Seemingly every NBA fan and analyst outside of Denver (and apparently Las Vegas) is out on the Denver Nuggets. With last season’s second-round exit and the subsequent departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the sky, at least in the eyes of most, has already fallen.

The Nuggets’ desire to avoid entanglements with and the restrictions from the new collective bargaining agreement and its accompanying “second apron” have been loudly pooh-poohed on sites and platforms all over the internet.

But here’s the thing, Denver could absolutely be a better team than it was last season.

KCP’s likely replacement in the starting five, Christian Braun, is a rugged, always-engaged defender who’s more capable of guarding up a position or two. Last season, when he was on the floor with Nikola Jokić (still the best player in the world, by the way), his offensive production was surprisingly similar to Caldwell-Pope’s. And he’s nearly a decade younger.

The real difference, though, could be the bench. Non-Jokić minutes have blown past struggle and into full-blown catastrophe over the past few years, but the second unit has been overhauled for the better.

Russell Westbrook had 3.4 estimated wins (the cumulative version of Dunks and Threes’ catch-all metric, estimated plus-minus) last season, which is more than quadruple Reggie Jackson’s total.

Dario Šarić gives the Nuggets something they didn’t really have at all last season, a legitimate, every-night backup center. He might also be the closest thing to a Jokić facsimile (in terms of style, not production or impact, of course) Denver has had in the Jokić era.

Of course, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. will all be back too. And if the Nuggets get even marginal improvements from Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, they could very easily be right back in the mix for the West’s top seed.