2018-19 NBA Preview: Power ranking the bubble playoff teams in the Western Conference Playoffs

#8 Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets' young core may need to wait another season to make the playoffs

A summer that saw some real salary-trimming by the Nuggets in order to make room for Jokic's supermax extension leaves them in a much better state financially.

Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler were traded to the Nets and the Sixers respectively, and this hasn't cost them much by means of critical squad depth.

But it still leaves the Nuggets with a tough situation to figure out. Jokic is a transcendental offensive talent but, just like Karl-Anthony Towns, he has been a sieve defensively and is not the ideal anchor for a good defensive team.

That's part of the reason why Mason Plumlee sees significant minutes and often starts for them - he's not a great defender himself, but he's still a better rim protector than Jokic.

Having Paul Millsap in good health through the length of the season has to be among the Nuggets' top priorities, as his absence forces them to field Twin Tower lineups of Jokic and Plumlee way too often.

Gary Harris and Jamal Murray have a great future ahead of them, but given the cut-throat level of competition in the Western Conference this year, I'd rather place my faith on teams and players who've made the playoffs before this than this young core - although the sky is the limit for them.