The Denver Nuggets are not on the come-up. After winning the 2023 NBA Finals, they lost in the second round of the 2024 playoffs to the Minnesota Timberwolves and failed to make any meaningful moves this offseason.
Nikola Jokić expressed displeasure with the roster after their first game of the season, a 102-87 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“We don’t shoot the ball well,” Jokić told media members on Thursday.. “We are not a good shooting team. Except probably Mike (Porter Jr.) and then Jamal (Murray), all of us are kind of streaky.”
The Nuggets signed Russell Westbrook to be their backup point guard this summer, but he only made one of his six attempts from deep. As a team, the Nuggets shot only 35.7% from deep.
Denver has $146 million tied up in Jokić, Murray, Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon this season alone, and don’t have the financial flexibility–or draft capital–to make a trade or sign a free agent to improve their shooting.
Add in strife between general manager Calvin Booth and head coach Michel Malone, and the Nuggets seem to be on the decline. Should Denver fizzle out this season and not re-establish themselves as the premier team in the Western Conference, trade rumors will likely rumble.
Porter Jr., Gordon, and Murray would all fetch a hefty return, but the white whale (so to speak) remains Jokić. The three-time MVP is not going to settle for being on just a playoff team, and unless Denver can build a capable roster around him, which seems unlikely with each passing game, the Nuggets will have some very difficult choices to make.
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