No team is better in transition than the Nuggets. Now, it is time to prove no team is better at transition.
The clock has struck midnight on the core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. For three straight postseasons, the valet keeps bringing back keys to a pumpkin.
With a report indicating Jokic might not sign a contract extension next month, rebuilding is off the table, even if the Nuggets seem to think it is a bluff. Denver has to shake things up if it wants to contend for another championship.
It is time to move on from franchise icons Murray and Gordon if it means acquiring Boston’s Jaylen Brown (and Sam Hauser).
The Nuggets will at least listen to offers for Murray and Gordon. It is convenient that, after news broke that Jokic was considering withholding his signature on a contract, rumors are suddenly swirling around Denver.
Whether posturing or not, Nuggets’ co-GMs Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer should be maxing out the minutes on the KSE family cellphone plan to see if they can get Brown here.
Land Brown, and the Nuggets have a legitimate chance to win Jokic another title. They would not be favorites. But they would be different, built more for the postseason, where defense and toughness have become paramount.
It would be hard to make Murray available. He is coming off the best season of his career as a first-time All-Star and All-NBA selection. But Brown is a better all-around player.
If the Nuggets offer Murray, whose jersey should someday hang from the Ball Arena rafters, they must be all in. It would be difficult to come back from a failed pursuit. The awkwardness would likely fracture the relationship with Murray moving forward.
Moving on from Gordon, as much as he is beloved, is an easier decision. He is an aging player with a troublesome injury history. Even if you believe Gordon will play 60 games next season, there is no evidence his body can withstand an eight-week playoff run.
All it takes is for him to miss multiple games in a series, and the Nuggets are doomed.
In some ways, Gordon is like Von Miller in his coolness and fan appeal. He will always be a Nugget. This is just business.
Brown, a five-time All-Star, can give the Nuggets one of the best two-way players in the league. He finished sixth in the MVP voting last season, averaging 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He can create off the dribble, in isolation and in catch-and-shoot situations.
You don’t think he would fit well with Jokic?
Miss with Brown, and the Nuggets could be left to cross their fingers that improved health and more experience — and perhaps adding a veteran assistant on the bench — will help the head coach.
The problem becomes how to make a Brown deal work. And would the Celtics bend on their apparent priority of four first-round picks rather than big contracts?
If the Nuggets take the nuclear option, they would need a point guard to pair with a starting four of Jokic, Brown, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson (none of this makes sense if they don’t re-sign him).
Shipping out Cam Johnson for Orlando’s Jalen Suggs would provide a playmaker with physicality and defensive acumen. But Braun and Suggs together? Yikes. That is a lot of bricks from beyond the arc.
What about Johnson for Miami’s Davion Mitchell?
Again, the roster would be imperfect. But how is that different from its current state?
Jokic is way too smart not to know that any delay in re-upping would cause ripples. If he waits until the regular season, his future in Denver will linger as a national story.
He would become the next Giannis.
To be clear, Jokic has earned the right to exercise leverage, to put pressure on the franchise.
Does he want Brown? Not sure. Do the Nuggets? They have, by all indications, kicked the tires.
For those who hate the idea, the ammunition comes from a simple question: Why is Brown available? What are the concerns? Since the season’s end, he has ripped officials, flopping, Stephen A. Smith and the media.
It is easy to see how Brown’s life on Twitch and “Smartest Man in the Room” personality could become grating.
On the surface, this should not prevent the Nuggets from exploring the option. I would be lying, though, if I didn’t admit this situation is giving off some Russell Wilson-in-Seattle vibes.
The Broncos learned the hard way. A blockbuster requires thorough vetting.
What if the Celtics won’t engage with the Nuggets? There must be a significant Plan B.
Denver Post colleague Bennett Durando floated this idea. The Nuggets become the third team in a Brown trade to Portland — even with the acquisition of Ja Morant, they could add another monster contract — and send Gordon and Johnson to the Celtics and Zeke Nnaji to the Trail Blazers and receive guards Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson.
It would give the Nuggets better ball-handlers — a top offseason priority — and a higher defensive upside.
This offseason is tricky and challenging.
Getting Brown doesn’t change everything, but it fundamentally alters who the Nuggets are defensively.
Getting Holliday and Henderson doesn’t change much, but it gives the Nuggets playmaking versatility and an infusion of youth.
This all goes back to Jokic. That is what this is all about. What is the plan to help him lead the Nuggets back to another championship?
As long as Jokic is on the roster, the Nuggets owe him the best players and transparency.
With Jokic potentially prepared to push pause on an extension, the Nuggets are officially on a fast break that must finish with roster improvement, preferably seismic.
