Not a soul in Ball Arena is oblivious to the fact that while Nikola Jokic works in the building, annual expectations will always include the word “championship.”

But if that feels like an especially steep climb this season after three consecutive first- or second-round playoff exits, then heed the advice of Nuggets coach David Adelman, who’s managing the pressure by setting goals in increments.

“If you don’t have those expectations, this league is daunting,” he acknowledged Monday when asked about Denver’s title contender status.

Start with the regular season, though, he urged.

“Our expectation is trying to get in the top six,” the second-year coach continued. “If you’re in the top six in the West, you can win the West. I’d love to be (first place). Last year we were three. The year before, we were four. So if you look over the 10 years we’ve had here with these runs, we’ve been in every spot. So we know what it is.”

The Nuggets are part of a club of six incumbent Western Conference playoff teams widely expected to repeat as the top six this season, in some order. They’re joined by the Thunder, Spurs, Timberwolves, Rockets and Lakers.

Falling out of the top six, in the current playoff system, means competing in the dreaded Play-In Tournament, where even the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds are two losses away from elimination. And there could be extra motivation for teams to avoid the Play-In this season in the West because advancing through it will be still perceived as a first-round death sentence. Oklahoma City and San Antonio are favored to be the top two seeds in the conference — the two teams awaiting whichever underdogs emerge from the Play-In.

The Nuggets have hosted a first-round playoff series in four consecutive years — as the No. 1 seed in 2023, No. 2 seed in 2024, No. 4 seed in 2025 and No. 3 seed in 2026. Vegas currently projects them as a No. 3 seed again this season, though Minnesota and Houston are both projected within one win of them.

“We’ve been in really good spots and not won (the championship),” Adelman said. “So you’ve just gotta get in first, and that process is tough. It’s 82. If you’re thinking about something like it’s just a one-off, I don’t think you’re really respecting the whole process of what the NBA is. So my expectation is for us to come out and play extremely hard Thursday (at Oklahoma City), and that starts the process of getting ourselves into that tournament.”

Strawther heads to restricted free agency

The deadline for 2023 draftees to sign contract extensions passed somewhat quietly Monday, with no deal in place for Nuggets guard Julian Strawther. That means the 24-year-old will become a restricted free agent next offseason, after the expiration of his first NBA contract.

Strawther was drafted 29th overall in 2023 by former general manager Calvin Booth. He’s been in and out of the rotation throughout his first three years in the league, but he seemed poised to earn early minutes this season before spraining his left knee in a preseason game last week. The Nuggets have announced that he’ll be reevaluated around Thanksgiving.

Denver signed Christian Braun to his five-year, $125 million extension on the deadline for 2022 draftees last October. The team passed on an extension with Peyton Watson, who went to restricted free agency after a breakout year and landed in Cleveland via sign-and-trade this summer.

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