The Nuggets keep finding new ways to make life harder on themselves, and Oklahoma City has every reason to sit back and enjoy it.
Denver entered the summer needing to clean things up after a first-round exit to Minnesota in the 2026 playoffs, the first time its season ended that early since 2022. Instead, the situation looks rougher now than it did when the offseason began. The biggest reason: Peyton Watson is gone after Wednesday’s sign-and-trade.
The return helps on paper, but not much in the present. Denver got a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick via the Kings, but those assets do nothing for a team that needs help right now unless they’re flipped in another deal.
And another deal may be coming. The Nuggets need to make a trade to get below the second tax apron, assuming that’s still the goal after they matched OKC’s offer sheet for Spencer Jones. That’s the kind of move that says the front office is trying to thread a very tight financial needle, not build momentum.
That leaves Denver looking like a team that is, at best, treading water. Watson is out, the upgrade they wanted never arrived, and the roster still leans heavily on Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. Beyond that, Christian Braun needs to bounce back, and Aaron Gordon needs to stay healthy - a big ask, especially when Gordon is so central to their defense.
The broader picture hasn’t been flattering for Denver either. Over the past three years, the Thunder have been the better team, even if Denver pushed them to seven games in the 2025 semifinals.
That series mattered only in the sense that it showed the Nuggets could hang around. It didn’t change the larger trend.
And that trend keeps pointing downward. Denver won it all in 2023, but since then the slide has been hard to ignore. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City’s biggest threat in the West is now San Antonio, not Denver.
That doesn’t mean the Thunder can dismiss the Nuggets completely. Jokić and Murray are still there, and that alone keeps Denver relevant.
But for Oklahoma City fans, watching the Nuggets navigate this offseason has become less about concern and more about amusement. The Thunder don’t need to obsess over what Denver is doing.
They can just laugh at it.
In Other News...
Thunder Face A Painful Choice As The West Gets Tougher
The Thunder have spent the past three regular seasons setting the pace in the Western Conference, but this one may ask something different of them. With roster changes and injury concerns now part of the conversation, Oklahoma City is staring at a familiar dilemma with a less familiar twist: whether to keep chasing the top seed or start thinking more carefully about the long game, especially with the 2026-27 playoffs in mind.
San Antonio has emerged as one of the teams capable of pushing that race, and the West is no longer a place where the Thunder can assume the path will stay clear. For Oklahoma City, the bigger issue may not be who finishes first in the standings, but how much wear the roster absorbs along the way, with availability and minutes management likely to become central as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]
Isaiah Hartenstein Gets Real About Thunder Losing Lu Dort
The Thunders offseason cost-saving moves have already changed the feel of a championship roster that had just settled into place, and Isaiah Hartenstein is among the players left to process it. Oklahoma City moved on from three rotational pieces from its 2025 title team as it worked to keep its books in order for the 2026-27 season, even as Hartenstein agreed to a long-term deal and took less money to help the club stay under the salary cap.
Among the departures, Lu Dorts exit hit especially hard. Hartenstein said he was sad to see Dort go, even while acknowledging how quickly the NBA can turn into a numbers game, and he now heads to the Atlanta Hawks as the Thunder try to keep their core intact around the pieces still in place. [Read more 🡒]
Buddy Boeheims Thunder Role Says A Lot About OKCs System
Buddy Boeheims first season tied to Oklahoma City showed exactly how the Thunder like to use the fringes of their roster. After signing a two-way deal, he spent most of his time in the G League, where his value came from floor spacing and being a steady, veteran presence around younger players. In a system built on development and flexibility, that kind of role matters even when the minutes at the NBA level are scarce.
For Boeheim, the bigger question is what comes next, and it sounds like the door remains open with Oklahoma Citys G League affiliate. The Thunder have made a habit of squeezing value from players who can fill a very specific lane, and Boeheims season fits that model neatly. His year ended with a final grade that reflected modest on-court production, but also a clear understanding of where he fits in the organizations broader pipeline. [Read more 🡒]