The Denver Nuggets are staring at a nightmare they can’t afford to let become real.
When they won the 2023 NBA title, the assumption was simple: with Nikola Jokic in place, Denver would keep living in the championship picture. That’s the bar when you have a three-time MVP running the show.
But the last three seasons have pushed the Nuggets in the wrong direction, with back-to-back second-round exits in 2024 and 2025 followed by a first-round loss in 2026. Two of those postseason defeats came at the hands of Minnesota, which has become a familiar problem for Denver.
That ugly stretch is what makes this offseason so important - and so alarming. The Nuggets came in needing answers, needing fixes, needing real progress if they wanted to stay with the best teams in the West. Instead, the summer has gone badly enough that it opens the door to a much bigger problem next year: Jokic’s future.
There is one major reason Denver still has hope. Jokic has already promised the Nuggets that he will sign an extension next offseason, when he becomes eligible for a five-year, $359.5 million contract. But the NBA has a way of turning promises into pressure points fast, and nothing is locked in until it’s locked in.
Jokic may want to be a Nugget for life, but he also wants to win. Right now, Denver doesn’t look like a championship roster.
The front office has watched Peyton Watson leave for the Cavaliers for nothing more than a couple draft picks. Aaron Gordon is getting older and has well-documented injury troubles.
Jamal Murray is coming off an All-Star season, but he struggled badly in the playoffs, carries a massive contract, and has had health issues of his own. Christian Braun is on a $25 million-a-year deal, but he dealt with injury problems and had a rough season when he was available.
He can still bounce back, but Denver needs that turnaround quickly.
What has the Nuggets’ summer actually produced? DeMar DeRozan and Marvin Bagley in free agency, plus Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins in the draft.
Those moves add some depth, but none of those players are championship-level pieces right now. DeRozan does give Denver a third shot creator, which the roster badly needed, but his shooting and defense are both areas that tend to get picked apart in the playoffs.
That’s the heart of the issue. Denver has slipped from the league’s top tier to a team that looks more like a playoff participant than a real threat to go deep. They have enough to reach the postseason, but not enough defense or athleticism to match the younger contenders sitting near the top of the West.
If another early playoff exit happens next year, the Nuggets could be walking straight into an all-time disaster: losing the greatest player in franchise history. Jokic wants to stay, but he wants to win more than anything else. Whether Denver can give him that is the question hanging over everything.
In Other News...
Nuggets Bench Just Got A Big Upgrade With One Lingering Concern
Denver found a way to add a proven scorer and creator without blowing up its cap sheet, and the move immediately gives the bench a different look. DeRozan brings offense, playmaking and the kind of veteran presence that can steady second units, which matters for a team with limited flexibility and few appealing options in the veteran minimum market.
The fit still comes with a familiar question attached, though, because his game can squeeze spacing and invite defensive concerns. ESPNs B grade reflected that balance, treating the signing as a solid value play for the Nuggets while leaving the larger basketball test to how well his production translates when he is asked to help anchor reserve minutes. [Read more 🡒]
Former Nugget Blames One Denver Decision For The Title Core's Slide
Michael Porter Jr. used a recent podcast appearance to look back at a turning point for the Nuggets, pointing to one roster decision as the start of the title cores decline. His comments added another layer to a summer that has already seen Denver make a series of financial choices aimed at reshaping the roster and salary structure, including moves involving Porter and Peyton Watson.
The former Nuggets remarks put a spotlight on how fragile championship windows can be when balance around the stars starts to shift. Caldwell-Pope spent two seasons in Denver before moving on to Orlando, and the aftershocks of that departure have been felt in the way the Nuggets have had to keep adjusting their lineup and budget. [Read more 🡒]
Peyton Watsons Nuggets Goodbye Carries A Bigger Message For Denver
Peyton Watsons exit from Denver came with the kind of polished, sincere goodbye that usually lands hardest when a franchise has already moved on. After four years with the Nuggets, the wing was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a multi-team sign-and-trade that sent future draft picks back to Denver, closing a run that included steady growth and a breakout offensive season. Soon after, Watson took to Instagram to thank the organization, his teammates, coaches and the fans who watched him develop from a young project into a useful rotation piece.
Watsons message carried extra weight because it read less like a standard farewell than a reminder of what Denver is balancing every summer: continuity, cost, and the reality that rising players eventually price themselves out of familiar roles. The Nuggets clearly valued what he became, but the trade also underscored how quickly the roster picture can change when future assets and long-term flexibility enter the equation. For a team still trying to stay at the top of the West, losing a player who had started to hit his stride is the sort of move that can be felt well beyond one transaction. [Read more 🡒]