There's no arguing that, over the past three years, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been the better team than the Nuggets. Denver took OKC to seven games in the 2025 semifinals, but almost beating the eventual NBA champion doesn't mean anything unless you're looking for a moral victory. And anyway, the Thunder have gotten better since then. As for the Nuggets? Not so much.
Denver flamed out in the first round of the 2026 playoffs at the hands of Minnesota, the first time the team's season ended at that stage since 2022. The Nuggets entered what was supposed to be a pivotal offseason for them, and it could be, just not in the way they wanted. They're worse off than they were when the summer began after losing Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade on Wednesday.
Yes, the Nuggets received a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick via the Kings, but what good does that do for them right now? Nothing, unless they can flip them for an upgrade.
And speaking of, Denver needs to make a trade to get below the second tax apron (assuming that's the plan, since the front office didn't want to pay Watson what he wanted), an area it entered after matching OKC's offer sheet for Spencer Jones.
In other words, the Nuggets are a mess, which isn't what anyone in Denver wants to hear, but it sure is entertaining for Oklahoma City fans.
Nuggets are worse off than they were
Oklahoma City's biggest threat in the West is no longer Denver — it's San Antonio. Of course, that doesn't mean the Thunder can overlook the Nuggets, since Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray still exist, but they've been in a downward spiral since winning it all in 2023.
Now, Denver is still a threat, just not nearly the threat it once was. It's not exactly reassuring, at least for Nuggets fans, that the team is essentially running it back with a worse roster.
Watson is gone, and they didn't get the high-level player they aimed for in return. Outside of Jokić and Murray, they desperately need Christian Braun to bounce back and for Aaron Gordon to stay healthy, and that might be too much to hope for, specifically the part about AG, and he is their defense.
Oklahoma City hasn't been particularly worried about Denver for a while now, so there's no need for the Thunder to pay real attention to what the Nuggets are doing. It's the slow part of the offseason, though, and with the Watson sign-and-trade making headlines, it's entertaining, at least, to watch them continue to self-destruct.
Add us as a preferred source on Google