The Nuggets have had an awfully slow start to free agency and the team isn’t exactly getting rave reviews from people in the NBA world. The growing consensus seems to be that ownership has cut costs to save on luxury taxes while spinning it as some kind of youth movement.
The reality is that the team has lost a key starter in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to free agency and they’ve done nothing to improve the team for next season. Meanwhile, they employ Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world and the reigning MVP who will turn 30 next season.
It could be a very long time before the Nuggets have a better chance to win a title than they will in the next few years, the remainder of Jokic’s prime. They can ill afford to squander this rare opportunity, but so far it feels like the team has only gotten worse since winning it all in 2023.
Public sentiment has turned against the team and a disappointing campaign next season could be a disaster. The Nuggets’ front office and ownership need to get on the same page and try to right this ship before it sinks. There is still time, but they need to act now. Here are 4 moves the Nuggets should make to turn things around this offseason.
Move no. 1) - Extend Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon
This needs to be of the highest priority. The Nuggets have made it clear that they are committed to their top guys and they’ll figure out the rest; so they need to ensure the core is here to stay. Reports of a max extension for Murray have already come out and it sounds like that will be made official in the coming weeks.
The Gordon situation is a little dicier as he’s only able to re-sign for 120% of his current contract - which would be somewhat of a discount. Will he be content making significantly less money than Michael Porter Jr.? He could easily decide to turn down his max extension and ride it out for another year in hopes of making much more.
There’s also the horrifying possibility that the team simply won’t extend Gordon and he’ll go the way of Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The team could argue that Gordon is getting a bit long in the tooth and his next contract will be an overpay as they groom DaRon Holmes to replace him after next season.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but this is the way the Nuggets have made their fans think. They need to go out and take care of business to show the necessary financial commitment to keeping the top of this roster intact to compete for titles.
Move no. 2) - Acquire veteran rotation players
As of right now, this is the biggest issue with the current roster. They essentially have four proven players in Jokic, Murray, Gordon, and MPJ. Christian Braun has been pretty solid and there’s reason to believe he can be relied upon to take on a bigger role.
But beyond that, the entire rest of the rotation is one big question mark. Can Peyton Watson take a leap and become a consistent part of the rotation? Julian Strawther? Zeke Nnaji? Jalen Pickett? There isn’t a single proven NBA rotation player outside of the top five guys on the current roster and that is a major issue for a team with championship aspirations.
The Nuggets need to make a few savvy deals as this free agency market starts to dry up. There are still plenty of solid veteran players who could help teams available, and the Nuggets badly need to add a couple. A reliable backup point guard and big man would do wonders for the bench and depth of this team.
Shy of that, the depth is way too shaky to enter next season and the team will be relying far too heavily upon unproven young players who were recently drafted outside of the lottery. The bench was a major issue for the team this past season and when the chips were down against the Wolves, the only players Michael Malone played off his bench were Braun, Justin Holiday, and Reggie Jackson.
Well now Braun has to start, Jackson has been traded, and Holiday is a free agent. Denver’s bench has somehow gotten even worse and that’s unacceptable. They need to make good use of the last couple of roster spots and sign proven veterans who can make an impact off the bench.
Move no. 3) - Trade Zeke Nnaji
The Nuggets have an albatross on the roster and it’s Zeke Nnaji and his contract. The team chose to extend him at the beginning of last season and then he became unplayable during the season. Now he’s entering year one of a four-year, $32 million deal that will pay him $8.8 million next season to likely sit on the bench.
He didn’t show that he can be relied on as a backup center or power forward and he was completely axed from Malone’s rotation in the playoffs. That’s not going to work for a player making that much money. With finances so tight, the Nuggets need to find a way to get off his contract and make better use of that money.
He also has the only tradeable salary that could actually bring back a solid rotation piece. $8.8 million is a solid amount of matching salary to work with, so the Nuggets need to go find a player who can actually fit into the current rotation that they can get back for Nnaji (and possibly some sweetener).
Everyone else on the team is either on a minimum, a smaller, rookie-scale contract, or they’re one of the top four guys on the roster, so Nnaji is the only obvious trade chip that makes sense. Hopefully, there are young teams around the league willing to take a shot on Nnaji and willing to send back a veteran in return.
Vasilije Micic from the Hornets is a player who has been mentioned as a possibility and that would make some sense for both sides. The Hornets get to see what Nnaji can do in a bigger role and the Nuggets get a reliable backup point guard. Nnaji’s deal isn’t so bad that he’s untradable, and he’s still young enough that there is some upside.
But the time to strike is now. The Nuggets need a useful player back and burying Nnaji on the bench for another year will basically sap any trade value he ever had. They need to be extremely proactive in finding a trade partner and a way to upgrade the current roster.
Move no. 4) - Placate Nikola Jokic
And then we come to the big elephant in the room, Jokic, and his happiness. To this point, Jokic has been nothing but a good soldier and has not given the slightest indication that he is unhappy in any way whatsoever. He has never complained or even meddled, simply showing up and doing his job with zero drama.
But at a certain point, he must look around the league and realize his title window is closing and his own front office isn’t doing anything to stop it. Hopefully, he’s in lockstep with Calvin Booth and every part of every plan has been run by the Joker, but what if it hasn’t?
If next season goes poorly and the young players don’t develop, who’s to say Jokic won’t look around at what’s left in Denver and start thinking about greener pastures? He’d be crazy not to think about maximizing the prime years of his career and if the Nuggets won’t help him do that, maybe another team would.
Hopefully, this is just paranoia, but it can’t hurt to make a few concessions to keep the big man happy. For one, it sounds like he is pushing the team to add Russell Westbrook. That should be a no-brainer. He fills a huge need as a veteran backup point guard and one who will provide an infusion of energy.
If Jokic wants him, all the better. The team should make this happen and show that they are listening to their superstar. Beyond that, maybe go get one of his Serbian countrymen to join the team and hang out with Jokic on American soil, drinking rakia.
Micic was already mentioned in a possible swap for Nnaji so that one makes sense. If there is any way to acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic from the Hawks, the Nuggets should jump all over that. Or even any other players - they don’t have to be Serbian - that Jokic wants to play with. Let’s get ahead of this before it ever becomes an issue. Keep the face of the franchise as happy as possible for as long as possible; he deserves it.