The Nuggets will hold their training camp at Creighton University in Omaha, NE this year. Coach Michael Malone has not been able to practice to his satisfaction with the full pre-season complement of players in the Nuggets' own facilities. Last year the Nuggets ran training camp at the Olympic Training Center down in Colorado Springs, but this year they are leaving the state entirely. Per the inestimable Chris Dempsey at the Denver Post:
Dempsey did state that the Colorado Buffaloes practice facilities were also considered, but regardless, that puts the Nuggets among a dwindling number of teams that are still farming out that practice instead of planning it in-house.
NBA teams are increasingly building elaborate practice facilities that can cost upwards of $50 million in order to properly train their players and keep them around the team more in their "off time." From the Sports Business Daily article:
NBA clubs designing new practice facilities are giving their players a little space.
The newest trend has teams breaking with the practice of building the facilities into or adjacent to their arenas. It’s being driven by the desire to give players an exclusive space for training, conditioning and relaxing without the daily distractions of a big-city arena.
The Sacramento Kings are bucking the new movement, attaching their practice facility to Golden 1 Center, their new arena. But elsewhere, teams are developing a greater comfort zone for their players and using advances in sport science and technology to try to provide a competitive edge.
Some teams allow civic use of the facilities, some are selling naming rights, but however the teams defray costs they are definitely committing to putting serious money behind these training facilities.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets are asking colleges and national team venues to provide them with the courts and facilities they need to properly get their preseason work in. If there are plans to build their own state-of-the-art practice facility as many teams have enacted, there's been no announcement. Not every team currently has one on the slate, but even those that may not have their own facility still find a way to treat their players. Take the Miami Heat, for instance:
The Heat are taking their players to the Bahamas to party and train, while the Nuggets are going to Creighton, which can afford better facilities with its enrollment of 8,000 than Denver has for itself.
In the last couple of years the Nuggets have revamped the locker room and added the giant scoreboard and hologram projection system. The practice and training facilities have to be the next thing on the docket, though - those perks are incredibly important in both player recruitment and increasing player time at the facilities to (as Nuggets strength and conditioning guru Steve Hess would say) "get bettah."
The Denver Nuggets can't afford to be a have-not on that front if they intend to be players on the free agent front in the coming years. Hopefully there is an announcement for facilities like that from the Nuggets in the coming year. In the meantime welcome to Omaha, Nuggets players!