As Nikola Jokic continues his ascent into immortal status near the top of the greatest players of all-time, there’s become a distinct focus on reasons why he hasn’t won more championships yet.

Here are some of those reasons “the masses” have come up with:

  • He’s had some playoff failings, faltering in Game 7’s in back-to-back seasons, though nothing anyone serious could call significant, and nothing that outweighs the incredible performances he often puts together.
  • The NBA is a league of parity now. We are this close to calling the 2020’s “Joker’s Decade” but with so many different champions and elite teams over the last seven or eight seasons, an emphasis has been placed on parity.
  • The roster and head coaching haven’t always been good enough, one of a litany of reasons why Michael Malone and Calvin Booth were fired in April of this year.
  • Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. haven’t lived up to expectations.

Keep in mind, these aren’t my personal reasons. The Nuggets haven’t won multiple championships for a multitude of reasons. These are simply the most common complaints I hear when discussing the results of the Denver Nuggets over the last five seasons.

Denver can’t prove they will be better in Game 7’s until they get back there. Denver can’t show that the league isn’t a “parity” league until next year. The roster has changed. The head coach and front office have changed. Even Michael Porter Jr. is no longer here.

But Jamal Murray remains in the building, surrounded by criticism, pressure, and the burden of expectation once again.

After the end of the 2023-24 season in which Murray had the worst postseason of his career (primarily chalked up to injury but also some emotional missteps) the Nuggets signed their long term starting point guard to a four-year, $208 million extension. That was met with some criticism, but it was also understandable that the Nuggets decided to retain a core together that had just won a championship one season prior.

Then, Murray got off to a slow start in 2024-25, played himself into better shape as he often does, and had a strong finish to the year. This has become something of a pattern for Murray and not necessarily a good one to fall into.

In the playoffs, he was good. He wasn’t great. 21.8 points per game was actually higher than people realize, ranking 16th in the NBA as defenses got immensely better. Murray’s 55.5 True Shooting % ranked 55th out of 94 qualifiers, which was also decent enough given the competition he faced of the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Jayson Tatum ranked 51st, Jimmy Butler ranked 53rd, and Anthony Edwards ranked 54th. It wasn’t like Murray was alone in making slightly fewer shots than normal against an elite team.

Of course, because the Nuggets didn’t win it all, there has to be someone to blame. A lot of fans felt the need to blame Murray, but he certainly wasn’t the reason for Denver’s failings this year. He wasn’t at his best in the final game of the year, but the Nuggets lost that OKC series before Game 7 in a war of attrition that they failed due to poor health and poor depth.

There was an immense amount of pressure placed on Jokic, Murray, Porter Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun this past year. The Nuggets have taken steps to alleviate some of that pressure by adding a new layer of bench depth beyond just the Cam Johnson trade.

Out goes Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric, and DeAndre Jordan. In comes Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas. While Westbrook made plays in the playoffs and was really good for Denver up until a hand injury, the Nuggets are betting on this level of depth being more versatile and impactful in different situations.

Add to all of that, Denver will get another year of development for Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther, as well as the return of rookie DaRon Holmes II from a season long injury, and the Nuggets roster is in a much better place than 12 months ago.

So, some of the pressure will be off of Murray to be an elite player all of the time. The Nuggets aren’t even hoping for that level of impact though. They want stability. They want trust. They want leadership, and they think Murray can provide that.

Through all of the criticism, it’s become lost that there’s still an incredible gear that Murray can reach. He had 55 points in a game last year and 43 points in another. He took over at various points throughout the season, including an impressive March victory on a back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Murray was more efficient than Jokic in clutch situations throughout the regular season, which is pretty impressive when Jokic finished second in Clutch Player of the Year voting.

The Nuggets need that version of Murray. They need the player that can change games so that Jokic doesn’t always have to. Aggressively finding his own shot or drawing so much attention that he creates a good shot for someone else has to be the key for Murray this year. He CAN do it. He already has. With Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon, and others flanking the Jokic-Murray duo, there’s no reason why Murray can’t continue to level up if he wants to be better.

The work has to happen early, and Murray has to hit the ground running. He could absolutely be an All-Star if the Nuggets take off in the standings and he’s playing well. He’s said previously that that isn’t a goal of his, but it would have to feel validating for him and for the Nuggets to have someone other than Jokic have some level of award success this upcoming year.

Because the expectations that Murray challenge for an All-Star spot are reasonable expectations from fans. That Murray hits the ground running this year instead of taking his time isn’t some crazy notion. That the Nuggets dominate October and November, setting up the rest of their season with a buffer due to how well the team performed early on is a perfectly reasonable expectation for an elite squad that is still mostly built on continuity.

There are no excuses this time. The stage is set for Murray to be great. The ball is in his court.