The Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers are headed to the NBA Finals with game one tomorrow. For twenty-eight other teams that means their focus has turned to next year and, more specifically, what can they do this summer to improve their chances for next year. The Denver Nuggets are certainly not excluded from this mindset and may be one of the teams with some of the biggest changes to make…or may make very little change at all. The Nuggets are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The roster that won them a championship just two seasons ago is still largely intact and still in it’s prime, but two years in a row now it’s come up short. It’s easy to point to injuries, no fewer than three rotation players have played through significant injuries in both postseasons that followed the Nuggets title run, and both times the team lost in game seven of the Western Conference Semifinals. Both times, had the Nuggets won said game sevens, they likely would have been favored to emerge from the Western Conference Finals.
The question facing Denver is can they simply rely on better health, internal improvement and a coaching/GM change to get them back to the promised land. Most fans will say no, but I’m not so sure that’s not the formula for success. After all, what’s really different from the team that won the title? Was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope better in 2023 than Christian Braun is now? I don’t think so. Is rookie Braun so much better than what will now be 4th year Peyton Watson? Perhaps, but the talent gap is almost as small as the role in the rotation. You’re telling me Jeff Green was such a difference maker that he can’t be replaced by a guy on a veteran minimum or simply a healthy Daron Holmes? Is Bruce Brown really a huge upgrade over Russell Westbrook? Upgrade sure, but huge upgrade? Nah. The Nuggets remain close enough to winning a title that gambling on running it back is a bet that can pay off, particularly if the organization was as dysfunctional as we’ve all been led to believe following the firings of Michael Malone and Calvin Booth. Do you really want to gamble with Nikola Jokic’s prime though? I think the answer to that question is “no” across the board. So, Denver heads into this summer trying to figure out ways to improve while also still being constrained by a salary cap that has them pushing right up against the de facto hard cap line that is the second apron while also being devoid of draft capital. The Nuggets have three ways to improve the roster this summer: the draft, free agency and trades, and each comes with its own special challenges.
Denver currently sits on the outside looking in on the draft
Aaron Gordon is Mr. Nugget and one of the best trades in Tim Connelly’s tenure as president of basketball operations, but there was still a price to pay to acquire AG and the Nuggets will feel it this Summer. The package they sent to the Orlando Magic to acquire Gordon was Gary Harris, R.J. Hampton and Denver’s 2025 1st round pick. Those trade chickens have officially come to roost this Summer and as a result Denver does not own a first round pick in the upcoming draft. Sadly, they don’t own a second round pick either, though the return for dealing that one was far less lucrative. The Nuggets 2025 second round pick was sent to the Charlotte Hornets by Booth last Summer as part of the Reggie Jackson salary dump. Now, second round picks rarely amount to anything (yes, yes I get it, the greatest player on earth plays for the Nuggets and was in fact a 2nd round pick). You are far more likely to end up with a guy like Hunter Tyson than you are to end up with a guy like Jokic or Draymond Green. In fact, most second round players never even end up getting minutes in the league, so it’s not as though not having a second round pick is really damaging to the Nuggets, but it does take away one more avenue to fill a roster spot. If the Nuggets are going to have any rookies this season other than Holmes (who still qualifies as a rookie since he did not play any minutes last year), it will be because they either traded into the draft or gave an undrafted rookie free agent a contract. I don’t expect them to do either.
Denver doesn’t have much wiggle room in free agency
The Nuggets are not likely to free up much money this Summer in comparison to last year’s player expenditures. Of the 15 guaranteed contracts on last season’s roster, 11 are guaranteed for the 2025-2026 season. The four that are not? DeAndre Jordan, Vlatko Cancar, Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric. Bad news: Westbrook and Saric have player options for next season so its up to them on whether they want to play in Denver or not this Fall. I will be shocked if Saric doesn’t pick his up. There is absolutely no one in the league who will pay him $5 million next year except the Nuggets and that’s only because they have to if he picks up his option. Russ? I think it’s likely he picks it up as well though not as straightforward. Denver feels like the best situation for him once again next year, but keep in mind he is making veteran minimum dollars while showing he’s still capable of being in an NBA rotation. Typically sixth men go for more than what Denver is paying him, but because it’s Westbrook his ability to maximize his talent is limited by the teams who are willing to adjust their system to his skill set. If I had to make a guess today, I’d say Russ is back meaning Denver only would have two roster spots going into next season if Saric picks up his option as well.
The thing about Dario is, the Nuggets will have to pay him either way and it sure doesn’t seem like they are going to play him based on how last season went so really he’d just be using a roster spot that could go to someone else who either would provide immediate help or could be a development project. Therefore, I anticipate that the Nuggets will buy Dario out of his contract and have three roster spots open going into next season. How they fill them is tricky. Just like last year, the Nuggets are edging precariously close to the second apron and have shown a lack of willingness to cross it. This means, just like last year, Denver will likely have two options to add players via free agency: 1. the taxpayer mid-level exception which is worth just about $5.4 million and 2. veteran minimum contracts which count just about $2 million against the cap.
Given the very limited options, don’t expect a big flashy offseason free agent landing with the Nuggets. However, I do think you will hear a familiar name that will bring a ton of support from the fan base. Bruce Brown left the Nuggets after the 2023 championship because the Pacers offered him over $22 million per year. The Nuggets, as a first apron team who had minimal rights to Brown due to the fact he signed as a free agent just one year before, were not allowed by NBA rules to offer Bruce anywhere close to what the Pacers did and thus he secured the bag and headed to Indianapolis. In the two seasons since it’s been a roller coaster ride for him and to be frank, he hasn’t lived up to his contract. That’s depressed Bruce’s value to the point where that $5.4 million taxpayer MLE might be just right in terms of what he will get offered on the open market. Now, that alone would not be reason to believe a reunion between Brown and the Nuggets is on the horizon. After all, almost every team has some form of a mid-level exception available to them. However, Bruce has shown love to the Nuggets and Denver basically since he left, including visiting the Nuggets locker room during this postseason run. He certainly seems to be hinting strongly at wanting to come back on social media and his agent is sure to have let him know that the Nuggets can’t offer anything more than the taxpayer MLE so there seems to be an underlying understanding of the situation on his side. On Denver’s side, after seeing what Bruce can do in this system firsthand, they’d be crazy to think they could get better value with their MLE.
BRUCE BROWN IG 👀 pic.twitter.com/GzLU7VSQhq
— NuggetsNation (@nuggetsfan4ever) May 22, 2025
If Denver doesn’t bring back Jordan or Cancar and buys out Saric that will leave three open roster spots. One most certainly will be filled with the MLE, whether that’s Bruce or someone else, but that will still leave the Nuggets with two roster spots to fill. Because they will be in the first apron and precariously close to the second (which would be a true hard cap if Denver uses their MLE), minimum contracts are the only other vehicle available to Denver to add a player in free agency. In the past, the Nuggets have found value with these types of deals. Westbrook signed on a veteran minimum last season, Justin Holiday the year before. Both of those players played rotation minutes come playoff time. Additionally, as a clear title contender, Denver has an advantage on the veteran minimum front with the ability to offer vets a chance at a championship if they are willing to play at a minimum price. If Saric, Cancar and Jordan all leave, and with Holmes coming off a major injury, the Nuggets depth for bigs will be basically non-existent so I’d expect at least one power forward or center to be acquired with a veteran minimum. Denver could fill out both roster spots with bigs, but I have a sneaking suspicion that one of those fully guaranteed spots will go to the reigning G-League Rookie of the Year, and current Nuggets two-way contract player, Trey Alexander
Denver will have to find a perfect trade partner, or be willing to take less due to the contracts they carry
Alright, let’s start the trade conversation right here: no, the Nuggets do not have a trade package they can put together to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s technically possible, but unless the Nuggets are including Jokic in the deal (they are not) there’s no way, with the dearth of available draft picks to trade, they can beat the offers that other teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or the Houston Rockets can offer. Basically, the best Denver can hope for on the Giannis front is that he doesn’t get traded to the Western Conference and even that hope is probably a fleeting one at best.
Almost anyone else on the trade market is within Denver’s reach. The biggest name floating around after Giannis is Kevin Durant, who’s trade value is probably at an all-time low right now. If the Nuggets are willing to part with one of their core four (and maybe Christian Braun as well) they could probably find a package for KD that works. The question will be is it worth it? It would certainly be a splashy move, one that would grab headlines and maybe even sway betting lines, but it would also be a short-term solution. Durant can become a free agent after next season, is 37 years old and has a track record of not sticking with teams long, particularly if he becomes unhappy (and he seems to always become unhappy). Trading for him would be a win a championship in 2026 while jeopardizing the chance to win multiples down the road type of move. There are merits to that approach, but it’s also one that could be a complete catastrophe if it doesn’t work and the risk of it not working is pretty high.
It’s far more likely that any trade Denver makes this offseason will be much less noteworthy. Can they convince someone to take Zeke Nnaji and give them anything in return? Are they willing to part with one of their unrecognized upside players like Peyton Watson or Julian Strawther to get a more seasoned veteran? After that though, it’s hard to think of an impactful trade the Nuggets could actually pull off without making a change to their starting lineup. Even if they are willing to trade a starter, if it’s not Braun then the amount of money Denver would be asking a trade partner to take on has to be considered. Denver is lacking in depth and cap space, in an ideal world they trade one of their core four with a big contract for a pair of elite role players to keep up their production while adding depth, but those trades are just so hard to find. More and more the new CBA forces teams to abandon the idea of a big three surrounded by veteran minimums and rather focus on a team with one or two big time stars with several elite role players surrounding them. That’s the makeup of both the Pacers and Thunder who are the only teams still playing. There’s not going to be a ton of interest around the league to give up two pieces of a team’s rotation to get MPJ or even Jamal Murray in return given how much of the salary cap will have to be dedicated to those players.
This means the Nuggets trade market during the Summer will likely be muted and perhaps even be non-existent. Unfortunately, that’s also in all likelihood the case for the Nuggets come draft time. In free agency, they will be able to make a couple small moves and because of his affinity to Denver, Bruce Brown may very well end up back in a Nuggets uniform. Beyond that though, the news will be minimal. So settle in Nuggets fans, Denver has already gone status quo with their coaching hire and all indicators seem to point to them doing the same with their GM. I wouldn’t get my hopes up that major roster changes are coming either and my money is on the rotation being almost exactly the same next season as it was this season. However, if the only changes in the rotation are adding Bruce and getting a healthy Holmes, that alone may be enough to put Denver over the top if the cards fall the right way.
