There are different ways to build championship-caliber basketball teams, and the two participants in the NBA Finals have perfectly embodied those ideals ahead of Game 1 on Thursday night in Denver.
The success of both the Nuggets and the Heat have been borne out of homegrown development, be it via the draft or in uncovering undrafted talent.
With the exception of Miami’s signing of All-Star forward Jimmy Butler in 2019, the two teams have shown that it’s not always about which front office can procure and align the top free-agent talent available in the high-priced summertime marketplace.
Denver’s top three players were its own draft picks, led by stud center Nikola Jokic.
He has transformed himself from a 2014 second-round selection (41st overall) out of Serbia into a two-time league MVP and triple-double machine who has led the franchise to its first Finals appearance in 47 years of existence.
Combo guard Jamal Murray (seventh overall, 2016) also is fully back as a potent scorer after he missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn ACL.
Small forward Michael Porter Jr. (14th overall, 2018) has become a viable third option after dealing with serious back injuries early in his career.
The Nuggets also have filled out their roster with shrewd pickups of contributors such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Aaron Gordon, and bench veterans Bruce Brown and Jeff Green.
The Heat and head coach Erik Spoelstra won two titles and made the Finals four times with imported stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh playing alongside homegrown Hall of Fame guard Dwyane Wade between 2011 and 2014.
But the lauded “Heat culture” fostered by Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley has taken on new meaning this spring.
Their roster boasts seven undrafted players — including Caleb Martin, Gabe Vincent and Max Strus — to complement main cogs Butler, All-Star center Bam Adebayo and 2022 Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro, who could return during the series after he broke his right hand during the first round of the playoffs.
The Heat have joined the 1999 Knicks as the only No. 8 seeds to reach the championship round, but Nuggets coach Michael Malone — whose father, Brendan, was a member of Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching staff in New York 24 years ago — immediately shot down the significance of that.
“You get to the NBA Finals, it’s not about seeding anymore,” Malone said Tuesday. “And for those who are thinking that this is going to be an easy series, I don’t even know what to say to you people.
“This is going to be the biggest challenge of our lives. This is the NBA Finals. You’re trying to win the first NBA championship in franchise history, and it’s going to be the hardest thing that we’ve ever done, which is the way it should be.”
Green, a 16-year NBA veteran who comes off the bench for the Nuggets, also stressed that the Western Conference champs have “a lot of respect” for the Heat, who took out the top-seeded Bucks, the Knicks and the Celtics in the first three rounds after qualifying through the play-in tournament.
“They’ve created a culture. It’s their way, and it works,” Green said. “They established something that’s been beneficial to them, that’s gotten them to places over and over and over that a lot of teams haven’t.“Much respect to them. Much respect to Spo, how he gives his guys confidence to go out there and produce no matter who’s on the floor, and obviously Pat is Pat. He’s been doing his thing in this league for a long-ass time. You’ve got to give respect where respect is due.”
Gordon, a 27-year-old forward, has been used as the primary defender against various top players on the Nuggets’ opponents throughout the playoffs.
He at times has guarded either Karl-Anthony Towns or Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves, Kevin Durant of the Suns and LeBron James or Anthony Davis of the Lakers.
Gordon, acquired from Orlando in a deadline deal in 2022, likely will draw the primary assignment of trying to slow Butler — who is averaging 28.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists while shooting 48.3 percent from the field in the playoffs.
“We’ve got the utmost respect for them. They fight and they scrap, and they have no quit in them,” Gordon said. “They play through 48 minutes a game and more, if necessary. They play fearless. They play disciplined. They’re well-coached and have some guys that have been there before and have some guys that have chips on their shoulder. “We’re not looking at the seeding or the story around it. This is a very talented basketball team, professional basketball team, and all those guys over there got game. So we respect it.”
The Nuggets have not played since they finished their sweep of the Lakers on May 22, but they have gone 42-7 in their high-altitude home arena this season, including 8-0 in the playoffs.
The Heat, meanwhile, have stolen Game 1 on the road in each of their first three playoff rounds.
“We never thought it would be easy. Going through these playoffs, going through this season, up and down, good, bad, through the adversity, still nobody let go of the rope,” said Adebayo, who will draw the Jokic assignment for the Heat. “I’m happy the way my teammates played the way they did. Caleb [Martin] definitely made a name for himself, and obviously Jimmy is being Jimmy. The biggest thing for us is to just keep going.”
