They’ve been playing in a different NBA. Amid rising average point differentials and a record number of 30-point routs — symptoms of the tanking epidemic — the Nuggets have been arguably the most entertaining team to watch any given night.

Maybe it’s their commitment to beautiful offense paired with their neglect of defense during the regular-season grind, resulting in a tendency to trade buckets. Maybe it’s their propensity for playing up or down to their opponent’s level — human nature for a veteran team that has tasted so much playoff success. (Denver is soon to begin its 17th playoff series in an eight-year stretch.)

Whatever the case, the Nuggets have been involved in several “game of the year” candidates. They’ve played 45 games decided by single digits, 42 involving clutch time, 20 decided by one score and nine that went to overtime.

As they wrap up Sunday in San Antonio, it feels only right to put a bow on this rollercoaster of a regular season by ranking Denver’s craziest games. What started as a top-10 list ended up expanding to 15. These were the highlights and lowlights of 2025-26.

15. Nuggets 134, Hawks 133, Dec. 5, Atlanta

Nikola Jokic recently chose “inconsistent” as the word to describe his season. This wacky night in Atlanta captured all the dramatic fluctuations, making it the perfect place to begin this countdown. Jokic missed 11 of his 13 shots in the first half. He played like a “sissy,” he said afterward. He decided at halftime that “if we were going to lose, at least I’m gonna give a fight.” He proceeded to make 11 of 13 shots in the second half, scoring 30 of his 40 points to lead Denver’s third-largest comeback win in franchise history (down 23). The weirdest part: The Nuggets also went on a 20-0 run without him on the court. In the last six years dating back to Jokic’s first MVP season, they’re 9-79 when they lose his minutes by more than five points (playoffs included). This was the worst plus-minus game of his entire prime (minus-15) that they’ve have won.

14. Mavericks 131, Nuggets 130, Dec. 23, Dallas

In hindsight, David Adelman has cited the final sequence of this game as one of his favorite moments of the season. Playing a two-man game with Jamal Murray, Jokic caught a pass at the free-throw line and stepped through the paint. As he left his feet, it appeared he was about to attempt a game-winning floater. Instead, he clocked the five — yes, all five — defenders collapsing to him in the lane and whipped a pass to Peyton Watson in the weak-side corner. It was a wide-open 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Watson missed it. Adelman adamantly defended Jokic’s split-second decision, which was scrutinized even by the first-year coach’s friends. Less than a month later, Watson earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors. His breakout season as a scorer has been pivotal for Denver. Before any of that, he had a vote of trust from his team’s best player.

13. Nuggets 102, Bucks 100, Jan. 23, Milwaukee

The Nuggets stumbled out of Milwaukee with an unlikely win that probably contributed to escalating tensions between Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks before the trade deadline. Aaron Gordon was Denver’s only starter available that night, and he reinjured his hamstring before halftime, leaving the team without seven rotation players as it tried to protect a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter. Antetokounmpo led his hapless team on a 34-13 run, only to limp off with a calf strain with 34 seconds left. How did the Nuggets hold on? “Time ran out,” Adelman said bluntly.

12. Pistons 109, Nuggets 107, Jan. 27, Denver

You will probably never see a basketball game end like this again: The Pistons foul Murray in the act of shooting �ٷɾ�������on desperate game-tying 3-point attempts in the last 3.5 seconds, offering Denver a lifeline. And both times, an 89% foul shooter fails to capitalize, missing one of his three free throws. Murray’s teammates were quick to forgive him after an outstanding month in which he led Denver without Jokic in the lineup. He was hard on himself. “If I could just make a free throw, maybe hit rim in the first half,” he said, “it would be lovely.”

11. Nuggets 128, Rockets 125 (OT), Dec. 15, Denver

Perhaps the most consequential officiating moment of Denver’s season occurred with 2.3 seconds left in regulation, when the Nuggets trailed by one and needed to score on a last-ditch sideline inbound play. Tim Hardaway Jr. fell before the ball was passed in, earning a whistle for a dead-ball foul. Replay review determined that he had just barely tripped over the shin of Rockets’ wing Amen Thompson, a soft letter-of-the-law foul that resulted in an automatic free throw. “Most poorly officiated game I’ve seen in a long time,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said afterward. “Two (of the refs) have no business being out there, and the crew chief (Zach Zarba) was acting starstruck.” Alperen Sengun missed a game-tying 3-pointer late in overtime, and Denver held on despite Jokic fouling out with 90 seconds left. If Hardaway hadn’t sold the call, the playoff seeding picture from third to fifth could look different.

10. Nuggets 137, Trail Blazers 132 (OT), April 6, Denver

The Nuggets provided the highlight of their recent 11-game win streak with a rousing 16-point comeback in the last nine minutes of regulation to beat the Blazers, who had one of the luckiest shooting performances in recent NBA history. Coming into Denver, they ranked 29th in the league in 3-point percentage with an 80-game sample as evidence of their inefficiency. Denver’s game plan was to close out short and be the second to leave the ground. Portland went 25 for 52 from deep. It went to waste.

9. Nuggets 106, Raptors 103, Dec. 31, Toronto

Behold, a war of attrition for the ages. This game began as Denver’s first without Jokic, who had hyperextended his knee two nights earlier. By the end, the Nuggets needed a miracle. Backup center Jonas Valanciunas joined Jokic in the infirmary after suffering an injury in the third quarter. It left Denver without a traditional five-man for multiple weeks. DaRon Holmes II was suddenly playing his first career minutes outside of garbage time. In a tight road game. Against a playoff team. Denver and Toronto combined to shoot a whopping 6 for 33 in the last eight and a half minutes. It ended in the most fitting and most ironic way possible: Bruce Brown missed two consecutive free throws with 2.7 seconds left when he only needed one to clinch the game, and the Raptors went the length of the floor off the rebound to hit an incredible buzzer-beating 3-pointer. Just as it seemed the game was going to stretch into 2026, it turned out the ball was still on Brandon Ingram’s fingertips when the clock struck midnight. The one shot that went in for Toronto didn’t count, and Denver had pulled off a tone-setting win for life without Jokic.

8. Knicks 134, Nuggets 127 (2OT), Feb. 4, New York

This one will be remembered for Jokic playing 44 minutes on the second night of a back-to-back, less than a week after returning from his injury. He had already blown past his minutes restriction by the end of regulation at Madison Square Garden. By then, Adelman was in too deep. “There was an ‘I don’t care’ factor once it got to overtime,” he said after the loss. Christian Braun drew a foul at the buzzer of OT and buried two clutch free throws to force a second, but all that did in the end was add to Jokic’s exorbitant playing time. “That was a really fun game,” Jamal Murray said. So fun that he didn’t even notice when Peyton Watson limped off with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for six weeks.

7. Thunder 127, Nuggets 121 (OT), Feb. 27, Oklahoma City

Joker v. Dort. The flagrant foul that ignited a rivalry and the “necessary reaction” . Jokic’s death stare was an instant classic. The game was pretty spectacular, too. But NBA fans years from now might not even remember it went to overtime.

6. Warriors 137, Nuggets 131 (OT), Oct. 23, San Francisco

At its core, this was a legendary duel between Steph Curry and … Aaron Gordon? Fun fact: AG is the only player in Nuggets history to ever average 50 points per game at any point in a season. He broke Alex English’s franchise scoring record in a season opener (47), going 10 for 11 from 3-point range in one of the most mesmerizing heat checks you’ll ever see by a role player. But opening night was the worst possible time to visit Golden State, before injuries took their toll on a geriatric Warriors team. Curry scored their last 13 points of regulation, punctuated by a ridiculous game-tying 35-footer. A game like this was appropriate foreshadowing for the type of season that was in store. It’s stupid that it’s this low on the list.

5. Nuggets 136, Spurs 134 (OT), April 4, Denver

An 11-point Nuggets comeback in the fourth quarter, a pair of magical Jokic shots in the last minute of overtime and, in general, the most epic battle yet between Jokic and Victor Wembanyama. This was hooping of the highest order, quite possibly the best game of the NBA season if not the craziest.

4. Thunder 129, Nuggets 126, March 9, Oklahoma City

It was basketball serendipity that Denver and OKC had a rematch slated 10 days after the incident between Jokic and Dort. Naturally, that rematch became perhaps the most anticipated game of Denver’s season, aided by the bad blood that continued to linger in public comments made by the Nuggets. Dort eventually apologized, and the whole saga finally simmered. But the game still lived up to the hype. Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined to score 15 points in the last 73 seconds of this MVP referendum, which ended with a Denver miracle wiped out. Gilgeous-Alexander seemingly sealed the win for OKC when he buried a 3-pointer to go up four with 12 seconds left. But the Nuggets answered with a brilliant inbound play design to get Jokic a quick shot. Jaylin Williams plowed through a screening Murray as Jokic drained a triple, enabling the Nuggets to tie it with a fortuitous 4-point play. Then SGA got the last word.

3. Lakers 127, Nuggets 125 (OT), March 14, Los Angeles

Denver’s misfortune in clutch time reached a nadir in Los Angeles, where Austin Reaves rebounded his own intentionally missed free throw to force overtime. It was the wildest single play of this Nuggets season, and they were on the wrong end of it. They were also helpless to prevent Luka Doncic from hitting a game-winner in the last second of OT. Denver had a foul to give on the play, but Spencer Jones didn’t use it. His emergence has been a breath of fresh air for the Nuggets this season. This was a tough learning moment for the young wing. Forgotten in all the chaos of the Reaves play: Jokic threw one of his best passes of the year to find Hardaway for what should have been the game-winning shot in regulation.

2. Nuggets 142, Timberwolves 138 (OT), Dec. 25, Denver

Christmas classic. Just an absolutely bonkers rivalry game. The Nuggets led 106-91 with five minutes to go and 113-107 with 35 seconds. They trailed 124-115 with three minutes left in overtime. There was Anthony Edwards brashly asking Watson if the Nuggets planned to foul up three at the end of regulation, before draining an incredible shot to force overtime. Then there was Jokic scoring an NBA record 18 points in the extra period to fuel Denver’s comeback. He finished the game with 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, matching the second-highest scoring game of his career. “They’re gonna show this game (on TV) 20 years from now,” Adelman said, “and I’ll crack open a beer and watch it.” How about another four to seven of those games later this month? Nuggets fans might prefer a cigarette.

1. Nuggets 125, 76ers 124 (OT), Jan. 5, Philadelphia

Being in the arena for this felt like watching a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament pour its heart out to compete with a No. 2 seed. Every minute the game stays close, the more you’re convinced the upset might actually be possible. Denver was missing seven rotation players, all five starters, both centers. It was the second game of a back-to-back near the end of the longest road trip of the season. It was Jalen Pickett, Zeke Nnaji and Hunter Tyson vs. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. It was 98-89 Sixers early in the fourth quarter. In overtime, it was Philly ball with a one-point lead and a six-second clock differential. The Nuggets shocked the NBA world with their defense, with a Bruce Brown fast break and with a tip from the supercomputer mind of Jokic, a bystander on the bench. The team went on to finish 10-6 in a month without Jokic. No other regular-season moment could replicate the emotions of this win.

Three of the No. 1 seeds in the 2026 NCAA Tournament were schools attended by a current Nuggets player. March Madness had arrived with plenty of championship ambition inside Ball Arena.

“I think they’ll win,” Aaron Gordon said when asked about his former team, Arizona, which entered the tournament with a 32-2 record. “They’ve got really good guards. Got some good wings. Got some rebounding. They’ve lost  already, you know what I mean? So they’re not going into the first round of the tournament with the undefeated pressure. So they’ve got a good chance of winning.”

“AG doesn’t even watch Arizona,” Nuggets guard Christian Braun retorted. “Go ask AG to name three players on the team.”

Braun, as it happened, was the primary source of that trash talk. A proud and occasionally obnoxious Kansas alum, he’s one of the most avid college basketball followers on Denver’s roster. On Monday, he was already looking ahead to a potential second-round matchup between Kansas and St. John’s, claiming that “we have the best coach in the world” in Bill Self, “so I don’t really doubt us.”

When Bruce Brown was asked for his thoughts on Miami’s first-round draw against Missouri the next night, Braun interrupted with his: “They’ve got the weakest team in the NCAA,” he said, despite his mother having played at Mizzou. “You should beat Missouri.”

“I don’t know anything about Mizzou,” Brown murmured to his teammate. “I don’t watch —”

“Nobody does,” a deadpan Braun fired back. “Nobody watches them.”

(It bears mentioning that by this point, his insults seemed to be directed at the inquiring #MizzouMade Nuggets beat writer.)

Not everyone in the NBA keeps track of their college team quite as fervently as Braun — Jamal Murray has been known to lose track of who’s left by the Final Four — but March Madness does have a tendency to capture the attention of the basketball world, even for those who are generally locked in on just the pros.

The Nuggets have a particularly robust list of alma maters on the current team. They recently added another blueblood to that list when they signed Final Four hero Tyus Jones off the buyout market. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Michigan are among the schools now represented on Denver’s roster.

In celebration of this year’s tournament, The Denver Post reassembled that roster into a new hierarchy based only on the success of each player’s college hoops career — an All-NCAA Nuggets starting lineup and second unit, if you will. (Sorry, Nikola Jokic. Looks like you’re the first roster cut.)

There was no perfect way to make some of these decisions, especially given Denver’s surplus of prolific college guards and shortage of bigs. It becomes kind of difficult to sort out a frontcourt when the real-life Nuggets’ top two centers spent their developmental years playing for European clubs.

But we tried anyway. Ultimately, the final decisions skewed in favor of players who:

A) contributed to successful NCAA Tournament teams.

B) enjoyed longer, more established college careers.

Here goes nothing.

Starters

�ʳ�:��Tyus Jones, Duke (2014-15)

����:��Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan (2010-13)

����:��Christian Braun, Kansas (2019-22)

�ʹ�:��Cam Johnson, Pittsburgh/North Carolina (2014-19)

��:��DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (2021-24)

Jones is the only “one-and-done” player to make the starting five. How can you leave him out? He was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2015 after taking over the national championship game. His 23 points led Duke’s comeback from down nine with 12 minutes to go against Wisconsin. The Blue Devils have fielded several super-teams since 2015, but that remains their last championship squad.

Braun was also part of a memorable NCAA title game in 2022, when his 12-point double-double helped the Jayhawks erase a 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina. For Braun, that was the culmination of a three-year, 101-game career at Kansas.

Hardaway had a similar career arc at Michigan, where he quickly earned a starting role under John Beilein and eventually co-starred with Trey Burke on a 2011-12 team that won the regular-season conference title and on a 2012-13 team that reached the championship game. Hardaway was a First-Team All-Big 10 selection that year. The Wolverines may have fallen short against No. 1 overall seed Louisville, but is one of the enduring moments from an awesome game.

Only three current Nuggets while in college. Holmes earned Second Team honors his third and final year at Dayton, when he led the Atlantic 10 in points (20.4) and rebounds (8.5) while averaging 2.1 blocks and shooting 39% from three. It’s perhaps the best individual college season anyone on Denver’s roster has had. Holmes led the Flyers to a No. 7 seed and an NCAA Tournament win.

Johnson remains an avid fan of his Tar Heels, which could cause some chemistry issues with Jones in this unit. But if Holmes is the five, you can’t have a four-guard lineup. The pride of Duke and Carolina will have to sort out their differences. Johnson spent the last two seasons of college in Chapel Hill. As a fifth-year senior, he led UNC to a No. 1 seed and a Sweet 16 appearance, making First Team All-ACC and leading all power conference players in 3-point percentage (45.7%). He shot 40.5% from deep across his career, scoring 1,514 points between his two schools.

Bench

�ʳ�:��Jalen Pickett, Siena/Penn State (2018-23)

����:��Jamal Murray, Kentucky (2015-16)

����:��Julian Strawther, Gonzaga (2020-23)

�ʹ�:��Aaron Gordon, Arizona (2013-14)

��:��Zeke Nnaji, Arizona (2019-20)

Pickett and Murray are going to have to be high-usage early subs for the All-NCAA Nuggets. They deserve to be starters, but we’re not playing completely position-less basketball here. Although Murray’s lone season at Kentucky ended early in March, he was still a 20-point-per-game lottery pick and a Third-Team AP All-American alongside Tyler Ulis.

Pickett was a delightful college point guard to watch. Like Holmes, he was a Second-Team All-American for a non-blueblood program. He flirted with a triple-double in an NCAA Tournament win for Penn State, amassing 19 points, seven boards and eight assists. He had a 40-point game at both of his schools. Long live “Booty Ball.”

If you were to edit together a “One Shining Moment” video of the Nuggets’ best March Madness highlights, Strawther’s game-winning shot in the Sweet 16 would probably be the main feature. “Down one, to shoot it from the logo, it was a questionable shot,” he admitted to The Denver Post when reflecting on it a couple of years later. Nonetheless, his 35-footer cemented another March classic between Gonzaga and UCLA. When he was a freshman, Strawther also rode the bench for a Gonzaga squad that lost to Baylor in the championship game.

A pair of one-and-done Arizona Wildcats will fill out Denver’s frontcourt. Gordon and Nnaji were both named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in their brief college careers. They were both First-Team All-Pac-12. Gordon’s team fell one point short of a trip to the Final Four.

Honorable mentions

Props to two-way guard KJ Simpson for his first-round game-winner for Colorado a couple of years ago. Also to Brown (Miami) and Curtis Jones (Iowa State), both of whom made multiple NCAA Tournaments. Again, this backcourt is cutthroat.

Water boy

The All-NCAA Nuggets can probably spare Jokic a spot behind the bench. Certainly not on the court. You expect a 41st overall pick to play?

They needed only remember their last matchup with the 76ers, when the roles were reversed — when Denver’s entire starting five was absent and Philly’s “Big Three” was fully intact. It was back in January, and Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson and Zeke Nnaji prevailed over Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Joel Embiid in a sentimental shocker. Now, Justin Edwards, Dalen Terry and Adem Bona were trying to return the favor.

“They’re dangerous,” coach David Adelman said before opening tip, “because when other guys are out like that, the green light is so bright.”

The Nuggets never allowed those memories to creep back in after the game started. With a 124-96 rout, they swept the season series against Philadelphia and improved to 17-12 against the Eastern Conference this year. Toronto is Denver’s last remaining East opponent on the schedule.

Why Nikola Jokic, Nuggets maintain they’ve played good basketball recently. Even without wins to show for it.

Playing a subdued 25 minutes before a back-to-back Wednesday in Memphis, Nikola Jokic scored a season-low eight points, easily short of his previous minimum (14). He was content to facilitate Denver to a lopsided win instead, piling up 14 assists. Christian Braun was the team's leading scorer with 22 points on nine shots to celebrate his bobblehead being given away to ticketed fans. He also contributed five rebounds, three assists and a steal in his 27 minutes, the latest display of his reinvigorated health near the end of a season plagued by injury.

Offensively, the Nuggets (42-27) played with pace and cruised to a 30-point first-half lead with remarkably balanced output. Cam Johnson didn't miss a 3-pointer en route to 18 points. He's 55% from deep in the last four games, three of which Denver has won.

Jamal Murray bounced back from one of the worst games of his career with an understated 12 points, six boards and four assists. Aaron Gordon matched him in scoring and helped to spearhead a strong defensive effort from his team. Bruce Brown led an impressive night for the bench with 12 points. Braun was the game's only 20-point scorer for either team.

It was all in limited playing time on a night the Nuggets needed to take it easy. Their visit to Memphis wasn't supposed to be on the schedule, but it got sandwiched into the middle of their homestand in January after a blizzard postponed the original game. Last week, Denver benefitted from a rout of the Rockets under similar circumstances; starters were rested going into a back-to-back at San Antonio, enabling a second wind against the Spurs and a 20-point comeback victory.

Adelman said Gordon's status for Memphis was unclear, but he conceded that if it was up to him, Gordon would play.

For the 76ers, Tuesday was a collision of unfortunate events. Their All-NBA point guard Maxey is out with a finger injury. George remains suspended after testing positive for a banned substance in January. Embiid is nearing a return from an abdominal injury, but he hadn't been cleared yet in time to revive the battle of MVP centers. It was the sixth consecutive game in Denver that he's missed, a streak dating back to 2019 that has become something of an afterthought the last two years amid his declining overall availability.

Still, the Philadelphia big man was treated to a chorus of boos when he emerged from the tunnel early in the second half. One sign in the Ball Arena lower bowl taunted him with a lousy knock-knock joke. (Who's there? Not Embiid.) Bona and Andre Drummond comprised Nick Nurse's center rotation instead.

Jokic and the shooters and cutters around him instantly dismantled Nurse's game plan. Aaron Gordon and Braun reaped the rewards of their center's surgical passing and combined for 19 early points. The Nuggets scored 20 off eight Jokic assists in the first nine minutes, confidently assembling a 31-16 lead.

Then Jokic picked up two fouls and a technical in a five-second span, sending him to a premature seat on the bench. If the 76ers were going to have a window into upset territory, it was going to be now. But the Nuggets' bench padded the lead this time, rather than letting it slip away. Backup center Jonas Valanciunas, who had struggled lately in high-stakes games, went for eight points and nine rebounds to anchor Adelman's reserve lineups. He was a plus-15 in 18 minutes.

It’s like they never left — the cold, lonely, unnerving non-Nikola Jokic minutes.

They haven’t been as much of an existential crisis as usual throughout this season. In fact, the Nuggets persevered through a full month of non-Jokic minutes to great effect in January. But just as Jokic is starting to feel like himself again, the second unit that plays behind him is nosediving.

“My body feels really good,” Jokic said Sunday. “I think I’m in shape. I think I’m back (like) before the injury, in that kind of shape. I feel really good out there.”

The Nuggets outscored Oklahoma City and Minnesota by a combined 19 points when he was on the court in a pair of pivotal games this weekend. They were outscored by 34 combined points in the 17 minutes he spent on the bench.

Just like old times.

“It’s just something that we have to learn from,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said, lamenting a 9-0 Minnesota run that swung the momentum Sunday. “I have to find a unit that will actually do it, compete at a higher level. Because to me, that was the game. Then I had to extend minutes, and I’m playing guys into the ground. I can’t do that. Especially with the way the schedule has been very dense.”

A frustrated Adelman hinted at changes to his primary non-Jokic lineup after Denver’s 117-108 loss to the Timberwolves. Its most recent iteration has consisted of Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Cam Johnson, Spencer Jones and Jonas Valanciunas, with Johnson staggering as the lone starter. (Jones was replaced by Zeke Nnaji while dealing with a shoulder injury Sunday.)

Jokic typically plays the entire first quarter and the entire third, with his breaks at the start of the second and fourth. The barometer for Adelman’s confidence in the second unit is all about whether Jamal Murray occupies those rest minutes or whether Denver is playing well enough to kill time without both star players.

“I will say this: Throughout the season, we’ve been really good doing that,” Adelman said. Obviously, Cam’s ankle was really hurting him tonight. And throughout the early part of the season, we ran our offense through Cam and Tim. It was really successful. Right now, there’s not a lot of flow to it.”

Anchored by a veteran duo

Hardaway and Brown have been the glue of that unit — a backcourt duo that Adelman has intentionally kept out of the starting lineup, preferring to pair them off the bench even when injuries created openings. Julian Strawther and Jalen Pickett have started over them in several games, not because they’re higher in Denver’s pecking order but because Hardaway and Brown are. “Tim and Bruce, I wanted them to play together as much as possible,” Adelman explained in Oklahoma City. “Don’t break them up. Keep a rhythm. … Two vets who understood what I was trying to do when we had that conversation early on.”

In more than 1,000 minutes together this season, Hardaway and Brown have a minus-1.4 net rating. Below zero sounds bad, but it’s not in this context. They’ve mostly prevented the catastrophic runs that have defined the non-Jokic minutes at their worst over the years.

Valanciunas has anchored the second unit as Jokic’s backup center, but Adelman insinuated before the game Sunday that when Denver is fully healthy, he might prefer to use starting power forward Aaron Gordon at the five for certain matchups. Valanciunas, who isn’t fleet of foot, struggled when Oklahoma City went small on Friday.

“It’s a good learning lesson. Against that team, we may have to change up who plays when,” Adelman said. “The way I’d like to play if we’re going to change our rotation isn’t available to us right now, to play (OKC) in that style of basketball, unless you go dramatically small. So it was trying to stick with what we’ve been doing (in Friday’s game). Obviously, it didn’t go well.”

What happens when Watson returns?

When asked to elaborate on the way he’d like to play, Adelman confirmed that it involves both Gordon and Peyton Watson, who are ramping up to return from injuries. The last time Gordon came back from a hamstring strain in January, Adelman wanted to avoid immediately using him at the five due to the more physically taxing responsibilities of that position. The dynamic could be similar when he returns to the court this time, especially because the Nuggets are wary of Gordon’s overall durability going into what they hope will be a deep playoff run. Still, their tendency over the years has been to lean on him as a backup center when the stakes are highest.

Once upon a time this season, before Watson was forced to become the Nuggets’ second scoring option, he was also an everyday cog in the bench lineup. The four-man combination of him, Brown, Hardaway and Valanciunas has posted an immaculate net rating of 10.4 in a relatively small sample size of 124 minutes. Once Watson and Gordon are both back, Watson will probably be coming off the bench for the first time since mid-November, unless Adelman wants to make a more dramatic change by demoting someone from his starting lineup.

More likely is that Watson returns to his bench role but becomes more of a centerpiece in the second unit’s offense. After all, the more he plays with Jokic and Murray, the less he and the Nuggets will be able to build on his emergence as an efficient ball-in-hand player. In the non-Jokic minutes, Denver can assume a different play style. Watson can seize more opportunities to create his own shot in isolation.

If Brown, Hardaway, Watson and a center are all part of the unit, then who’s the fifth player? This is perhaps the most important variable for Adelman to figure out before the regular season ends. All-bench lineups are rare in the NBA, especially in the playoffs. The Nuggets are like most teams in that they want to stagger at least one other starter during the minutes when their best player is out.

Former coach Michael Malone’s mindset was that he needed one of Jokic or Murray on the court at all times to engineer a functional offense. Adelman’s philosophy differs. He prefers to maximize their minutes together, enabling them to play off each other as much as possible. The domino effect is that Denver has to survive nightly for a few minutes without both.

Adelman felt that his hand was forced this weekend, he said, after the loss to Minnesota. He called a timeout during a Thunder run on Friday to get Murray on the floor for the remainder of Jokic’s breather, alongside Johnson. Then after another terrible stint to start the second quarter Sunday, Adelman switched around his rotation in the fourth, playing Murray instead of Johnson.

“I’m gonna have to force-feed (Jokic and Murray) minutes until we get full again, (when) there’s more options to bring guys off the bench,” the first-year head coach said. “It’s not what I want to do. I like them to play together. I don’t like when I’m taking minutes away from them (as a duo), not being on the court together. But if we have to do it, then we’ll do it. Because this can’t happen.”

Adelman first went to the Johnson stagger early in the season, intending to manufacture more touches for Johnson. The idea was that it would help him gain confidence after a slow start with a new team. It worked. The unit played well together. Johnson shot himself out of a slump. Then he got hurt in late December. After a month on the shelf, Adelman wanted to work Johnson back in by returning to that stagger.

Johnson’s first five games resembled the month of solid overall play after his knee injury. He shot efficiently, defended steadily. Then came two matchups against division rivals that Denver might see in the playoffs. Physical teams that have bothered the Nuggets in past series. Johnson wasn’t part of those seven-game showdowns. He’s four years removed from his last playoff experience. It showed in a pair of playoff-caliber games.

Which leads to Sunday, when the non-Jokic minutes haunted Ball Arena anew and left Adelman vowing to search for answers. A configuration that had worked months earlier had suddenly imploded in one weekend. The Nuggets were climbing out of the wreckage in fifth place in the West.

“It’s happened two games in a row, and it’s cost us big time,” Adelman said. “Quick 12-0, 12-2, 11-2, 11-0, whatever it is. It can’t happen in this high-level of a game. So we’ll have to talk about it. And I will explore. … We’ll try to find a group that will compete and play at a higher level.”

“Obviously, we’ve got Jamal (Murray), Jok (Nikola Jokic), we’ve got guys across the roster that are pretty capable,” Johnson said Sunday after a painful, scoreless afternoon in a galling, 117-108 home loss to Minnesota. “So you’ve got to be able to do your own job. And my lack thereof really cost us (Sunday).”

Johnson sat crestfallen at his locker stall at Ball Arena an hour after arguably his worst game as a Nugget. One minute, his fingers danced on his smart phone. The next, they rested on his forehead.

He stared at his right ankle. He stared at his screen. He stared at the floor.

“I mean, it’s part of life, part of the game. Things happen,”  Johnson, who was 0 for 6 from the floor and 0 for 4 on treys against the Timberwolves, said later. “Good and bad, whether you like it or not. And you’ve just got to … kind of learn to move past it and move forward and figure the rest out.”

Johnson is one of several roster knots coach David Adelman has about six weeks to try and straighten out. The veteran sharpshooter is battling a bad ankle, which is affecting both his movement and his lift.

And yet the bigger battle might be going on between Johnson’s ears right now. Playing on that wonky ankle this past Friday, Cam missed a wide-open three that would’ve buried the Thunder in OKC. At times Sunday, it looked as if he was still carrying the scars from that miss onto the floor with him at Ball. Other times, he looked scared.

A shooter who’s afraid to shoot is a tailback whose first thought is not fumbling. If that’s your mindset, the worst is inevitable.

Aaron Gordon should be coming back later this week, and Peyton Watson allegedly isn’t far behind. Bench your weakest link, right?

Johnson has whiffed on seven of his last eight treys. His ankle’s not in a great place. His confidence isn’t, either, now that you mention it. If you bench him, and everybody knows why, does he ever get that confidence back?

“(Johnson) did not move well (Sunday),” Adelman said. “Obviously, Cam knows we’re out a lot of people at the wing position, so he fought through it. And I think it obviously affected his game. He had a hard time moving side to side. He’ll get checked on now, before we head to Utah. I’m hoping for better news, but obviously it was hurting him (Sunday) throughout the OKC game. But he was moving better in OKC than he was (Sunday).”

Adelman’s got to get Johnson right if he’s to salvage anything from this season. He’s got to get center Jonas Valanciunas right, somehow.

A four-game run of Golden State, Boston, Oklahoma City and Minnesota told us a lot about the Nuggets. Some of it wasn’t exactly pleasant. It’s crystal clear not everybody on Denver’s roster is ready for playoff mode. Or for playoff teams.

Adelman’s second-quarter rotations remain, to put it kindly, puzzling. The stagger still doesn’t quite work against rosters with a pulse.

The second unit is giving off 2025 vibes, despite the new faces. Elite guards can’t guard Murray, but when it comes to blow-bys, he can’t guard them, either. Jokic’s shooting legs still seem to wobble late. Johnson’s been whiffing on the open stuff in a make-or-miss league.

Pick your poison. They’ll all kill you come May.

“But, you know, Cam’s our starting small forward. I trust him,” the Nuggets coach continued. “(Sunday), his body just wasn’t there. So, again, like I said …  if Cam’s out, somebody else has to step up.”

Tim Hardaway Jr. (17 points, three 3-pointers) did. Jalen Pickett (four points, two assists in six minutes) did, too. Yet a good chunk of the roster Sunday were just passengers on the struggle bus — one that dropped the Nuggets off Sunday night as the 5 seed in the Western Conference.

“It’s just a lot of effort, a lot of attention to detail,” Johnson continued. “That’s what it comes down to.”

That and shooting. The Wolves made just nine shots on 20 attempts (45%) in the first quarter as the Nuggets cranked up the temperature defensively. Minnesota made nine of its first 15 to open the second stanza (60%) and 14 of 24 for the period (58.3%). Same as it ever was.

The Nuggets are now 1-9 over their last 10 games against teams with winning records. Denver’s been bum-slaying for more than a month now. And Cam, for one, is tired of being talked about as a bum.

“It’s on me,” Johnson said. “I’m the only one that got myself in it, so I’ve got to be the one to get myself out of it. It happens in life, happens in this league. It wouldn’t be the first time I’m dealing with something like this. (I’ve) got to keep working.”

Shooters gotta shoot. But when shooters miss open threes on national TV, it leaves a mark.

“What’s the most frustrating part for you after a game like this?” Johnson was asked.

“Where do I begin? You mean personally or team-wise?” Johnson said. “Knowing that it’s such a severe lack of contribution. (That) really shows up in the end.”

It’s looking as if the cavalry ain’t coming via a veteran buyout, either. . Kyle Anderson That thins out the herd a bit when it comes to tides that can lift all boats — including postseason ones.

That Johnson guy? The one who drives you nuts?

He’s all they got.

“You sure you feel OK?” I asked Johnson as the media scrum broke up.

“Yeah,” Cam replied.

“The ankle?”

“It’ll be all right,” the Nuggets forward countered.

So will they. But Adelman’s got to get 23 figured out first. And fast.

The Nuggets are planning to sign former CU Buffs star KJ Simpson to a two-way contract, filling the spot they opened up by converting Spencer Jones to a standard NBA deal on Wednesday, league sources told The Denver Post.

Simpson, 23, was waived by Charlotte after the trade deadline this month. Drafted 42nd overall by the Hornets in 2024, he played in 50 games over the last two seasons and started 17 of them, averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

The 6-foot-2 guard represents additional ball-handling depth for the Nuggets as they prepare for the last third of the regular season. They returned from the All-Star break sitting in third place in the Western Conference, but their cushion on seventh was only three games as they resumed play Thursday at the Clippers. Simpson won’t be eligible to appear in NBA playoff games while he’s on a two-way contract.

Denver now has three guards occupying its two-way spots, with Simpson joining rookies Curtis Jones and Tamar Bates.

Simpson played 98 games during a three-year college career at Colorado. He earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior and stamped his place in program history during the 2024 NCAA Tournament, when he buried a game-winning shot against Florida to send CU to the second round. That Colorado team broke a program record with 26 wins. Simpson, Tristan da Silva and Cody Williams were each drafted in 2024.

Players on two-way contracts split their time between the NBA and G League, depending on where they’re needed. Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, has been without key players such as Jones, Bates and big man DaRon Holmes II for most of the last two months, with Jones and Holmes assigned to Denver and Bates injured.

The Nuggets have used Jalen Pickett and Julian Strawther as complementary guards in the starting lineup recently while navigating injuries. They prefer to use Tim Hardaway Jr. off the bench to generate an extra scoring jolt when they go to their substitutions, though Hardaway has also closed several games this season.

Spencer Jones free agency detail

When Jones goes to restricted free agency this summer, his price tag might be more expensive than the Nuggets can afford while also absorbing other pay increases.

Jones started 34 games for Denver before the All-Star break. If he starts seven more and gets to 41, he’ll become the first player to qualify for a CBA provision called the “starter criteria,” sources told The Post. Basically, it would increase his qualifying offer to more than $5 million.

For the Nuggets to retain their matching rights as the incumbent team in restricted free agency, they’re required to first extend a one-year guaranteed qualifying offer to the player between the last game of the NBA Finals and June 29. Peyton Watson is also set to be a restricted free agent.

Between Watson’s contract situation and the raises owed to Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon on their respective extensions, the Nuggets’ payroll is currently projected to skyrocket back into the luxury tax in July.

Whether they choose the tax, the first apron or the second apron as the threshold they want to stay under, they’ll likely end up in a pinch. And that means they’ll have very little room for salaries above the minimum on the bottom half of their roster. Jones could feasibly become another casualty of Denver’s depth if he starts enough games before the end of the season.

The Nuggets somehow, someway, boast a 35-20 record at the All-Star break. Despite a training room that triggers claustrophobia. Despite missing three-time MVP Nikola Jokic for four weeks. Despite Aaron Gordon playing in 23 games. Despite Christian Braun and Cam Johnson being sidelined for half the season.

What a ride.

What a waste.

The time away offers the Nuggets a chance to exhale. But when they return, their season will be summed up with a sigh without significant improvement.

Hate to break it to you, but the Nuggets are once again bad on defense.

With first-year coach David Adelman pulling the right levers, the Nuggets went 10-6 without Jokic. They sit third in the Western Conference.

They delivered inspiring wins at Boston and Philadelphia.

But it will not work in the playoffs.

They have 20 road wins, tied for the most in the NBA.

But they can’t beat the Cavaliers and Lakers at home?

Through 55 games, the Nuggets have raised the floor, but the ceiling threatens to remain the same.

What gives? Why the pessimism?

The Nuggets rank 24th in overall defensive rating, 29th in the clutch and they don’t force turnovers.

And you thought the Broncos were the only team that struggled to get takeaways? The Thunder have already lost as many games this season (14) as they did a year ago. Nobody in the East creates fear.

What an opportunity. What a miss.

For everything that has gone right — Jamal Murray turning into Jamall-star, the blossoming of Peyton Watson, the improvement of Jalen Pickett and Julian Strawther — there is a reason to wince.

The Nuggets have the best offense, and struggle to get stops. The NBA marveled as Denver held it together with chicken wire and duct tape without as many as four starters.

Meanwhile, those of us who predicted them to win the NBA championship — my hand is raised — wonder if another Jokic-in-his-prime season will end in disappointment.

Even the recently out-of-sync Jokic — he is averaging 4.4 turnovers per game since he returned, and has 19 over this past three games — remains inevitable offensively. And Murray has found consistency from the first bell.

But for the Nuggets to contend for another title, they must lock up opponents.

Where’s Pat Surtain II when you need him?

For all the hand-wringing over the urgency to win with the best player in the world, the Nuggets’ fate will be determined by Gordon, Watson, Braun, Bruce Brown and Spencer Jones.

Gordon is the piece that makes the puzzle fit. He can guard forwards and centers, versatility that becomes critical as half-court possessions become more central to playoff outcomes. Whether he can remain in the lineup for 16 postseason wins is a concern given his litany of calf and hamstring issues. His resume is so thick, however, that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Watson is young. His hamstring will be fine. The Nuggets need his length on the perimeter. It does not require squinting to see Denver falling in seven games in the second round again if they don’t defend 3-pointers better. Watson is part of that solution.

Braun is critical. When the Nuggets won it all in 2023, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a menace capable of clinging to a top shooting guard like lint. Braun has shown the ability to be a strong on-ball defender, but can he trust his ankle this spring?

Early returns screamed no. The last three games suggest the arrow is pointing up.

Brown and Jones are reliable. Brown will dig in against the best and let the world know about it. Jones provides energy and effort that jump off the screen. The Nuggets are slow-playing converting Jones from a two-way to a standard contract because of the All-Star break and the player working his way through a concussion.

The idea that the Nuggets’ title bid hinges on Jones sounds absurd. It is not. He does not have to be a factor every night. But he will likely have to steal a game with a steal or two.

If the Nuggets don’t at least reach the NBA Finals, it would represent a bigger missed opportunity than the Broncos falling to the Patriots in the AFC Championship. At least the Broncos had an excuse. No Bo Nix and a coach who forgot to kick.

The Nuggets have leaned on injuries to provide cover for all flaws and mistakes. Just wait until everyone returns. But that misses the point.

It is not about getting the band back together. It is about playing with purpose on both ends of the floor. The Nuggets were a mess defensively last season, leaving former coach Michael Malone to rip them so viciously after a loss at Portland that I figured the coach knew he was going to be fired or wanted to be.

Compromised rotations or not, the Nuggets are not any better this season.

We can all come up with reasons why the Nuggets have not returned to their 2023 heights — too tired, too much drama, too few bench players.

The mitigation needs to stop. This team was built to win big.

Adelman, an offensive genius, needs his team to play defense like it means it. Like it matters.

You see where this is going, right? With Jokic back, the other guys have to have his back. They need to play like they did without him, by getting in front of guys, switching and producing turnovers.

Because one thing is becoming clear. If the Nuggets don’t reach their goals, there will be no defending them.

James Harden buried an improbable game-tying 3-pointer with a hand in his face and 31.4 seconds left, then Donovan Mitchell barreled into Jamal Murray to draw a blocking foul with 0.9 seconds to go, putting him at the line for a pair of decisive free throws. The result was a 119-117 Nuggets loss Monday at Ball Arena — their fourth defeat in the last five games. One contest remains before they go their separate ways for the All-Star break.

Mitchell went for 32 points and 10 assists on 23 shot attempts. Harden, in his second game since the Clippers traded him to Cleveland, added 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Christian Braun on failed initial return from ankle injury: ‘I wasn’t ready’

The Nuggets (34-20) got a triple-double from Nikola Jokic and a double-double from Jamal Murray, but their 13-of-40 outside shooting night as a team was too much to overcome in an ending that came down to clutch shooting. They generated an open 3-point look for Tim Hardaway Jr. with 10 seconds left on a night when role players buoyed them, but it was off the mark.

Playing through hip pain after a minor injury suffered Saturday in Chicago, Murray struggled with burst off the dribble early but was content to ease into the game as a setup man. He or Jokic assisted on 19 of Denver's 32 field goals in the first three quarters.

But Jokic was slinging high-risk passes ahead in transition and into tight windows in the halfcourt, costing him at times with six turnovers -- including one in the last minute while Denver was protecting a one-score lead. Murray was a steadier distributor, compiling his 11 assists with just one giveaway.

David Adelman experimented with an a atypical sub pattern for Jokic, rolling him out to start the second and fourth quarters with Cam Johnson at the four and shooters everywhere. Flanked by Strawther, Tim Hardaway Jr. and a recently slumping Jalen Pickett, the Nuggets more than doubled their lead in the first two minutes of the fourth. Pickett knocked down a timely 3-pointer to push the gap to 11, eliciting an especially enthusiastic response from the bench while the Cavs regrouped with a timeout.

Whenever they called one, it usually produced results. They went on a 10-0 run out of a second-quarter timeout after falling behind 11. They chipped away at the same deficit in the fourth, getting a boost from role player 3s and smelling blood when Adelman had to remove Jokic from the game for a breather. How long could he afford to keep the MVP center on the bench? A clutch 3-pointer from Christian Braun (20 points) and a crafty challenge by Adelman helped keep Cleveland at bay, barely. Jokic was back at the 3:24 mark with a 111-108 lead.

The Pistons were hosting, just a few hours after they sent Jaden Ivey to Chicago in a three-team deal that brought back Kevin Huerter, ex-Nugget Dario Saric and a pick swap. The Nuggets had not completed any trades, but they did have a business decision to make. Spencer Jones embarked on their three-game road trip this week with one game of eligibility remaining on his two-way contract and a back-to-back against two of the East’s best awaiting Denver.

With Christian Braun returning from an ankle injury and supplying David Adelman with another body to work with in Detroit, the Nuggets elected to rest Jones on Tuesday and delay his last game 24 hours until New York, sources said. Jones told The Denver Post last week that the Nuggets’ front office has told him he might have to sit out games even if he ends up joining the 15-man roster on a standard contract this month.

Without him, the Nuggets clawed back from a 20-point deficit to get within two late in the fourth quarter, but the Pistons held on for a 124-121 win at Little Caesar’s Arena. A fortuitous shooter’s bounce for Tobias Harris with 1:46 left stretched Detroit’s lead to 115-110 as Denver struggled to land the comeback’s final punch. Moments later, Peyton Watson was a millisecond late to block a Cade Cunningham layup off the backboard, a play that would’ve given Denver a chance to tie while down three.

“The challenge for us right now is with all the things that are happening — people coming back, the minute restrictions — we have to avoid paying attention to that, and we just have to play,” Adelman said. “And deal with it as we go. We’re going to have some clunky moments. The rotation is different. We tried different things tonight. Just trying to fit people into the minutes that can play.”

“It’s a little bit different for us right now,” Nikola Jokic said, “but I think it’s part of the (league).”

The healthy scratch of Jones was essentially a money-saving tactic for Nuggets ownership. Players on two-way deals can be active for up to 50 NBA games in a regular season. Jones may be on the verge of a promotion that would dispense with that limit if the Nuggets can balance their books with a trade by Thursday afternoon. But their primary goal, to get under the luxury tax, is evident in that they’ve gone through half of the season with an open roster spot. Nothing in a rulebook would’ve prevented them from converting Jones’ contract on Tuesday (or earlier) if they wanted him available for Detroit.

Instead, they were operating without a power forward. Aaron Gordon is also sidelined as he recovers from a hamstring strain. Adelman rolled out Braun, Peyton Watson and Jalen Pickett in the starting unit alongside his two stars, foreshadowing a night of finagling. He tried everything from four-guard lineups to a jumbo package.

“I am feeling it out, man. Like, I’m feeling it out every game,” Adelman said. “We walk through stuff in a hotel room, and I pre-suppose lineups and put them out there in their sandals. And then we go play. Then you have to react during the game. And that’s part of the NBA, so there’s no excuses there, either. It’s just, I was trying to find a group that had some rhythm. We found a couple, but the end of the first half just killed us.”

The Pistons (37-12) swept the season series and got under Denver’s skin in the process. Their frontcourt played its usual chippy style, and Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas caused a brief skirmish in the first quarter by putting Isaiah Stewart in a headlock under the basket. Newly minted Pistons All-Star Jalen Duren exchanged shoves with Valanciunas. Both received technical fouls. Valanciunas also picked up a flagrant for the play on Stewart.

By halftime, both head coaches and Pistons guard Duncan Robinson had been handed technicals as well. Jamal Murray and Stewart jawed back and forth a couple of times. Cade Cunningham got into foul trouble in the third frame but also earned 11 free throws himself — a stat that agitated Adelman after the game in contrast to Jokic’s three. In search of a bigger power forward, the first-year head coach started playing Jokic at the four in a double-big lineup with Valanciunas to match Detroit’s size and physicality.

Both centers started the fourth quarter after Denver had trimmed a 20-point deficit back to 13. Julian Strawther chipped in as the rally intensified, lending support on the glass and pushing the pace.

“He was playing aggressive and trying to force the issue a little bit,” Murray. “It was good to see him just get a flow.”

The Nuggets couldn’t buy a bucket early. They missed their first seven 3s while falling behind by double digits and shot 31.8% from the field in the first half. But they were able to linger despite a “weird energy” that Adelman wasn’t pleased with, until a disastrous two-minute stretch to end the half. Three consecutive turnovers — two by Jokic — fueled a 10-0 Pistons run that pushed the lead to 69-50. Detroit scored 26 fast break points on the night, a “ridiculous” number, Adelman said.

“They’re handsy,” said Jokic, who was visibly frustrated by non-calls throughout the night. “They have some really good personnel. … I think the second half was much better for us.

“We had, I’m gonna say, like a good half of basketball.”

Jokic played 33 minutes, another gradual increase in his third game back from a left knee injury. He went for 24 points and 15 rebounds, but he also turned it over five times. Braun logged 25 minutes in just his 15th game of the season, which has been defined by the severe ankle sprain he suffered in November when it was stepped on by James Harden (who was traded to Cleveland during the second quarter of Denver’s game Tuesday).

The Nuggets’ back-to-back Wednesday at Madison Square Garden will test their resilience. They haven’t lost three consecutive games all season, but this is one of the toughest portions of their schedule: the Thunder, Pistons and Knicks in three cities across four days.

“We need to find ways before the break to win some games,” Adelman said. “We’re in a crazy race in the West. I heard a bunch of stuff changed tonight with the trades and all the things that went on. So the race is beginning. You can’t wait for the All-Star break to happen and then join the race. We’ve gone through a lot, but so what?”

I found it impossible to repress the thought, as Giannis Antetokounmpo suddenly limped toward his locker room with 30 seconds remaining in a rock-bottom Bucks loss, that I might’ve just witnessed the Greek Freak’s last game in a Milwaukee uniform. Openly frustrated by his directionless team, yet stubbornly reluctant to divorce the city he loves by applying the blunt force of a trade demand, Antetokounmpo has been both the unstoppable force ���Ի���immovable object that defines this NBA trade season. Practically every buyer on the market was waiting for clarity in his saga before proceeding with other transactions.

Was it possible that Julian Strawther and the bottom half of Denver’s roster had pushed this to a symbolic breaking point? After procrastinating for more than three quarters, Antetokounmpo was trying to undo another listless Bucks performance in a game they couldn’t afford to lose when he reaggravated a calf strain.

My focus as a beat writer was on a different injury suffered earlier that night by Aaron Gordon. But as a chronicler and fan of this sport, I couldn’t help but wonder about the historical gravitas of the moment I was on hand to watch unfold. Tensions were already as icy as the minus-30 wind chill in Milwaukee, where Giannis is beloved but the team has heard boos recently. Now, Antetokounmpo was self-diagnosing a potential six-week absence in the home locker room. Fans were sent off into the bitter cold with more uncertainty to chew on, while the Nuggets celebrated another unlikely win without their own European superstar. The moods of the two franchises could not have been more different.

Like Milwaukee, Denver has won a championship this decade and fallen short of a second while trying to build around an all-time great big man. Unlike Milwaukee, Denver has not faded from the mix of contenders at any point in this unprecedented era of NBA parity. The Bucks have floundered when Antetokounmpo has been out of the lineup this season. The Nuggets have persevered for a month without Nikola Jokic. The Bucks seem destined for a lottery pick in the draft, whether they trade Antetokounmpo in the next week or wait for the offseason. The Nuggets are on pace for a fourth consecutive 50-win season.

Those juxtapositions feel resonant this week as Milwaukee’s front office finds itself backed into a corner it has desperately tried to avoid for years. Five days after the Nuggets and I were in town, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Bucks were open for business — even if a Giannis blockbuster doesn’t necessarily materialize until summer. Meanwhile, scuttlebutt around the league remains that Denver is almost definitely going to complete a trade before the Feb. 5 deadline. Just on an exponentially smaller scale.

The team’s aim, as I’ve reported in recent weeks, will be to duck the luxury tax with a minor deal and convert Spencer Jones to a standard contract so he can continue playing, as long as his money aligns with the Kroenkes’ end goal. The Nuggets would be able to treat Jones as an upgrade to their power forward depth for the stretch run and the playoffs. Aaron Gordon’s ongoing injury woes have increased the sense of urgency at that position. If Denver can manage to acquire another playable guy in the trade that����ap percolating this week, consider that a bonus.

The Nuggets have paid the luxury tax three consecutive years, meaning if they finish either of the next two seasons with a payroll that exceeds that threshold, they’ll trigger the repeater tax. This is basically a more dramatic tax penalty imposed on teams based on four-year windows, incentivizing owners not to spend excessively over the salary cap for prolonged periods of time. It’ll be far more difficult for Denver to evade the tax next season, when Gordon and Christian Braun are already owed significant raises and the Kroenkes’ willingness to spend will be tested on Peyton Watson. But for now, penny-pinching can be accomplished with relatively inconsequential basketball moves.

Not exactly thrilling stuff for fans, but nothing detrimental to the Nuggets’ championship hopes, either, as long as they do responsible business. Team officials view this roster as fully capable of challenging the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder in a playoff series, and coach David Adelman didn’t shy away on Sunday from the fact that he wants to use regular-season matchups with OKC to assemble data points and film for potential preparation.

It’s no secret around the league that Denver’s preferred candidate to offload is Zeke Nnaji, whose 2025-26 cap hit is about $8.2 million. Nnaji was a solid contributor in January, averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 22 minutes as an emergency center. He’s closed out multiple wins on account of his switchable defensive acumen. He was a two-way star in Denver’s memorable upset of the 76ers. He was responsible for guarding Antetokounmpo in the second half last Friday in Milwaukee.

The problem that has made him especially difficult to move — including last February when former general manager Calvin Booth tried — is the remaining time on his contract. Future cap space is valued at a premium these days. Nnaji has another two years on his deal after this season. For a player who’s usually out of the rotation on his incumbent team, that’s considered a lot to absorb. Maybe the perception would be different if his salary was expiring, but the reality remains that rival teams have long seen Nnaji as a negative-value contract. The Nuggets will likely have to attach second-round draft capital and/or another player if they want to salary-dump him in exchange for another reserve with a smaller cap hit.

Teams that are both willing and able to take on more salary than they send out can be difficult to find in today’s NBA, especially when the incoming player isn’t a proven commodity. There are more teams in financial situations that resemble Denver’s.

Take the Orlando Magic: $5.6 million over the tax, with salaries that team ownership might want off the books in Goga Bitadze ($8.3 million) or Tyus Jones ($7 million). Nnaji and picks for Jones might sound like a nice framework to Denver fans, but basketball reasons aside, why would the Magic agree to that when it means an increased payroll commitment this year and the next two? Same goes for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who already made cost-cutting progress last weekend and may still want to discard Lonzo Ball. Someone would have to get involved and play the middle man role, a team with less incentive to win this year and more incentive to absorb “bad salary” and stockpile draft picks.

This is all to say that whether Denver finds a two-, three- or 10-team deal, there probably needs to be a certain type of team involved. It’s noteworthy that first-year executives Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace have already done business with Brooklyn for these exact reasons. Turning Michael Porter Jr. into Cam Johnson saved $17 million last summer and created room for depth. It cost Denver its only tradable first-round pick. Can that partnership be revisited?

If there isn’t a deal to be done involving Nnaji, Denver’s next two highest cap hits — excluding typical rotation players — are DaRon Holmes II at $3.2 million and Strawther at $2.7 million. Other options toward the bottom of the cap sheet are Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson. Pickett ($2.2 million) might be the most enticing of the bunch right now in terms of talent. He’s been a legitimately effective combo guard this month, often starting alongside Jamal Murray and shooting 39% from three. Strawther is the closest thing to a playoff-proven contributor of the candidates, though, based on a memorable performance he had in an elimination game last year vs. OKC.

Watson ($4.4 million), for what it’s worth, is highly unlikely to be moved at this point despite his status as a pending restricted free agent, from what I’ve heard. His breakout has been too meteoric, too enticing, for the Nuggets to sell high on him in the middle of a championship push, even at the risk of losing him in the summer. Even then, they’ll have matching rights on any contract offer Watson receives.

I would also be surprised if they part with one of their veteran role players this week like Johnson or Jonas Valanciunas, both of whom could feasibly be turned into cheaper replacements if we’re really thinking through every option. The new rule of thumb when prognosticating about the NBA trade deadline is to never say never — Luka Doncic is a Los Angeles Laker now — but the Nuggets are just too good to mess around with their possible playoff rotation over a tax bill. It would be a bad look. (That said, the extent to which they feel a need to scale back Valanciunas’s role in the playoffs could be an interesting variable.)

However the Nuggets end up maneuvering, their trade activity probably won’t appear on any national debate shows. It’ll probably be discussed less than certain trades that don’t even happen. Some front offices that recently had dreams of contending for a title are confronted by sobering, franchise-altering decisions. Who to keep, who to move on from. Memphis with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Dallas with Anthony Davis. Sacramento with Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine.

Milwaukee with Giannis. He’s the tipping point for the entire market. The reason it has mostly stalled so far. As he watched Kyle Kuzma’s final heave graze the rim last Friday from the bench, he could see as clearly as anybody in the building that he was part of a broken team.

The Nuggets are more fortunate. They can approach the next week from a stable position. With book-keeping margin moves in mind that shouldn’t jeopardize the basketball product they’re putting out. For half a decade, they’ve been one of the NBA’s most privileged organizations.

That usually means boring trade deadlines. Summertime is when that privilege will truly be under the microscope.