How close did the Nuggets come to winning their second National Basketball Association championship in three years?
Based on the seven-game series they lost to Oklahoma City, compared with the Pacers’ 4-3 series loss that confirmed the Thunder the 2024-25 NBA champions, suggests “very close.”
Consider the following:
Denver and Indiana both finished with 50-32 records in the regular season. Both were second in their respective divisions, and each was their respective conference’s No. 4 playoff seed.
These two teams met twice during the regular season, and each won on the other’s home court. The combined score was 245-241—four points difference—in Denver’s favor.
The Nuggets won one of three against the Thunder during the season; the Pacers were 0-2. (Oklahoma City’s margin of victory versus Denver, averaged for three games, including the Denver victory, was 12.3. In two wins over the Pacers, it was 13.5.)
In their playoff series with Oklahoma City, Denver and Indiana followed the same sequence: win, lose, win, lose, lose, win, lose.
Oklahoma City averaged 115.4 points on offense against the Nuggets, and 111.9 against the Pacers. Denver scored 106.3, and Indiana 108.4 per game in their respective playoff series against the Thunder.
Both the Nuggets and the Pacers had to win Game 6 on their home court to extend their series against the Thunder to a deciding seventh game.
It’s no secret or big surprise what kept Denver from hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy again. But some facts hammer home the point:
The Nuggets’ bench was outscored by Oklahoma City’s reserves in every game, including by 22, combined, in Denver’s three victories.
Denver’s bench averaged 23.4 points per game in the seven-game series. The Thunder enjoyed a 10-point advantage in points from its backups.
Indiana’s bench, on the other hand, outscored its counterparts from Oklahoma City in six of their seven games, including by a combined 45 points in the Pacers’ three victories. (Indiana lost its star, Tyrese Halliburton seven minutes into Game Seven, so the Pacers bench accounted for 104 of the game’s 240 player-minutes.)
In the OKC series, Indiana’s backups averaged a whopping 40.3 points per game. That’s 16.9 points more than Denver’s vs. OKC. (Julian Strawther’s 15 in Denver’s Game 6 victory was the only time a Denver substitute other than Russell Westbrook scored in double figures. And Westbrook did it only twice—once in a blowout loss.)
So where do the Nuggets go from here if they are to avoid wasting the rest of Nikola Jokic’s prime?
The obvious answer based on this forensic examination is that Denver must improve its primary reserves.
Less obvious is how that can be accomplished.
Barring a last-minute trade, which would almost certainly cost the Nuggets a member of their starting lineup, Denver didn’t have a draft choice in either round of the this week’s NBA draft.
This means that the Nuggets’ next general manager—whenever he’s named—will face the daunting task of providing coach David Adelman with added experience and ability off the bench through free agency—on a very tight budget.
Pending additions, the only newcomer will be last year’s 22nd pick in the draft from the University of Dayton, 6-foot-10 DaRon Holmes. And he will be coming back from the torn Achilles tendon that kept him out all of this season.
A year ago, the Nuggets obviously thought Holmes could help. Immediately after Phoenix drafted him at 22, Denver sent the Suns the 28th and 56th picks in the 2024 draft plus second-round picks in ’26 and ’31 to acquire him.
Trade options beyond the draft are minimal this year unless the new GM comes up with a blockbuster whose efficacy will be questioned until the next season unfolds. (Can Michael Porter Jr. really fetch a replacement to start AND a contributor off the bench?)
It helps that Westbrook apparently is definite about declining his player option for next season.
His high-risk, high-reward game is too high-risk without other backups who are capable of compensating on those nights when his turnovers and ill-considered shots are a liability that should be avoided.
His departure also would create a little financial flexibility that possibly will bring a spark.
Improving Denver’s second-team rotation may come down to whether or not an impact reserve or two will be lured by having The Joker as a teammate and the potential for postseason success his presence represents.
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Denny Dressman’s 17th book, a collaboration with Kansas City artist Anthony High titled Black Baseball’s Heyday – Capturing An Era in Art and Words, will be published in late summer. You can write to Denny at dennydressman@comcast.net.