Reports of the Nuggets’ demise were greatly exaggerated. In fact, they’re now favored to win their series with the Timberwolves after a Game 5 win to pull the series back to 3-2. Sure, a lot of that has to do with the devastating injuries to Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo on the Minnesota side, but unfortunately, that’s reality.
There’s still plenty of work to be done for Denver, and things certainly don’t feel great after these first five playoff games, but all is not lost. Far from it.
Still, the three straight losses seem to have been enough, and sure enough, the sharks smell blood in the water. I didn’t expect it to be this soon, or from this source, necessarily, but on Tuesday’s episode of the Zach Lowe Show, Zach speculated about the future of the Nuggets and dared to bring up the possibility of a Nikola Jokic trade this summer.
Lowe and his guest, Rob Mahoney, were discussing how bleak things are looking for the Nuggets and mentioned the nuclear possibility of trading Jamal Murray, or even Jokic, suggesting that a loss here could be the end of any realistic title window.
Lowe suggests Hornets and Raptors as suitors
Lowe even went as far as to name a couple of destinations he had thought about, suggesting the Hornets and Raptors would be fun and make sense, even tossing the Nets out there as well.Â
These are ridiculous hypotheticals, though, and unless Jokic demands a trade or refuses to sign an extension, there’s zero chance the organization decides to move on from the greatest player in franchise history to start a rebuild.
You can squint and understand the rationale: AG is getting older and is injury-prone, they can’t afford to keep Peyton Watson, the Christian Braun contract is a disaster, the Cam Johnson/MPJ swap hasn’t worked out, they’ve mortgaged their future draft capital, the Spurs and Thunder are better and still ascending, and on and on it goes.
Some of these are valid critiques of the Nuggets and their current situation, but at the same time, let’s pump the brakes. It was only a couple of weeks ago that many of the same experts who are already pouring dirt on the Nuggets were picking them to win the title. Not that much has changed.
Jokic isn't going anywhere
The T-Wolves are a damn good 6-seed, and they may match up with Denver as well as any team in the league. They made them look bad for a few games, but that doesn’t define this team. This core has won a title together, and they arguably looked better than they ever have during this season.
Even if things end in the next game or two, or to the Spurs in round two, this has been the best era of basketball in Nuggets history. It could be another century before another player like Jokic comes around, and a team has this chance of winning a championship. As long as that possibility remains, Nikola will be in Denver.
So, while speculation and wishcasting in the media will certainly continue and fans of big-market teams fan the flames, rest easy. No matter how bad this gets, Jokic isn’t going anywhere.
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