Good feelings can change on a whim in the NBA, but it doesn’t sound like the Denver Nuggets will be pursuing a significant upheaval of their current roster. After pushing the dominant Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games despite having a short (and unhealthy) rotation led by three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, along with end-of-season drama related to firing their former head coach and ex-general manager, the Nuggets seem content.
Hmm, maybe “content” is the wrong phrasing.
“Champing at the bit” to give their 2023 NBA championship core one more bite at the apple, perhaps? Prepared to “heartily” wring out at least one more great season from the winningest team in the Western Conference this decade?
Yeah, that’s it. So, I’m not going to say anyone dreaming about a Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kevin Durant team-up with Jokić this offseason is entirely out of their wits. However, both of those kinds of moves would require a huge shake-up that the salary-cap strapped Nuggets don’t appear all that eager to make. Honestly, perhaps even acquiring someone like the Brooklyn Nets’ Cam Johnson doesn’t feel super feasible right now.
The Nuggets are probably going to (mostly) stand pat this summer.
JOKIĆ CHIMES IN: Nuggets’ superstar has strong opinion on Denver’s main problem
Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke hinted at the franchise’s direction during head coach David Adelman’s introductory press conference on Wednesday. One choice of words stuck out to me:
“I can also say very clearly that this organization [the Nuggets] does not need a cultural reset,” Kroenke told a contingent of reporters on Wednesday. “I think anyone that was in and around that dressing room for the last six weeks [Denver’s 2025 playoff run] could probably say that was a very unified group. And while I understand pressure might have brought some of that unification, I also think it was people in the locker room … and from what I saw in how the players responded, our culture is still there. We just needed to peel off a few things, have a small reset, and I think we’re ready to go forward.”
Hmm. Culture can be a loaded word in sports, let alone specifically the NBA. It can apply to so much and can be pretty cliche. But in this case, I think it’s apparent Kroenke is using “culture” to assert that he thinks a championship core featuring Jokić, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and breakout guard Christian Braun is good enough to capture another title next June. He thinks they’re revitalized.
Ever the Company Man ready to install his coaching principles and his system with his coaching staff, Adelman echoed Kroenke’s thought process by just stating his goals.
Adelman wants a 9-10 man regular-season rotation that gives the core more of a rope to extend itself in the postseason. He wants every Nuggets player to continue communicating and taking active responsibility for one another, while he acts as more of a tactical advisor. He wants to dial back aspects of the Nuggets’ offensive pace so they can be an elite half-court squad again after they became a transition-heavy team in 2024. Also, he’s hoping the Nuggets get off to a better start in 2025 so they have more of a margin for error at the end of the regular season and can save energy for the playoffs.
Hold up. Wait a minute. These goals are extensive in practice but generally seem quite … modest?
That’s because these are not statements from a coach expecting to lead a roster in transition. This is not a coach saying he doesn’t have enough to win. (Not that I’d expect Adelman to say something like that at his introductory presser for his first full-time NBA head coaching gig, but you get it.) These are declarative objectives from a coach who already has an established rapport with his locker room. This is a coach who also wants to lean heavily on internal improvement as the natural progressive step for his experienced team.
Because as it stands, the Nuggets’ core remains championship caliber.
The Nuggets’ top five, in itself, is good enough to compete for titles. I don’t think their 2025 playoff run was fool’s gold. They still have the juice. But the Nuggets’ overall roster is not championship caliber. Until further notice, they don’t have enough good players to make it through the arduous two-month journey of the NBA playoffs.
That’s the rub with the Nuggets flirting with running it back, which I don’t think is rooted in complacency (as long as they do it properly).
They may be aligned as a franchise again. Don’t discount how important it is to have everyone pulling in the same direction. (Look at who the Nuggets were before the playoffs.) They may still have the best player in the world in his prime. They may still have a host of fringe All-Star-caliber players as his primary running mates. And they may have a young hotshot coach ready to push all the right buttons.
These are things worth writing home about.
But the Nuggets counting on internal improvement from young players like Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson alone won’t bring them back to the NBA’s summit. This team needs more optionality in the form of capable and affordable veterans who are chasing rings. It needs more reliable backup plans for when the young prospects or even one of the core guys is having an off-night or is sitting out. It’ll mean navigating a tough salary cap situation that is likely, on some level, going to partly restrict their potential opportunities for major change.
That’s life in the NBA now. There are no excuses if you consider yourself a title contender with an all-time player like Jokić.
The Nuggets should be OK to run back their main cast of characters for at least one more season. But they need fresh blood somewhere. You know, at least a couple of real supporting actors on the bench who can contribute on a nightly basis, and shift the locker room vibe in a healthy way, if only slightly.
At a minimum, that shouldn’t be too much to ask.
Anything less, and the Nuggets are practically begging for another devastating second-round exit.