Obviously they are all worse and lesser talents (although Harris v Thompson is IMO not that far in terms of ultimate potential), but they play like mini-Warriors, they space the floor very well and Jokic is far better than any center Golden State have had recently. I had Iguodala not Durant on my mind with Millsap though, obviously they are far from being able to attract a Durant but Golden State before Durant were already a fantastic side. It really is a similar team in terms of how it has grown, and I've seen a comparison of 2017-18 Nuggets to 2013-14 Warriors and it made sense. Of course the chance of them becoming a 70+ win team are basically close to zero, but it's not the point.
They could end up being a great offensive team with average defense, although if they start playing team defense better it might get to a point where it doesn't hurt them nearly as much as it might if they don't address the issue. The balance they have on their offense is already spectacular, some of the plays from that Milwaukee game and the previous ones that I've seen were out of this world and a pure joy to watch.
Lyles has also been great for them and is young enough to improve a lot.
I'm not really talking them up as a short-term contender, more as a team who will play very fun basketball for several years to come and at some point might be in championship conversations. When Murray, Harris, Lyles and Jokic hit their peak, Warriors stars will be past their best already. Philadelphia have better outlook for the next decade because of their much superior defense but on the other hand, there aren't any major issues with the health of any of Nuggets prime talents while there are obviously question marks over how long Embiid can sustain high level play without getting hurt. Simmons is on a completely different level to anyone in this conversation though, and if he adds a shot to his game (and he will add a shot, I am confident of that), he will be unplayable.
They seem to have the same issues as us though, i.e. great backcourt but not amazing wings, plenty of money locked into players who are not going to elevate them to a contender (Millsap, IMO it wasn't a great deal, Faried etc.), although our backcourt is better (but also much older) and our center is worse offensive (but superior defensively). Neither of us have any hope at small forward, and both of us seem to have several ways to address the power forward issue but Denver has it better.
