Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Denver Nuggets face a roster overhaul after a frustrating first-round exit. High costs and poor performance make keeping the current core nearly impossible.
- Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson are trade candidates due to health and cost. Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Jr. likely won't return as free agency looms.
- Reshaping the team around Nikola Jokic is the top priority. Financial flexibility is required to build a supporting cast capable of another championship run.
The Denver Nuggets suffered an incredibly frustrating first-round series loss to the Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves. Nikola Jokic was never himself and Denver's supporting cast was outplayed by Minnesota's, leading to another early exit. The Nuggets, despite having the best player on the planet, have now won a total of two postseason series in the last three years.
Changes are needed. The team isn't built to win a title, and given how expensive Denver's roster is, they can't realistically run things back even if they wanted to. With that in mind, it's hard to envision any of these four players sticking around beyond this offseason.
Aaron Gordon
Why not rip the toughest band-aid off early? Aaron Gordon is a fan favorite in Denver, and for good reason. Not only is he a fun player to watch, but he's the perfect connector on a championship team. He played an instrumental role in Denver's championship win and remains an extremely impactful player when healthy. The words "when healthy" are doing a lot of work here, though.
Gordon was limited to just 36 of Denver's regular season games and three of Denver's six playoff games. He played well, even averaging more than 16 points per game for just the second time since 2018 during the regular season, but it's really hard to justify paying him $33 million in 2027, $36 million in 2028 and $39 million in 2029 when availability is such a major question mark.
I don't know what Denver can realistically get in a trade for Gordon, but they ought to be able to convince another team to take the risk, considering how good he is when healthy. Clearing cap space to reshape the roster around Jokic and Jamal Murray has to be their No. 1 priority.
Cameron Johnson
With that goal in mind, the Nuggets should be exploring trades with all of their high-priced players not named Jokic or Murray, and Cam Johnson is one who fits that boat. The Nuggets hoped that Johnson, a cheaper and more efficient alternative to Michael Porter Jr., would help lead them back to glory, but things didn't exactly go as planned.
Johnson was limited to just 54 games in the regular season, and while he was able to shoot 43 percent from three-point range, that plummeted to 31.4 percent in their series loss against the Timberwolves. Ultimately, there's a chance Denver will need to decide between keeping Johnson or Peyton Watson, who is set to enter restricted free agency and is expected to earn a ton of money on the open market.
If that's the case, and assuming they're unable to offload what's looking like a disastrous Christian Braun contract, Johnson should get dealt this offseason.
Jonas Valanciunas
The Nuggets signed Jonas Valanciunas last offseason, hoping he'd come in as Nikola Jokic's backup and simply not lose the minutes Jokic was on the bench. That didn't exactly happen, as Valanciunas' -9.0 net rating was the fourth-worst mark on the Nuggets. It came as little surprise to see Valanciunas rack up a total of 25 minutes in the postseason. He never played more than 10:29 in a game and didn't even play in two of the contests.
Money will be an issue for Denver, but the Nuggets are going to have to part with Valanciunas before his $10 million salary for 2027 becomes guaranteed. He simply was not the right fit.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
The same cannot be said about Tim Hardaway Jr., who might've had the best season of his career. He set a career high with 224 three-pointers made while also shooting a career-best 40.7 percent from three-point range. Hardaway shot almost seven three-pointers per game in the regular season, yet was remarkably efficient, leading to him being named a finalist for the Sixth Man of the Year award. He wasn't nearly as impactful in the postseason, but the same can be said for much of the Nuggets' roster.
A season this strong for Hardaway is bound to lead to a pay increase. The veteran sharpshooter signed a deal for the veteran's minimum last offseason, and while he won't make $30 million annually or anything, he's going to earn a lot more money. The odds of Denver being able to afford to pay him while improving in other areas are probably slim, meaning they'd be better off letting him walk and finding another shooter to replace him.
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