Last season's ending was tough to swallow for the Denver Nuggets and fans alike. They went into the playoffs with home-court advantage and the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, only to run into their arch-nemesis, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who sent them home early. They haven't had the best offseason, either. But the Nuggets mostly keep appearing inside the top-10 in most power rankings for the 2026-27 season, proving that if the cards fall in the right order, they could still find themselves on top of the mountain.
The latest power rankings come courtesy of Michael Pina of The Ringer. He's got the Nuggets ranked in 8th place, with "a puncher's chance" to contend for a title. Which checks out, given that the Nuggets are bringing back their core starting five from last season, who won 54 games despite missing 136 games combined to injury.
Dodging injuries will be key for the Nuggets this year. But the same can be said for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who ranked third in the power rankings. And if the Nuggets can just get through everybody to face the San Antonio Spurs, who topped The Ringer's list, they've got Nikola Jokic to take over from there.
OKC has questions marks the same as the Nuggets
The Thunder's starters missed 123 games combined last year. Jalen Williams missed 49 games with his own soft-tissue injuries last season and has as big a question mark as Aaron Gordon does. And because of offseason cost-cutting, the Thunder aren't quite as deep as in years past.
Sure, the Thunder are still deeper overall than the Nuggets, but their starting fives could be equal at worst if Christian Braun returns to form and Jamal Murray keeps up his All-NBA level play.
Nikola Jokic has Victor Wembanyama's number
If the Nuggets can get through the first round of the playoffs this year (they should), and they line up against the Spurs in the second round, or even get past the Thunder to face the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, they've got a great shot at advancing. The Nuggets were 3-1 against the Spurs last season. And head-to-head, the Nuggets are 5-2 in the battles between Wemby and Joker all-time.
In fact, in those seven meetings, Jokic has dominated Wemby. The best basketball player in the world has averaged 37.3 points on 55% shooting, while pulling down 10.9 rebounds and dishing out 9.1 assists. The three-time MVP is no match for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
If the cards fall just right, there's still plenty of optimism that the Nuggets can win it all in 2026-27. They have the talent and the intangibles in Jokic. But the cards will have to fall just right.
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