The Denver Nuggets ownership group signaled at the trade deadline that they were cutting corners, and now the Nuggets' first-round train wreck may have just gifted them the excuse they needed to blow it all up to get back under the luxury tax next year.
The Nuggets had the perfect opportunity to make a roster addition at the trade deadline. They had roster space, but they were just barely over the luxury tax after an off-season salary dump on the Michael Porter Jr. trade. The Nuggets decided to cut salary and avoid the tax penalties they would have incurred. They signaled that they wanted to save money.
That looks like a pretty poor choice now, with the Nuggets lacking athleticism, creation off the ball, and defense in the paint during the first-round collapse against the Timberwolves. All things they could have added to the roster at the deadline if the Kroenke's were willing to spend some extra money on the prospects of a title.
But that's part of the problem. They didn't signal, nor have they, that they are willing to spend right now. It was the opposite.
The Nuggets could blow up the roster to save money
Perhaps they thought the Nuggets were close. We all thought the Nuggets were close. But the Timberwolves exposed the Nuggets, and now the Nuggets are in a disastrous financial situation, and the Nuggets' ownership has a choice to pay a lot in penalties or blow the roster up as we know it under its current configuration.
The Nuggets are currently dangerously close to the NBA's second-apron tax, and well past the luxury tax threshold for 2026-27. Per Cap Sheets, the Nuggets owe just under $217 million in salaries for next season to just 11 players. That doesn't include restricted free agent Peyton Watson, or obviously, the free agents on the roster who haven't signed.
Re-signing Watson is going to cost the Nuggets potentially more than the extension they gave Christian Braun last offseason, a five-year, $125 million extension. That contract and going with Braun over Watson is going to haunt the Nuggets this off-season and next season if Braun can't pick it up, and the Nuggets lose out on P-Wat.
It's a recipe for a new roster
The signal was to save money this year. The Nuggets did that. Now, the team just flopped in the first round. Ownership can come out and say, "This product isn't worth the tax penalties now." Well, that means Nuggets fans are likely going to have to reckon with losing the roster in its current form.
Do they trade Aaron Gordon to recoup what they can for him while he still has value? Do the Nuggets, gulp, accept an offer for Jamal Murray?
It seems unlikely, but the roster construction is a mess, the Nuggets don't have many future draft picks, and they don't have the cap space to fix anything from this season without going well past the second apron and incurring massive penalties. That's probably not going to happen.
So now we're left toiling with those thoughts for the next couple of months before the offseason moves can begin. Did we just witness our last season of AG, Murray, and Nikola Jokic? Maybe.
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