It’s easy to feel like the Nuggets are constantly making changes and the team is unrecognizable from how it looked just a few seasons ago, and in a way that’s the case. They’ve shed multiple starters and almost the entire bench from a championship squad just three years ago, but still, the fact that they’ve kept their three core players together is unparalleled in the modern NBA.
Going back to the 2021-22 season, there is no team in the entire league with more than four players remaining on its roster. Denver is tied for the league lead with four, along with the Celtics and Magic. Only one other team even has three, and only 12 teams total have more than one player from just five seasons ago.
How much does the NBA change over in 5 years?????
— Law Murray ♣️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) July 22, 2026
None of the 30 NBA teams have more than 4 players left from the 2021-22 rosters
Only 12 teams have more than ONE player left. And only six coaches from 2021-22 too (Carlisle, Spoelstra, Finch, Daigneault, Kerr, Lue) pic.twitter.com/6Jiz7QlQgE
And the Nuggets are the only ones that have kept their top three players together for five years with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon (the fourth is Zeke Nnaji, but we don’t have to dwell on that). The Celtics have had to shed Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford from their core, and the Magic hadn’t even drafted Paolo Banchero yet.
Denver has actually gone back five seasons and kept a “big three” intact, the only team to really even come close to doing so in this era to date. Perhaps we’ll see it tested in years to come with young cores like the Spurs, Thunder, and others, but splitting these things up as they get more expensive has become the norm.
Nuggets fans can take this one of two ways
On one hand, this is pretty cool and something to be appreciated. Most fans don’t get to see their top three players together for half a decade anymore. They’ve won a title together and come close on other occasions, with perhaps another chance or two in their future.
But at the same time, this could be an ominous sign and a realization that the Nuggets are likely going to have to make a major change in the near future to be able to afford a competitive team. It’s probably going to mean splitting up this core, and it’s going to be extremely painful, but it’s the way the league is going, and it’s almost certainly what they’ll have to do to compete eventually.
For now, they can bask in the current big three, enjoying it and appreciating it while it lasts. And who knows? Maybe they can buck the trend and zig while the rest of the league zags. Gordon’s deal is far from a max, and they’ve at least been posturing like they’re prepared to pay a massive tax bill. But so far, this CBA has come for every team. The Nuggets have been fighting it off as long as anyone, and doing so valiantly, but there’s no way it can go on forever.
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