After the Denver Nuggets won the franchise’s first NBA championship back in 2023, the talk immediately shifted to questions about how many more rings they could capture while MVP Nikola Jokić was still in his prime.
Thus far, the answer is… none.
And while the calendar churns – and Joker’s prime isn’t over yet – the pressure is on. Joker and the other members of the Nuggets’ core need to get back to the NBA Finals and make another run at it.
Down three games to two in the first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs, it’s looking like a steep climb for the 2026 season. If these Nuggets fall short again, will they get another chance next season, or will next season’s Nuggets look different – perhaps very different – from this year’s version?
Is Denver’s core even safe if they don’t win this series with Minnesota?
Certainly, Jokić isn’t going anywhere – assuming he signs the max contract extension he’s eligible for this summer. And along with that, he’ll likely have a say in what personnel moves the team makes and doesn’t make this offseason, considering his status as one of the best players on the planet.
Would that personnel include the coach? Are Joker and head coach David Adelman in a good place?
Fingers will be pointed at Adelman (and his too-young coaching staff) if the Nuggets lose this series. And that’s justified. He made the head-scratching decision to go small against the towering T-Wolves in Games 2 and 3, and the resulting losses have put the Nuggets in their current predicament. In the two games Denver has won, backup center Jonas Valančiūnas played meaningful minutes and provided a badly needed physical presence. When Big Val was a DNP, the smaller and softer Nuggets lost. Coincidence?
No, it’s not.
Adelman talks about statistical trends when he’s in front of the media, like when he was defending the Nuggets’ “defensive rating” following the Game 2 loss at home. Being a slave to analytics rather than falling back on experience and the eye test isn’t good coaching. Combined with some basic common sense – for instance, when your opponent can throw a combination of three different bigs at all times at you, and yet your ‘numbers’ tell you to play small-ball – means there’s an issue.
If the Nuggets don’t come back to beat the T-Wolves, Adelman will bear much of the blame.
He’s not alone, of course. While nobody, including Joker, has had a great series, some have struggled more than others, including starters Christian Braun and Cam Johnson. With a big contract due to Peyton Watson (although his stock hasn’t been helped by a lingering hamstring injury that just won’t heal) and contract decisions pending on Valančiūnas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and others, a shake-up may be necessary for a couple of reasons, including finances.
Failure to get out of the first round as the favored three-seed might get the coach fired (didn’t that exact same thing happen to George Karl in 2013 when he was the league’s Coach of the Year?) and the Nuggets vaunted ‘core’ significantly altered. Joker and All-Star Jamal Murray are secure, of course, but trades that could include Braun, Johnson and just about everyone else could be – and should be – on the table.
The NBA calendar waits for no one. If the Nuggets are going to capture even one more NBA title while Joker is wearing their colors, it’s looking more and more like the supporting cast will need to be upgraded.
