Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic playing for the same NBA team would be basketball Nirvana...in theory. Practically speaking, though, pursuing KD could blow up in the Denver Nuggets' face.
Let's start here: Sam Amick of The Athletic recently told The Ringer that the Nuggets have considered going after Durant in the past. As it just so happens, the two-time champion and Finals MVP is expected to be very available this summer.
On the heels of a devastating second-round loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the idea of Durant in Denver carries a mountain of appeal. Jokic and Jamal Murray need someone else on the roster who can attack set defenses, or even just go after them from the second side. KD is incredibly overqualified for that role, in a good way, and has shown throughout his entire career he can play beside anyone.
Still, trading for the 36-year-old is fraught with risk and complications.
Kevin Durant's path to the Nuggets is complicated—and costly
In the interest of full transparency: The Nuggets are not winning a bidding war for KD. They have a couple of intriguing young players, but can only trade one outright first-round pick, and their primary salary-matching tools have minimal value unless they're putting Aaron Gordon or Jokic himself (related: LOL) on the table.
Denver needs KD to push the issue on its behalf. Whether that’s a long shot is debatable. Players are forcing their way to the Nuggets left and right, but Durant is a certified basketball sicko. He would understand the value and mystique of playing alongside Jokic.
Assuming he asks Phoenix for a move to Denver, the two sides will need to find a third team, because neither squad, as of now, will be allowed to take back more money than it sends out. This effectively means the Nuggets must ship out at least dollar-for-dollar what KD is making next year, which is $54.7 million.
Getting to that number almost demands surrendering four players if we assume Gordon and Murray are off the table. One theoretical construction features a package built around Michael Porter Jr., Peyton Watson, Dario Saric (player) and Zeke Nnaji. The Nuggets would then need to send out their 2031 or 2032 first-round pick on top of that. They may even need to include more compensation, like draft swaps, since Saric and Nnaji are considered net-negative value on their current deals.
Here is what a theoretical deal could like, with the Brooklyn Nets and their offseason-best cap space:
This is just loose framework. The Suns could want MPJ rather than the boatload of salary relief they're getting here. The Nets may also need to be compensated for MPJ. And they'll definitely need something else if they're taking on Nnaji and/or Saric in alternative permutations.
Regardless, the Nuggets aren't emerging from Durant talks without exhausting their draft-asset stores, and trading at least two players who remain part of the core rotation. That's problematic—for reasons Jokic astutely explained.
Denver needs to get deeper more than it needs another star
“We definitely need to figure out a way to get more depth,”Jokic told reporters following the Nuggets' Game 7 loss to the Thunder. “It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, the longer benches, are the ones winning. You look at Indiana and OKC and Minnesota, and they have been great examples of that.”
Jokic's observation is predictably spot-on. The Nuggets need to get deeper. Trading for Kevin Durant makes them shallower. And they will not have the resources to adequately flesh out the roster in a meaningful way.
Denver currently projects to have the $5.7 million mini mid-level exception to spend in free agency. Turning that into one impact player is hard enough. (Just look at how former general manager Calvin Booth's investments in Reggie Jackson and Saric panned out.) The Nuggets need multiple capable bodies as it stands. Consolidating even just two rotation players into Durant exacerbates that lack of depth. They would have to hit numerous home runs on the minimum-contract market to stretch eight effective players deep. That's a tall order, as Durant's current team in Phoenix knows all too well.
Plenty of people will overlook these challenges if it means bagging Durant. Nobody can blame them. Murray is a high-level playoff performer, but remains maddeningly inconsistent. Durant protects the Nuggets against his rock-bottom ruts.
He also makes Denver older. Durant will be 37 by the time next season tips off. The Nuggets will not be built after any trade to give him an easier regular-season workload in hopes of saving him for the playoffs. With only one year left on his deal, he is also an immediate flight risk. Even if he’s not, Denver must weigh the cost of paying him, Jokic, Murray and Gordon beyond next season, especially because Braun will be on a more expensive contract in 2026-27.
This isn’t to say the Nuggets should entirely avoid a Durant pursuit. It’s at least worth exploring, even if it’s just to see whether acquiring him is feasible. But that doesn’t mean he’s the answer to all of their problems. He isn’t. Not on his own anyway.
Denver should first and foremost be looking to address Jokic's biggest concern: the team's depth. Solving that requires they think smaller, in layers and multitudes. Acquiring Durant isn't that. It's a big-time swing that could help, but also a risk that could backfire in a way that undermines what's left of the Nuggets' Prime Jokic window.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.