Why The NBA Should Be Terrified Of The Denver Nuggets…

Why The NBA Should Be Terrified Of The Denver Nuggets…

a huge move. To me, this is a major upgrade. You have now upgraded defensively. Basically, a guy that’s almost the same size, much more consistent catch and shoot shooter. He can also put it down a little bit, create offense, but I think more than anything else, it’s the consistency factor. The Denver Nuggets were one win away from sending the number one seed, Thunder, home, and they did it with a depleted bench, injured starters, and Joic running on fumes. Now imagine what happens when they’re fully loaded. Rebound Joic. Westbrook’s got it. The Joker run. Give it to Joker and he scores. This isn’t a hot take. This is a warning. Denver pushed OKC to seven games with no bench, two starters hurt, and a tied Jokic. The rest of the league should be very, very concerned. Let’s take a look at how Denver’s latest roster upgrades solve every problem that held them back and why that should worry everyone else in the league. Let me paint you a picture of what almost happened in those playoffs. 2025 Western Conference semi-finals, the 68 win Thunder, young, athletic, deep versus the injured, exhausted Nuggets. On paper, this should have been a sweep. In reality, it went seven games. Look at what Nicola Joic did in that series. 28.4 points, 13.9 rebound, 5.9 assists, 40 minutes per game. Six on the clock. Joic spin move, onelegged three. Got it. Oh my god. And he did this while getting grabbed, held, and hammered every time he touched the ball. No call. The Thunder bodies at him all series. Double teams, triple teams, whatever it took. Officiating. Let’s just say Jokic took more hits than a piñata at a birthday party. Those minutes, that’s the problem. Jokic played 44 minutes in game three, 43 in game four, 44 in game five, and the man played the entire second half of game five because Denver had no other choice. And here’s why. Denver’s bench averaged 26.4 points per game all season. You know what OKC’s bench averaged? 35.1. That’s almost nine more points per game. The Pacers bench 39.8. That’s 13 more points. Denver was essentially playing every game down double digits before tip off. But it gets worse. Michael Porter Jr., the supposed third star, was playing with a grade 2 AC joint sprain in his shoulder. You know what that means? Every shot hurt. Every rebound was agony. The medical staff told him it was a 4 to 6 week injury. His response, I’m not doing that. He averaged 7.4 points in that series. Aaron Gordon, grade two hamstring strain in game six. The medical staff told him not to play game seven. He played anyway on one leg because who else was going to? The result, a 32-point loss in game seven. Season over, championship dreams crushed. But here’s what should terrify every team in the NBA. Despite all of that, the injuries, the no bench, the exhaustion, Denver still pushed the eventual champions to the absolute limit. That possession. Murray for three. Got it. And a foul. Chance at a four-point play for Jamal Murray. They won three games. They had lead in the others. And Joic had multiple 40point games. Game one, 42 points, 22 rebounds. Game five, 44 points, 15 rebound. the first player ever with multiple 40 15 and five games in a playoff series. Charles Barkley said it best during the broadcast. Joic looks absolutely totally exhausted and he was right. When your superstar has to play 44 minutes just to keep the game close when he can’t rest because the offense literally dies without him, that’s not sustainable. The league got lucky. Denver beat themselves. So, what happens when you take that same team, the one that almost beat the champions while broken, and fix everything that was wrong? Let me show you what Denver just did. June 30th, 2025. While everyone was focused on the draft, Denver quietly assembled one of the deepest rosters in the NBA. Three signings, three game changers. First up, Tim Hardaway Jr. You might think, “Oh, he’s washed.” Wrong. This man just averaged 11 points per game as a starter for Detroit. Shot 36.8% from three. But here’s the killer stat. 63% on open spot up threes. You know who creates more open threes than anyone in the NBA? Nicola Joic. In Denver’s system, where Jokic’s gravity pulls defenses apart, where his passing creates wide open looks, Hardaway could easily average 13 to 15 points off the bench. That’s already half of what Denver’s entire bench scored last year. Next, Jonas Valenunis. The biggest weakness in Denver’s roster wasn’t just bench scoring. It was having zero reliable backup for Jokic. When he sat, the offense went from elite to historically bad. Their offensive rating without Jokic, 86.3. That’s not a typo. That would be the worst in the NBA. Enter Valenunis. 10.4 four points, 7.7 rebounds in 18 minutes for Sacramento off the bench. Shot 55% from the field, 67% at the rim. And here’s the beautiful part. He’s already under contract, $10 million this year, $10 million team option next year. Sure, there are rumors about him going to Greece, but Denver expects him to honor his deal. Why? Because he knows what every veteran big man knows. Playing with Joic makes you better. And if he does decide to go to Greece, Denver’s still got option. Al Hawford is still out there, a veteran who can defend and shoot threes with championship experience. Perfect Jokic backup. But perhaps the biggest signing, Bruce Brown is back. Remember game four of the 2023 finals? Bruce Brown scored 11 points in the final 5 minutes to seal Denver’s win. 21 points in total. The man who Mike Malone trusted over everyone else when it mattered most. After Denver’s championship, Brown chased the money. Can’t blame him. But look what happened. 2023 with Denver champion, key contributor. 2024 with Indiana, traded to Toronto mid-season. 2025 with Toronto, then New Orleans lottery team. He’s back where he belongs. 8.3 points per game might not sound like much, but remember, he averaged 12 points per game in Denver’s 2023 championship run. In their system, Brown does everything. Guards one through four, sets bone crushing screens, cuts without the ball, makes winning plays. So, let’s do the math. Hardway 11 to 15 points per game. Valenunis 10 to 12 points per game. Brown 8 to 10 points per game. And the existing bench 10 to 15 points per game. Total projected bench scoring 40 plus points. That’s at least a 50% improvement from what they had last year. That puts him right around OKC and Indiana’s level from bottom of the league to competitive with the best benches in basketball. But here’s the real impact. Joic can finally rest. Instead of playing 40 plus minutes in must-win games, he can play 32 34. Instead of carrying the entire offense, he can trust the second unit. Instead of being exhausted by the playoffs, he’ll be fresh. A fresh Jokic in the playoffs. That’s a nightmare scenario for the entire league. But wait, Denver didn’t just add depth. They also made a trade that nobody saw coming. And it might be the smartest move of the entire off season. But before any of those other signings happened, Denver made a move that set everything up. They traded Michael Porter Jr. and a 2023 first round pick for Cam Johnson. On the surface, this looks like a downgrade. Both average 18 points per game. MPJ is a slightly better rebounder. He’s younger and he’s been with Denver longer. But let me tell you why this is genius. First, let’s be honest about what Michael Porter Jr. is and isn’t. He’s a shooter. That’s it. When his shots falling, great. When it’s not, he’s basically invisible. No plan B. No ability to create for others. No way to impact the game beyond catching and shooting. In that Thunder series, 7.4 points per game. Yes, he was playing hurt, but that exposed a bigger problem. When MPJ can’t get his catch and shoot looks, he has no other way to contribute. No drives, no playmaking, no offball movement, just standing in the corner waiting. Second, the money. MPJ was owed 78 million over the next 2 years. That massive contract wasn’t just expensive. It was handcuffing Denver’s ability to improve. They couldn’t add depth. They couldn’t sign quality veterans. They were stuck watching other teams get better while they ran it back with the same flawed roster. Cam Johnson way cheaper, way more versatile. And here’s the thing, he’s better for what Denver needed. MPJ is a shooter. Period. He catches and shoots. That’s it. Can’t create his own shot. Limited defensively. Cam Johnson, 39% career three-point shooter. Same as MPJ. Can handle the ball, can create in isolation, can guard multiple position. But here’s why he’s perfect for Denver. Johnson doesn’t need the ball. He moves without it. He cuts, he screens, he makes quick decisions. Everything MPJ struggled with, Johnson excels at. And defensively, Johnson can switch two through four. He’s got the IQ to be in the right spots. He doesn’t gamble. He doesn’t lose focus. With Johnson instead of MPJ, Denver gains tremendous lineup versatility. They can go big, go small, switch on defense, and have multiple ball handlers on the floor. That flexibility is what wins playoff series when adjustments matter most. And that $78 million they saved, that’s not just money, that’s flexibility. That’s the ability to keep this core together. That’s the difference between a 2-year window and a 5-year dynasty. So, Denver fixed their bench, upgraded their wing, and saved money doing it. But here’s why the timing of all this makes them absolutely unstoppable. Timing is everything in the NBA. And Denver’s timing, it’s perfect. Nicola Jokic is 30 years old and right in his peak. This is when centers dominate. When experience meets skill, when legends write their greatest chapters, and he’s angry. For the first time in years, Joic had a full off season. No deep playoff run, no Olympics, no Serbia obligations, just rest, recovery, and preparation. You know what a rested, motivated Jokic looks like? We’re about to find out. Jamal Murray, fully healthy for the first time in years. No more managing injuries. No more load management, just basketball. Aaron Gordon, that hamstring will be healed. He’s had a full off season to strengthen it. No more playing through pain. Christian Brown coming off a breakout year where he proved he belongs as a starter. The kid who was just a role player is now a legitimate two-way threat on the rise. Now look at the competition. Oklahoma City, young and talented, but they just showed their hand. Denver knows how to attack them now, and OKC didn’t add anyone significant. Same team, now with a target on their back. Houston Rockets added Kevin Durant and veteran bench Dev to their young core. They’re dangerous, sure, but they will still need to figure out how to play together. Denver’s been building chemistry for years. The betting markets know what’s up. Denver’s championship odds have skyrocketed from middle of the pack to top three. And honestly, they should be because Denver is now one of the deepest teams in the West. Look at this rotation. Starters, Murray, Brown, Johnson, Gordon, Joic. Bench Hardway Jr. Brown, Valenunis, Straw, Watson, plus others. That’s eight players who could start for half the teams in the league. This depth means Denver can finally do what championship teams do. Manage minutes in the regular season. Rest guys on backto backs. Keep everyone fresh. Build chemistry with different lineups. No more 40-minute nights for Joic in January. No more running Murray into the ground by March. No more playing hurt because there’s no other choice. Come playoff time, Denver can go 10 deep. Actually, 10 deep. Not we play 10 guys, but three of them suck deep. But we have 10 legitimate NBA players who can contribute deep. That’s how you survive the Western Conference gauntlet. That’s how you keep your stars fresh for June. That’s how you win championship. So, let me spell it out for you. The Denver Nuggets just took the champions to seven games while playing on Fumes and added 30 points per game to their bench. They took an injured roster and made it healthy. They took an exhausted superstar and gave him help. Last year’s Nuggets, 26.4 bench points per game, nearly the worst in the NBA. Playing injured stars, 40 plus minutes, no backup center, a one-dimensional wing in MPJ. Next year’s Nugget, 35 plus bench points, can manage minutes properly, legitimate backup in Valenunis, a versatile wing in Johnson, and at the center of it all, the best player in the world, a three-time MVP who just watched his team lose because they had no help. You think Joic isn’t motivated? You think he’s not ready to remind everyone who runs this league? The rest of the NBA got a gift last year. Denver beat themselves. The injuries, the exhaustion, the lack of depth, it all caught up in game seven. That won’t happen again. This isn’t just a good team. This is now a complete team. So, what do you think? Are the Nuggets the team to beat in 2026? Drop your predictions below. And if you enjoyed this video, hit like, drop a comment, and subscribe for more. Thanks for watching.

The Denver Nuggets are coming—and the entire NBA should be terrified. In this video, we break down exactly why the Nuggets are once again poised to dominate the league. Led by Nikola Jokic, 3-time MVP and the best all-around player in the NBA, Denver has built a team that’s not just talented—but terrifying.

Jokic is having another historic season, putting up absurd triple-doubles and making basketball look effortless. But it’s not just Jokic. Jamal Murray is healthy and playing with ice in his veins. The Nuggets’ core has only gotten stronger with recent moves—adding Cam Johnson in place of MPJ, bringing back Bruce Brown for that gritty championship defense, and adding veteran depth with Jonas Valančiūnas and Tim Hardaway Jr.

With championship chemistry, elite playmaking, and the best offensive system in basketball, the Nuggets are ready to steamroll the Western Conference. This isn’t just a great team—it’s a dynasty in the making.

If you’re a fan of NBA basketball, the 2025/26 Denver Nuggets are a must-watch.

🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT, and SUBSCRIBE for more NBA breakdowns, highlights, and deep dives.

#DenverNuggets #NikolaJokic