The Denver Nuggets have provided nightmares for the Los Angeles Lakers during their clashes over recent years. The arrival of Luka Doncic and a diminishing supporting cast for the Nuggets made 2024-25 feel like the year where the Lakers' fate was finally changing. That feeling was short-lived.
Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace have worked wonders in the Nuggets front office after their appointment ahead of free agency. The haul that Denver has had is nothing short of incredible.
The Nuggets have been active 24 hours into free agency 🔥
How far can they go in the loaded western conference? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Xz0ZhD1F3v
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 1, 2025
Free agency started for Denver with the Nuggets unloading a 2032 first-round pick and Michael Porter Jr.'s massive contract for a notable upgrade with Cameron Johnson. This was arguably the best move of the free agency period, point-blank.
Going from Porter's $38.3 million to Johnson's $21.1 million contract freed up the Nuggets front office to be players in this offseason. They have certainly made the most of that financial flexibility.
Flurry of strong moves catapults Denver (once more) above Los Angeles in the West
The Nuggets quickly reunited with a former member of the 2023 championship-winning team when they brought back Bruce Brown on a one-year deal. Brown had enjoyed his fair bit of connections to the Lakers over recent years. That was not to be.
Another player who had been linked to Los Angeles in the past was Jonas Valanciunas. The veteran big man was also off to the Mile High City for an absolute bargain of a trade. Nikola Jokic suddenly had his most reliable backup center in years.
If all of that was not good enough, the Nuggets also added free-agent sharpshooter Tim Hardaway Jr. The former Detroit Pistons wing shot 63% on his open spot up 3-point attempts in 2024-25, according to Synergy Basketball. Nuggets fans could only shed tears of joy.
https://t.co/eWd3ngjuiV pic.twitter.com/ADOXwmBPkH
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) July 1, 2025
For anyone finding that haul unimpressive, you would be urged to reconsider. Sure, this does not have the same kind of magnitude as the Kevin Durant trade to the Houston Rockets, by contrast. However, this is exactly what the Nuggets needed.
Denver pushed the reigning champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to a seven-game series in the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs with a depleted group overall. Jokic will now be equipped with the best supporting cast that the Nuggets superstar has had in quite some time.
Denver have firmly joined the Thunder and Rockets in a tier that is comfortably above the Lakers for next year's Western Conference. The microscope under which Rob Pelinka is operating continues to grow larger moving forward.