Strike 1: What happens after the Denver Nuggets season ends – fairly soon – with a whimper, and not a parade?

The current free-fall of the 2023 NBA champs will likely end with a first or perhaps second-round playoff ouster in 2025. This deeply flawed and injury depleted roster needs an offseason makeover, and it can’t start soon enough. Finger pointing is inevitable any time a team falls short of its goals. So who will get the lion’s share of the blame this time?

Let’s start here: It’s time to say goodbye to general manager Calvin Booth.

What will the Nuggets ownership do with Booth, who is essentially a lame duck right now, contract-wise? Will they offer him a new deal or an extension? Will they show him the door? The past two successful Nuggets GM’s, Masai Ujiri and Tim Connelly, each left on their own at the end of their contracts and got higher paying gigs. The Kroenke’s don’t like to fire people, but in this case, they could simply allow the contract to expire and bring in a new guy.

Will they?

Heralded for the roster moves that brought veterans Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Nuggets to help push them over the top two seasons ago, Booth now deserves to answer for the nothingburger his team has gotten from his most recent free agent signings and several of his heralded draft picks. When the Nuggets need to be able to turn to a second All-Star to take the burden off of Nikola Jokic, where do they turn? Who has Booth brought onto the roster that can be a legit No. 2 threat when Jamal Murray is constantly injured?

Aside from guard Christian Braun, which of Booth’s picks have really “hit” so far? Peyton Watson has proven to be no better than an ordinary NBA player. Same with Julian Strawther. Neither is a franchise-changer or a future All-Star. Hunter Tyson? Jalen Pickett? Vlatko Cancar?

Ordinary. At best.

If we’re being honest, there are a lot of other teams in the NBA that have a much better group of “young guys” than the Nuggets.

Booth has let this roster get stale.

At this point, Denver needs a new vision, a new approach. Tough calls need to be made, and Booth (with sizable input from above) hasn’t been willing or able to make them. While the competition – teams like the LA Lakers, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Golden State Warriors – all got better with preseason and in-season player moves, the Nuggets stood pat. The Denver front office has displayed the same characteristic of overvaluing their own players that has caused so much discontent among fans of the nearby Colorado Rockies.

Someone has to be willing to trade Michael Porter Jr. Yes, he’s had one of his best seasons, stats-wise. But when has he been a difference maker in an important game? Seldom that’s when. It’s time for the Nuggets brass – whomever is making the decisions – to bite the bullet and trade their most tradeable asset. One published report suggested sending MPJ to Indiana for Pascal Siakam, which would be a great move if it could happen.

The Nuggets draft prospects for the next few seasons aren’t all that exciting, but someone with a bold vision could find a way to make that better, too. In short, Denver still has time to build around Nikola Jokic, who is in the prime of his career. Aaron Gordon – if he ever gets completely healthy – is also a championship caliber player, and if he can ever get completely healthy, so is Jamal Murray and his new contract. And Christian Braun is a keeper.

Everyone else needs to be made available.

And someone needs to be brought in here that will make the tough calls and the changes that are badly needed.