.3	2.0
Paul Millsap	9	0	12.1	.440	.261	.615	3.9	1.7	.3	.7	6.4
Monté Morris	10	1	28.6	.431	.400	.724	2.4	5.5	1.0	.2	13.7
Zeke Nnaji	5	0	3.6	.500	.429	.500	.4	.4	.2	.0	2.4
Michael Porter	10	10	33.2	.474	.397	.810	6.2	1.3	1.1	.3	17.4
Austin Rivers	10	9	30.5	.435	.413	.813	1.7	2.1	.2	.3	9.2

2020–21 Denver Nuggets season

Draft

Roster

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Transactions

Overview

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

See also

References

External links

Wikiwand - on

November 22, 2020^[8]	To Denver Nuggets Cash considerations	To Detroit Pistons Jerami Grant (Sign and trade) Rights to Nikola Radičević (2015 #57)
November 24, 2020^[9]	Four-team trade
	To Denver Nuggets Rights to R. J. Hampton (#24) (from Milwaukee)	To Milwaukee Bucks Jrue Holiday (from New Orleans) Draft rights to Sam Merrill (#60) (from New Orleans)
	To New Orleans Pelicans Steven Adams (from Oklahoma City) Eric Bledsoe (from Milwaukee) 2024 MIL first-round pick swap 2025 MIL first-round pick 2026 MIL first-round pick swap 2027 MIL first-round pick	To Oklahoma City Thunder George Hill (from Milwaukee) Zylan Cheatham (from New Orleans) (Sign and trade) Josh Gray (from New Orleans) (Sign and trade) Darius Miller (from New Orleans) Kenrich Williams (from New Orleans) (Sign and trade) 2023 DEN protected first-round pick 2023 WAS second-round pick (from New Orleans) 2024 NO second-round pick
March 25, 2021^[10]	To Denver Nuggets Aaron Gordon Gary Clark	To Orlando Magic Gary Harris R. J. Hampton 2025 first-round pick
March 25, 2021^[11]	To Denver Nuggets JaVale McGee	To Cleveland Cavaliers Isaiah Hartenstein 2023 protected second-round pick 2027 second-round pick

Player	Signed
Bol Bol^[12]	November 24, 2020 (Converted from two-way contract)
Paul Millsap^[13]	December 3, 2020
Monté Morris^[14]	December 9, 2020

Player	Signed	Former team
Greg Whittington^[15]	November 24, 2020; Two-way contract	Galatasaray
Isaiah Hartenstein^[16]	November 30, 2020	Houston Rockets
Markus Howard^[17]	November 30, 2020; Two-way contract	Marquette
Facundo Campazzo^[18]	November 30, 2020	Real Madrid
JaMychal Green^[19]	November 30, 2020	Los Angeles Clippers
Shaquille Harrison^[20]	April 9, 2021; Two-way contract	Utah Jazz
Austin Rivers^[21]	April 20, 2021; 10-day contract April 30, 2021^[22]	New York Knicks

Date	Player	Reason	New team
November 22, 2020	Jerami Grant^[8]	Free Agency (sign and trade)	Detroit Pistons
November 22, 2020	Keita Bates-Diop^[23]	Waived	San Antonio Spurs
November 26, 2020	Torrey Craig^[24]	Free Agency	Milwaukee Bucks
November 27, 2020	Noah Vonleh^[25]	Free Agency	Chicago Bulls
December 1, 2020	Mason Plumlee^[26]	Free Agency	Detroit Pistons
December 3, 2020	Troy Daniels	Free Agency	Olimpia Milano
December 3, 2020	Tyler Cook^[27]	Free Agency	Minnesota Timberwolves
April 9, 2021	Greg Whittington^[20]	Waived	Lokomotiv Kuban
April 9, 2021	Gary Clark^[20]	Waived	Philadelphia 76ers