The New York Knicks made it look relatively easy on their way to the franchise's first NBA Championship in 53 years. They were 16-3 in the playoffs with a 13-0 stretch that will go down as one of the greatest runs in postseason history. Over the past couple of seasons, the Knicks have been building up to this moment. They signed Jalen Brunson, made the right trades, and showed the Nuggets how they can replicate the same formula to keep their title window open in the middle of a retooling.
The Nuggets can't be afraid to make the tough trades and pay the fines to win. That's what the Knicks have done. The Knicks are $19.5 million over the luxury tax this year, and it's the second year in a row they have gone into the tax. The Nuggets had gone into the tax three years in a row, but ducked it last year so they could try to set up to duck it again this year to avoid the extra fines of the repeater tax.
History shows the Nuggets should not avoid paying the taxes
You can add the Knicks to the list of teams that have paid the tax and come out victorious at the end of the season. Since 2015-16, 8 of the 10 NBA Champions have been luxury tax payers, and the two that were not were the Oklahoma City Thunder last year and the 73-9 Golden State Warriors in 2016-17.
It's called a luxury tax for a reason. It can help you win a championship by going over the salary cap and paying for it. And the owners of the Nuggets, the Kroenke's, have some of the deepest pockets in the entire sport. They can afford the Nikola Jokic tax. The cost of paying a max contract and tying up so much of the payroll. It's the Nuggets' best chance to build a better roster around Joker.
The Nuggets need to follow the Knicks playbook
The Knicks made the tough calls through trades over the past three years that put them in a position to win. After signing Brunson, the Knicks built their starting lineup around him. They traded for OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
And Brunson helped the team by making a savvy move, taking less money on his contract extension in hopes of helping the team win a championship, and it worked. If only that could happen on Jokic's contract extension this summer, to help in the future, because a large part of the problem the Nuggets face on their salary cap hit is the big number Joker receives. Not that he isn't worth it, but if the team is going to be cheap, he could help his own-championship cause down the road.
The Nuggets don't need to take a gap year, try to rebuild for a championship, and duck the tax. They need to trade the big pieces, like Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon, to address the gaps around Jokic, such as perimeter defense and rim protection. And as history shows, paying the tax is usually part of the path to a championship. It's the Nuggets' best way to try and win while keeping the championship window wide open.
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