Tanking is supposed to be the worst thing a professional sports team can do. But it’s not.
“Middling” is even worse. And that’s where the Denver Nuggets are right now. And clearly, Nikola Jokic is not okay with that.
Everyone who follows the Nuggets knows they are stuck in a terrible spot. A roster that’s not good enough to win another title, not bad enough to secure high draft picks to reload with. It’s like being a fan of the Los Angeles Clippers.
We can blame the poor decisions made by former general manager Calvin Booth, who traded away almost all of the Nuggets’ impactful draft picks years before the team could use them. You can blame the glut of season-altering injuries the team suffered last season when everyone thought they’d successfully rebuilt a championship roster. Or you can blame the NBA’s smothering salary cap restrictions, with their “aprons” and such, that make it all but impossible to maintain a title-winning roster. All of the above have contributed to Denver’s slow slide backwards from NBA champs three seasons ago to losers in the first round of the playoffs this past season.
That’s what’s happened. The question since last April has been: what are the Nuggets going to do about it?
Talk of a seismic trade or big-name player acquisition could still happen this summer. Jaylen Brown? Perhaps. But as currently constructed, with or without Peyton Watson, the Nuggets are no longer an NBA title contender.
And that’s not enough for their three-time MVP to happily sign the mega-contract extension that’s waiting for his signature. He’s retaining the option of playing out his current contract before choosing to stay, or go elsewhere and play for a team with real title possibilities. If he walks, the Nuggets would get nothing and the franchise might never recover.
Certainly, the Denver front office deserves the chance to play all their cards this summer in an effort to improve the supporting cast. But if they can’t, then it’s time to do something bigger and bolder than worrying about giving a bag of cash to Watson; it will be time to rip off the Band-Aid.
Trade Nikola Jokic.
Blasphemy? Perhaps. But other professional franchises have made similar moves and survived. The GOAT of NHL hockey, Wayne Gretzky, got traded in his prime. Just as important as the on-court fortunes of the Nuggets, trading the 30-year old future Hall of Famer in his prime, while accepting that you’re not going to be challenging San Antonio or Oklahoma City for western supremacy any time soon, would be doing right by Joker. He’s owed that for what he’s already done in Denver.
Trading Jokic would relieve much, if not all, of your financial worries for this year (Joker is set to make just under $60 mil in 2026-27) and the immediate future (the extension would put his salary closer to $80 mil when it kicks in.) Such a trade could also recoup a first-round draft pick or two, along and/or a younger player or three for the not-so-distant future.
All we’ve heard from Nuggets faithful this offseason is how Denver needs to get “younger and more athletic.” Well, Jokic is neither of those things. His replacements could be.
Of course in the NBA trades need to be a salary cap “fit,” which isn’t easy. But it could be done with a team like say, Detroit. The Pistons were the best team in the NBA’s Eastern conference during the last regular season before fading in the postseason, so they’re on the cusp. Adding Joker would make Detroit – who already has first-team All-NBA star Cade Cunningham – an instant title favorite.
Disgruntled Detroit big man Jalen Duren wants more from the Pistons than the team is willing to pay him, this after he was an All-Star last February and was selected to the All-NBA third team after this past season (same as Jamal Murray.) The 22-year old 6’10” center is reportedly seeking a contract worth about $40 mil. The Nuggets would save $20 right there (although we know salary matching is not that simple or easy.)
This is where top-flight front office folks earn their salaries. Pulling off a deal to bring Duren to Denver – along with other pieces that could help in an almost instant reload – would be a coup. Send Joker to the Eastern Conference, where he’d thrive and hopefully win another ring. Meanwhile, the Nuggets rebuild with what it takes to not only get past those pesky Minnesota Timberwolves, but ultimately be able to take down the much younger and more athletic Thunder and Spurs.
Joker will forever be a Denver Nugget. It will say so on his Hall of Fame plaque. But both he and the team would benefit from a trade sooner rather than later. This way, there won’t be any sort of messy divorce down the road, and everyone in Denver can remain a fan of the best player in franchise history
