The Denver Nuggets are coming off a postseason in which many didn't believe they had a chance to succeed. It puzzled many around the NBA when the team fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth just days before the end of the regular season. As a result, the team installed David Adelman as the interim head coach.
In the first round, they were pitted against the then-red-hot Los Angeles Clippers, who were on an eight-game winning streak and had won nine of their last 10 games. However, Nikola Jokic helped lead the Nuggets to a first-round series win.
Jaden Hardy
Nov 22, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) controls the ball under pressure from Dallas Mavericks guard Jaden Hardy (1) in the first quarter at Ball Arena.
© Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Nuggets owner sends alarming Nikola Jokic message
The Nuggets then had to take on the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. While they would fall in that series, Nikola Jokic had some brilliant performances along the way. In Game 1, the Nuggets shocked the Thunder with a 121-119 win in which Jokic scored 42 points and grabbed 22 rebounds.
Without Jokic, the Thunder would be nowhere near the same team, so it's hard to imagine a world in which the Nuggets would let a talent like his go. However, Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke detailed a world in which that could be a possibility when talking about the NBA's second apron.
"If the wrong person gets injured and very quickly you're into a scenario that I never want to have to contemplate, and that's trading [Nikola Jokic]," Kroenke said. "So we're very conscious of that pushing forward and providing the resources we can when the moment arrives."
At 30 years old with an NBA Championship, three Most Valuable Player awards, and five All-NBA First Team selections under his belt, it's crazy to think the Nuggets would ever even entertain the idea of trading a player like him internally, let alone letting the entire NBA world know.
That type of move is one that would polarize and alienize a fanbase and Nuggets fans would likely never forgive Kroenke for doing so. While they won the NBA Championship in 2023, many believe their title window remains open as long as Jokic continues to play at this level. Although it's a fun thought exercise to consider what type of package the Nuggets could receive in return if the day Kroenke is warning of ever comes.