Nuggets still within their ‘championship window’

DENVER — With a blue banner commemorating the team’s 2023 NBA championship hanging behind him at the Denver Nuggets practice facility, head coach Mike Malone described a sense of urgency for the 2024-25 season, a sentiment shared by star guard Jamal Murray recently during a locker room speech.

“He reminds his teammates, don’t take this for granted,” Malone said during the Nuggets’ media day held Thursday. “He goes, ‘We have a championship window, not every team has a championship window. And what do you do? Do you take advantage of that or do you look back in 20 years and have regrets?'”

Murray, who agreed to a four-year, $208 million maximum contract extension earlier this month, says the entire team needs to approach this season with the right mentality.

“The young guys, as we get older, they’ll see us [struggle] to win in this league and that it’s tough for GMs to create a team like this, that’s this talented and that gets along this well off the court as well,” said Murray. “So I just said, take advantage of the moment. We got a chance to do great things, let’s make the most of it.”

And one of the reasons the Nuggets are in a hurry is that they’re in the prime of superstar center Nikola Jokic, the three-time NBA MVP.

“In a best-case scenario, I think Nikola has a prime 10-year contention window,” said Nuggets GM Calvin Booth. “I think we’re about halfway through it. So, we probably have about five more similar shots and all the shots count. We hit one of them, that’s great. The earlier we hit it, the more we can have conversations about other things, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to win another one.”

“I think Nikola Jokic is probably going to go down as one of the best to ever play the game,” added forward Aaron Gordon. “[I’m] working my tail off, working my ass off to maximize his time in the NBA.”

The Nuggets entered last season as title contenders and reached the second round of the playoffs before blowing a 20-point lead in a Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“After a season where everybody says you failed, it’s my job to make sure that we don’t read all that bulls—,” Malone said. “We’re a good team. The last six years, no one in the West has come close to doing what we’ve done.”

This offseason, the Nuggets lost one of their top players, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who signed with Orlando. His departure came after the team lost forward Bruce Brown, a key cog in their 2023 title run, last offseason.

In a hyper-competitive Western Conference, the Nuggets are hoping some of their young players, including Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther can help fill in the gap and shore up their depth. They’re also counting on new acquisitions, including former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook and reserve center Dario Saric, who could help lighten the minutes load on Jokic.

Westbrook, who signed a two-year deal with the Nuggets in July, said it was an “honor” to play with Jokic. In past experiences, Westbrook said the scouting report of playing against him was simply saying “good luck” while hoping Jokic missed a shot.

“You want to be on a team with someone that is literally unguardable,” Westbrook said of Jokic, “and I’m grateful to be on his team.”

Jokic, who helped lead his Serbian national team to an Olympic bronze medal in the Paris Olympics in August, said he didn’t dwell on the Nuggets’ disappointing postseason finish. When reminded that Tuesday marked his 10th media day, the often-humorous Jokic replied, “Every year it’s the same thing. And I don’t know why we’re doing it every year. Every year, it’s completely the same.”

But Jokic said he was excited for Westbrook, noting, “Of course, we didn’t have a good relationship on the court [before]. We were fighting a lot and talking back and forth. But I know who he is a little bit outside of the court, so [he’s a] great teammate, vocal leadership, the guy who wants to listen, the guy who will follow in the gym. So I think he’s a great player for us, and I think he’s going to bring us all the good stuff.”

Though Jokic can at times seem disinterested in the game — and more interested in his horses or life back home in Serbia — he made clear: “Just because I don’t smile or don’t laugh and don’t whatever, doesn’t mean that I’m not excited. I’m excited to see what we can do.”

Malone also discussed the more restrictive collective bargaining agreement and how it has redefined team-building across the NBA while also addressing speculation that it has created friction between himself and the Nuggets’ front office.

“Me, Calvin, [Nuggets president/governor Josh Kroenke], I think as long as we’re aligned, communicating, collaborating and also challenging each other — like, Calvin and I shouldn’t always agree,” Malone said. “If we’re always agreeing, then we’re not really accomplishing what we need to accomplish. But through those decisions and through those conversations, you come to a greater good. And this is a reality. You look across the NBA landscape, teams are letting great players walk because they don’t want to approach that really dirty word of ‘second apron.’ “

Malone was referring to changes made to make life more difficult for the league’s highest-spending teams and increase parity around the league. Teams that pass the “first apron” and then the “second apron” of the luxury tax line will face harsher restrictions in how they construct their roster. The Nuggets are one of several teams that is hard-capped at the second apron, meaning they cannot exceed roughly $189 million in team salary.

“And as a coach, I have to educate myself because I put blinders on [and think,] ‘How do we win the game tonight,'” Malone continued. “But I have to give respect to Calvin, I have to give respect to Josh and understand that it’s more than just tonight. It’s also a much bigger perspective on how we’re going to be set up for success not just tonight and this season but for down the road.”

Regarding the CBA, Booth mentioned trying to win now while developing their young players — a path that hasn’t always worked for some teams, namely the Golden State Warriors.

“I think there’s been a lot of conversations about winning or developing,” Booth said. “I’m a big fan of Jim Collins and read [his] book ‘Good To Great.’ What we’ve been trying to accomplish is not novel. You can win and develop. Once you’ve won, you have an obligation to develop. Oklahoma City has sufficiently developed their team and now they’re trying to win. I think we’re obligated, in order to be great, to try to develop.”

The Nuggets can enter into contract extension negotiations with Gordon beginning Friday. Gordon is eligible to sign a four-year, $143 million extension, and both he and Booth said they’re optimistic about the two sides reaching an agreement.

The Nuggets begin training camp Friday before heading to Abu Dhabi for a pair of preseason games against the Boston Celtics on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6.