The West keeps moving, and the Denver Nuggets have stayed still.
That’s the uncomfortable reality sitting at the center of the conference right now. The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to trade blows for years to come, while other teams have found ways to push forward.
The Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks all made recent moves to get better. The Lakers moved on from LeBron James and built a roster better suited to play around Luka Doncic.
The Minnesota Timberwolves got busy, too, bringing in LaMelo Ball, a proven All-Star and facilitator to run the offense.
Denver, meanwhile, did not make the kind of move that changes the conversation.
That matters because the Nuggets are no longer being talked about like the team to chase. They won the title in 2023, but in Nikola Jokic’s prime they have reached only two Conference Finals.
For a team with a three-time MVP at the center of everything, that’s a thin return. And the league’s best players are now widely seen as Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic, in whatever order you prefer - but the gap around Jokic’s team is widening.
On The Athletic NBA Daily, Es Baraheni put it bluntly: "They were very clearly behind in the playoffs," said Es Baraheni on The Athletic NBA Daily. "The Thunder have passed them.
The Spurs are probably past them as well at this point as a perennial Western Conference powerhouse. And it kind of feels like they are now on the tail end or the second half of their prime; they needed to make some sort of shift, whether it was trading Jamal Murray, whether it was shaking things up with Aaron Gordon or finding a way to rejig their team with Cam Johnson and Christian Braun.
There was just something that they had to do, and they haven't done that."
Denver’s hands are tied somewhat by the second apron, but the argument here is simple: there were paths to change. Gordon or Murray could have been moved to reshape the roster and bring in more versatility. Instead, the Nuggets kept the group intact and watched the standings around them change.
That leaves them looking up not just at the very top of the West, but at the next wave, too. After losing to the Jaden McDaniels-led Wolves in the first round - without Anthony Edwards - Denver is already looking like a team that has fallen behind even the second tier of Western talent.
In Other News...
Spurs Could Face A Brutal Devin Vassell Decision Soon
The Spurs are heading toward one of those good problems that can still get uncomfortable in a hurry. With Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper all due to push the payroll higher as their extensions and team control years stack up, San Antonio is staring at a future where keeping the core together gets much harder than building it in the first place. Devin Vassell sits right in the middle of that conversation as a proven, long-term piece whose value to the roster is obvious, but whose contract also adds to the financial squeeze.
What makes this delicate is the league's new reality, where teams have to plan years ahead just to avoid getting trapped by the second apron and the roster restrictions that come with it. San Antonio does not need to make a rushed move today, but the path forward will force some hard choices, whether that means trimming elsewhere, reshaping the depth chart or eventually deciding which veterans fit into the next financial tier. For a team with real ambition and a young core worth protecting, the margin for error is getting smaller. [Read more 🡒]
Stephon Castle Decision Could Shape Spurs' Long-Term Title Window
The latest debate around rookie extensions has a direct Spurs angle, because Stephon Castle is already being viewed as the kind of young cornerstone who could force a bigger financial decision down the line. ESPNs Bobby Marks recently pointed to a changing market for top picks and used Zaccharie Risachers move to Dallas as part of the backdrop, but San Antonios situation feels different with Castle developing inside a system built around patience, structure and long-range planning.
For the Spurs, the question is not just whether Castle earns a rookie max extension, but how that choice would fit into the broader salary-cap picture around a team that hopes to stay in title contention for years. Victor Wembanyama set a clear precedent for how the organization handles elite young talent, and Castles progression could determine whether San Antonio has to make some difficult roster math work sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Face A Tough Question About Their Young Core
Victor Wembanyama and Dylan Harper are the kind of young pieces the Spurs are building around without much hesitation. Both are viewed as untouchable as San Antonio keeps shaping its future, and that gives the franchise a clear center of gravity as it looks to climb back into contention. Around them, the organization still has real flexibility, with draft capital and other players available to use if the right opportunity surfaces.
Stephon Castle sits in a more complicated spot, even as the expectation is that he stays put. His name comes up because he has value in a way most young players do not, and that matters for a team trying to balance patience with urgency. The Spurs are not short on assets, which means they have the kind of options that can change quickly if a big deal starts to make sense. [Read more 🡒]