Conventional NBA wisdom suggests the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are in a tier by themselves atop the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets would like to crash that party. Denver's season opener in Oklahoma City gives Nikola Jokić and his teammates a chance to remind everyone that they also have what it takes to be legitimate NBA title contenders this season.
As long as Jokić is on the roster and remains healthy the Nuggets will have a high floor. His other-wordly passing ability gives his teammates easy offensive solutions on a nightly basis. Jokic's superpowers have allowed the Nuggets to overcome some errors in roster construction during his tenure.
Those errors led to Peyton Watson leaving the Nuggets via a five-team trade this offseason. The team had a chance to keep him via restricted free agency, but they were unable and/or unwilling to meet his salary demands. At the bare minimum, it's clear Denver balked at paying Watson what he ended up getting from Cleveland due to the potential tax implications.
Watson's departure heaps even more pressure on Jokic and All-Star guard Jamal Murray to play at an elite level if the Nuggets are going to make another run at a championship. Murray enjoyed the best season of his pro career a year ago and that was not enough to help the Nuggets keep pace with the Thunder and Spurs. It's clear Denver needs one or more of its role players to take a major leap if they're going to reach those rarified heights.
Who might take a big leap forward for the Nuggets?
Aaron Gordon is not going to suddenly blossom into an All-NBA player at the age of 31, but a healthier season from the versatile forward can pay big dividends for Denver this year. He only managed to play 36 regular-season games in 2025-26, and he played a number of those contests at far less than 100 percent.
Cameron Johnson will start at the other forward spot for the Nuggets, and the team can hope he can bounce back after a sub-par season. He gave Denver's offense a boost by shooting 43 percent from 3 last year, but they need him to increase the volume of his perimeter shots to maximize his positive impact on their offense. Johnson's 5.6 attempts from behind the arc per 36 minutes represented the lowest mark of his career.
Christian Braun may be the Nugget under the most pressure to improve his play heading into the regular season. The team effectively chose paying him over Watson and the results were borderline disastrous last year. Braun struggled with injury and saw his offensive numbers take a substantial dip in almost every statistical category. Denver desperately needs him to show he can be an above-average starter at the other guard spot if they are going to challenge for a title.
Can the Nuggets challenge the Thunder and Spurs in the Western Conference?
It's dangerous to count any team with Jokić on the roster out, but his surrounding cast just does not have the required juice to compete with the elite in the Western Conference. Denver will have nights where they look unstoppable due to Jokić and Murray's collective brilliance and we might see it on Opening Night. But, unless someone takes a huge leap or they manifest a magical midseason trade they cannot drag the rest of the roster to those heights often enough to be a title challenger.
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