Since his announcement to explore the free agency market, the dream of watching LeBron James play alongside Nikola Jokic has been alive and well. But the dream may be faltering if any of the latest grumblings are right. The Denver Nuggets appear to be out of the top five and are virtually clinging to the strand of hope that LeBron chooses Denver to play with Joker.
That and to play for an owner-friend in the Nuggets team president, Josh Kroenke. But those are the only glimmers of hope remaining at the moment, as top-five-after-top-five lists displayed by NBA insiders keep putting the Nuggets off the board. Now, this isn't to say that the Nuggets are out of the running. LeBron's agent, Rich Paul, hasn't said anyone's out of the running.
But the vibes going around aren't great for the Nuggets to land the best minimum contract free agent to hit the market, ever.
LeBron would make for an incredible fit with Jokic and the Nuggets
From a basketball fit perspective, playing alongside Joker is the best fit for LeBron. He could come to Denver and be the third, or even fourth, option behind Aaron Gordon. LeBron could be a pass-first, drive-and-kick player more than a relied-upon scorer for the first time in his career.
Can you imagine trying to stop LeBron and Gordon on the fast break? Sheesh, as 'Bron would say. It would be a lot of fun to watch. The Nuggets would be instantly MUCH better off going into 2026-27. LeBron would represent a massive upgrade over Christian Braun or Cameron Johnson in the starting unit, and the Nuggets would be deeper than they have been in years.
Jokic would have a superstar next to him to rally the team and support his leadership role. Something Jokic admittedly has an issue with. He's just too much of a teddy bear at times, and it's an endearing quality that draws all of us Nuggets fans in even more to Joker. But with LeBron, he could more or less be the co-lead, and that might suit him even better.
And let's not forget how athletic LeBron still is at his age. Jokic loves to find the cutters, and LeBron can slash to the rim for lobs and still throw them down at age 41. If LeBron gets in trouble on the way to the rim, he kicks to Jamal Murray or Cameron Johnson for a wide-open three. Easy buckets.
Having Jokic and LeBron together would be a dream. But at this point in the game, we need LeBron's dream to be playing alongside Jokic, or the Nuggets' dream of adding LeBron may be gone. Just like the NBA insider top-five keeps suggesting.
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