The Nuggets have had an excellent offseason so far. The Lakers? Not so much. The noise around LeBron James has reached a fever pitch, but the bigger concern for LA is the future of Luka Doncic. Luka can sign an extension with the Lakers this offseason, but has no financial incentive to remain in LA.
He can, and should, wait to see how the team operates and decide if LA is the best place to spend the prime of his basketball career. Next summer, he could be an unrestricted free agent and sign the same max contract to play with any team in the NBA.
One team that may intrigue Doncic is the Denver Nuggets. First, it was Brian Windhorst of ESPN who reported that Doncic isn’t solid on the Lakers and wants to keep his options open before committing to them long-term. Then, Lakers’ insider Anthony Irwin reported that an NBA executive warned him the Lakers must be careful of Denver poaching Doncic away in the coming years.
Nuggets have appealing offer for Doncic
The friendship between Doncic and Nikola Jokic has been well-documented for years, and the chance to play with his good friend, who also happens to be the best player in the league, should have plenty of appeal to Luka. The two of them paired together would instantly make any team a contender.
Beyond that, the Nuggets have hired two of Doncic’s favorite former coaches this offseason, former Mavericks Jared Dudley and JJ Barea. So there would be some familiarity with both the players and the coaching staff already existing in Denver to help Luka transition to another new team.
Nuggets deep enough to take Luka without gutting depth
The other amazing thing about how this offseason has played out in Denver is that they have enough depth and financial flexibility to make this kind of move without gutting the roster. The Nuggets would have to open up some money to make this work, but that would be a lot easier now than it has ever been in the past.
Even if they had to surrender Jamal Murray or several young players, there would be plenty left over around Jokic and Doncic to create a team that could make multiple title runs. This has always been a dream scenario for the Nuggets, and for now, it’s still just that. But with things looking better and better in Denver, and worse and worse in LA, this dream is starting to look a little more like a reality.