The Nuggets head into Saturday’s Game 7 with the Clippers with much more than their season on the line. In a way, it feels like this entire era of basketball is hanging in the balance for this franchise that won the title in 2023.
Roster changes and new CBA rules have hit the team hard, and the roster has really fallen off around the core players. They’re now faced with the prospect of being eliminated in a Game 7 at home in back-to-back years.
Last year, it happened in round two; the Nuggets were up 3-2 in that series, but the Timberwolves won Game 6, then came into Denver and erased a 20-point second-half lead to knock the Nuggets out of the playoffs and end their title defense.
This season, it’s just round one, and if the Nuggets fall, it feels like major changes are on the way. We’ve obviously already seen some, as the head coach, Michael Malone, and GM Calvin Booth were fired in a shocking twist, just days before the end of the regular season. That should have gotten everyone’s attention, and it’s clear that losing in the first round when you have the best player in the world is simply not good enough.
Trading Aaron Gordon may be best option to stay competitive
Frankly, even if the Nuggets win on Saturday, they’ve already proven that the roster is lacking depth and talent in a major way. But if they do lose, something drastic has to be done. Denver is going to have to shed money, but also bring back a multitude of players.
The obvious move seems like it has to be for Denver to send out one of its highly paid, valuable players, in the hopes of bringing back several good role players who will fit the team well. We can immediately start by saying Nikola Jokic is untouchable. No matter what happens on Saturday, he’s not going anywhere.
Beyond that, the other three players making over $9 million are Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr., all key starters for the team. Murray feels the safest; despite his constant injury concerns, he has proven his ceiling in the playoffs, and his offensive two-man game with Jokic is a big part of what makes the Nuggets special.
So that leaves MPJ or Gordon. The clear choice would be to move Porter Jr., but that’s easier said than done. He hasn’t had a great season, and this playoff series certainly hasn’t helped that. He is set to make over $35 million and is already in his sixth season in the league, and with his injury history, the market may not exactly be on fire for his services.
To get something, you’ve got to give something, and right now, I’m not sure what giving up Porter Jr. would bring back. That leads us back to Gordon. As painful as the thought of moving Mr. Nugget would be, it may just be a necessary evil.
Hopefully, it’s not the case, as nobody wants to think about that. But if the Nuggets lose on Saturday, they are going to have to make a major move to alter the roster, which means this may just be Gordon’s last game in a Nuggets uniform.
