Every week during the offseason, Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto will take you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets:

The Denver Nuggets’ starting five is set, but there’s still some interesting questions to answer ahead of the start of the season.

Jamal Murray: Can the regular season look like your postseasons?

The highest-scoring regular season of Murray’s career – 21.2 points in 2020-21 – is lower than his lowest postseason scoring average of 21.3 points back in the 2019 playoffs. Murray has averaged at least 26 points in each of the last two playoff runs, while also averaging more points and assists per game. Part of that is the extra five or so minutes he plays in the postseason, but there should be ample opportunity for Murray to be a 25-5-5 guy this year. That would likely get him an invitation to the All-Star Game and even bigger payday in the offseason. When Murray’s acting as a scorer and a playmaker, the Nuggets offense becomes even more unstoppable.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Can you have another career year on 3 and D?

KCP’s first season in Denver produced career-best marks in a couple of crucial categories. He made the most of Nikola Jokic’s ability to get him the ball from anywhere on the court by shooting a career-best 42.3 percent from 3-point range on more than four attempts per game. His 1.5 steals per game, another high mark in his 10-year career, were just as important on the other end. The role will look largely the same this season with the Nuggets relying on him to provide spacing with his shooting ability and guard the opponents’ top perimeter threat. It’s sneaky important he can have a similarly productive second season with the Nuggets.

Michael Porter Jr.: What was your takeaway from the Finals?

Porter probably wants another shot on basketball’s biggest stage, but he can be better off following his first trip. His best 3-point shooting performance of the Finals was a 2-for-11 outing in Game 1. He finished the five-game series 4 for 28 from 3. Though the shooting was a struggle – his last make was a massive one that put the Nuggets up 3 late in the third quarter – he made a positive impact when he continued to rebound, defend and get easy buckets off of cuts and offensive rebounds during the struggles. A continuation of that trend will be especially important with Bruce Brown out of the picture.

Aaron Gordon: How ya’ feeling?

No one had more difficult assignments during Denver’s playoff run. It started with Karl-Anthony Towns and some Anthony Edwards and continued with the likes of Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Jimmy Butler. Gordon, aka the most interesting man on the Nuggets, deserved every vacation abroad this offseason. While he has plenty of time to prepare for what the team hopes is another demanding playoff run, it’s important he starts the season fresh. He seems to have everything else figured out about his role with this team.

Nikola Jokic: Where did you get better this offseason?

Somehow, some way Jokic manages to get just a little bit better every offseason. Last year, Jokic used Murray and Porter’s respective returns to shoot 63.2% from the field and average 9.8 assists per game, both career highs. One possible area for improvement comes from 3. While his 38.3% mark is the third best of his career, his 2.2 attempts per game is the lowest since his second NBA season. Teams still seem willing to live with Jokic shooting 3s, so shooting a similar percentage on closer to four or five attempts per game would be an easy way for Jokic to maintain his offensive output and save some energy for what’s expected to be another long and demanding season.

WHAT I’M THINKING

Just because Nicola Jokic isn’t interested in becoming an American celebrity doesn’t mean he’s destined to cut his NBA career short.

The conversation linking the two things was brought back to social media feeds this week following an Austin Rivers appearance on Bill Simmons’ podcast. Simmons asked Rivers, who spent a couple of seasons with the Nuggets, how long he thinks Jokic will play. Rivers said there was “no chance” Jokic plays until he’s 39, but he thought five or six more seasons sounded about right. That would have Jokic finishing his career at 34 or 35.

“I don’t think he really gives a (crap) about the American pop culture and trends and fame and relevance,” Rivers said. “Those things just don’t interest him like really, deeply to a core. The things that do interest him aren’t those things. I don’t see him hanging around. He’s already a champion. He’s an All-Star. He’s an MVP.”

The insinuation is Jokic doesn’t love the game enough to tolerate a few extra years in America. Simmons cited Jokic’s preference to spend most of the offseason in Serbia, as if spending the offseason closest to his other passions – family and horse racing, in some order – proves he would cut his career short.

Jokic’s actions seem to provide a counterargument.

The work he puts in to continually improve even after he became a perennial All-Star and two-time Most Valuable Player indicates a certain level of competitive fire and love for the game. He does roughly an hour of maintenance, whether that’s stretching or getting an extra lift in, after just about every game. He’s long since reached a point where he could get content, but he hasn’t. One championship is not going to change that.

Jokic hasn’t publicly made any concrete declarations about the intended length of his NBA career. Doing so would be very unlike Jokic. It all feels like correlation not being causation.

The season can’t start soon enough.

WHAT I’M READING

The 76ers and James Harden are wading into dangerous waters.

The point guard still hasn’t had his trade request granted with the Philadelphia heading to Fort Collins for training camp next week. A holdout looks likely if he’s still on the roster a week from now. Gina Mizell looks at Philadelphia’s options should Harden decide to hold out for the Inquirer. Spoiler alert – there aren’t many great options on the 76ers roster at the moment.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

The Nuggets’ G League coach, Andre Miller, got some love from Andre Iguodala during a recent appearance on “The Old Man and the Three” podcast. Host JJ Redick asked Iguodala who are the smartest players he’s ever played with. Iggy didn’t miss a beat before bringing up his former teammate with the 76ers and Nuggets.

“Andre Miller taught me so much. Like, he was soft-spoken and didn’t say much. On the court, he would always ask me ‘What do you see?’ I’m like year three (or) four, so I see things but not on his level or not to the level I see things now. Back then, I’m still learning, and I can’t answer this question. … But, the more he asked me, the more I would go back and watch film, like, I’m going to have an answer for him every time he asks me.”

Sounds like a good guy to have teaching some of the Nuggets’ young talents in Grand Rapids.

THE LIST

The clock is ticking on the Trail Blazers and 76ers to get deals done for Damian Lillard and James Harden, respectively. While the Heat (Lillard) and Clippers (Harden) have long been considered the most likely destinations, here are the five other teams that should make some calls.

1. Raptors

Scottie Barnes, last year’s Rookie of the Year, should be the most attainable young talent on the market after a somewhat disappointing sophomore season. A deal built around Barnes for Lillard or Harden would turn the Raptors into a contender in the east and officially start Portland’s total rebuild. Philadelphia’s situation is a bit more complicated with Joel Embiid likely not interested in hanging around for a rebuild.

2. Pelicans

Ideally, New Orleans would be able to pair their new star guard with Zion Williamson, but there was some smoke this offseason that the relationship between the Pelicans and the young forward was souring. Williamson, who’s struggle with different injuries in his young career, would be a great gamble for a team looking to rebuild. Between Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, CJ McCollum and a bunch of draft assets at their disposal, New Orleans might be able to pull off a deal without including Williamson.

3. Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns would likely need to be involved for Tim Connelly’s front office to get much traction. It’s doubtful Philadelphia wants to try a twin towers lineup with Towns and Embiid, making Portland is the more likely trade partner. Lillard would take a lot of pressure off Anthony Edwards, while Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert make up for some of the defensive shortcomings.

4. Bulls

If Philadelphia’s looking to get something back for Harden that could keep them competitive immediately, they should start dialing 312 area codes. The DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine partnership hasn’t worked out, and it looks like the Bulls will again be without Lonzo Ball this season. Harden’s presence would certainly give Chicago a different look after a disappointing last few seasons.

5. Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo has subtly put pressure on Milwaukee’s front office to maximize the remainder of his prime. What better way to do that than trade for another star. Milwaukee’s front office has already shown a willingness to swing big when they traded for Jrue Holiday in 2020, a move that helped them win the 2021 title. Making another move of that caliber would be tough, given Holiday (33) and Khris Middleton (32) ages and a lack of tradeable future draft picks in the wake of the Holiday trade.