The Denver Nuggets are about to get a major facelift at Ball Arena, but the part of the building players actually use every day is still getting left behind.
On Wednesday, it was announced that the arena will receive a $135 million upgrade that will be rolled out over the next two to three years. The plans include a modernized look for the building, plus a new expansion to the east atrium. The renderings show a large video screen hanging over the grassy areas on the side of the arena as fans enter.
It’s a big project, and it’s clearly meant to enhance the fan experience. What it doesn’t do is solve a problem that has followed the Nuggets for years: their practice setup remains stuck in 1999.
Since Ball Arena opened in downtown Denver in 1999, the Nuggets have practiced in the same facilities built inside the building. That means the same one-court gym they’ve used for decades - the auxiliary gym, the one that feels more like a JV setup than a modern NBA practice space. For all the money going into the arena itself, the team’s actual working environment still hasn’t been touched.
That matters because practice facilities have become part of the sell for players around the league. At the end of last season, The Athletic polled players on what they value most in a franchise when it comes to “player comforts,” and a “high-end” practice facility was one of the items on the list. The Nuggets don’t have one.
Maybe that never becomes the deciding factor in a free agent’s choice. Maybe it never costs Denver a player. But it’s not hard to see how it could one day.
Players notice it, too. Former Nugget Michael Porter Jr. didn’t exactly spell out a complaint after he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, but he made the point pretty clear when he joked about the difference in Brooklyn: “I'm just glad y'all got two courts. Because over there we had the one court.”
The strange part is that Kroenke Sports Entertainment has shown it can spend on these kinds of amenities. The company has invested in practice facilities for other teams it owns, including the Los Angeles Rams and the Colorado Rapids. Yet for the Nuggets - and the Avalanche, too - the upgrade still hasn’t happened.
So Ball Arena is getting shinier. More modern.
Better for fans. But the place where the Nuggets prepare for games is still the same old setup, and that gap keeps getting harder to ignore.
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Nuggets Add Intriguing Wing With Something To Prove In Camp
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Entering his fourth NBA season, Whitmore has already logged time with Houston and Washington and brings a rsum that includes 119 career games and an average of 10.5 points and 3.3 rebounds. For a Nuggets team that likes to keep its options open at the back end of the roster, this is the kind of low-risk addition that can become interesting quickly if a player arrives with something to prove. [Read more 🡒]
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Peyton Watson Exit Leaves Nuggets With One Frustrating What-If
Peyton Watsons move to Cleveland closed one of the more intriguing development stories from Denvers recent roster churn, and it comes with the kind of lingering curiosity that always hangs around a player who seemed to be finding his lane. In a sign-and-trade that sent him to the Cavaliers on a four-year, $88 million contract, Watson said in his introductory press conference that playing next to Nikola Jokic helped shape his basketball IQ and overall mentality, a reminder of how much the Nuggets core can accelerate a young players learning curve.
For Denver, the frustrating part is that Watsons growth never stopped looking unfinished. His most productive stretch last season came when Jokic was out, and he looked more assertive and more comfortable as a creator in those minutes. The Nuggets can point to real progress, but they also have to live with the question of what Watson might have become if there had been a little more time for that partnership to develop. [Read more 🡒]