Perhaps it's time for the Denver Nuggets to acknowledge that relying on just Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to create on offense won't work anymore. Sure, it helped them collect the title three years ago and finish with multiple 50-win seasons. But for the third straight year, they exited the playoffs earlier than expected. Now, they look dead in the water.
The Minnesota Timberwolves exposed the flaw in the Nuggets' roster-building philosophy. Find a big man worth his salt on defense, like Rudy Gobert, to frustrate Jokic and unleash lengthy and athletic defenders on Murray, and suddenly, no one on Denver can make shots for himself or others.
The Nuggets' last three losses in the series saw them put up 96, 96, and 98. That's quite the downfall for the regular season's best offensive team. After averaging 122.1 points per game on 49.6 percent shooting in the regular season, they managed to score just 107.5 per contest and connect on an inefficient 43.6 percent of their field-goal attempts in the first round.
Seeking another shot-creator
It's easy to use the injuries of Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson as an excuse for Denver's premature elimination. But would any of them have really made a difference other than providing different passing targets for Jokic? Neither of them has proven to be capable of breaking down defenses or facilitating at a high level.
An offseason goal for the Nuggets then should be finding another shot-maker or playmaker who can take some of the offensive burden off Jokic and allow Murray to save his energy in the regular season in preparation for the postseason.
The problem is that the Nuggets don't exactly have the financial freedom to make a major splash in this summer's trade market without getting rid of some of their current core. But with how their season turned out, no one should be untouchable other than Jokic and Murray (if only for his exorbitant contract),
Gordon's extension will kick in starting next season, where he will be owed $33.6 million. Cameron Johnson will be on an expiring contract — a very tradable $23 million. Christian Braun might be the hardest to move, as he will be owed a total of $125 million the next five years, and he was unable to prove that he is worth the extension he signed last offseason.
But if Denver can move any of those three for cap space or to bring in the dependable shot-creator it desperately needs and then re-sign key free agents Peyton Watson and maybe Spencer Jones to team-friendly deals, it will already have several rotation pieces to work with.
Joker's championship window is closing fast
Pulling off such drastic moves would definitely be risky and could reek of desperation. However, there's little reason not to think that the current core has already run its course.
Social media users have been poking fun at Joker and the Nuggets for their inability to defeat opponents with at least 50 regular-season wins in a playoff series. Now, they lost an elimination game where their rival missed its superstar, Anthony Edwards, and another starter, Donte DiVincenzo.
With Jokic already 31 years old and expressing his desire to continue playing for the Mile High City, the franchise must go all-out in rebuilding the supporting cast around him and putting him in a better position to compete for more championships.
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