SAN FRANCISCO — It was early October in San Diego, back when the sunshine surrounding the Denver Nuggets’ coastal training camp seemed so fitting for a team with such a bright future.
They had Nikola Jokic, the reigning MVP whose continued ascent has long inspired championship aspirations within this organization. Jamal Murray was working his way back from his ACL tear, with whispers at the time about the possibility of him returning in time for a fully healthy postseason run.
The steady hand and fiery voice of longtime coach Michael Malone. Aaron Gordon. Will Barton. Monte Morris. And Michael Porter Jr., the rising star who had seemingly overcome his back problems just in time to sign a massive new max extension and who, like all the rest of them, could see the brightest of futures ahead.
“We know we’re going to be good,” Porter told reporters back then. “We know we’re going to be nice for years to come, and anything less than the championship — they didn’t pay us all this money to not win a championship, so that’s the goal.”
Nearly seven months later, when the Nuggets’ ill-fated season came to an end with their Game 5, first-round loss to Golden State on Wednesday, Porter’s quiet exit from the Chase Center said it all about the weather change they’d all endured since the sunny start. When it was all over, he left the arena with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled so tightly over his head that the shadows all but erased his face.
The 23-year-old had played his last game on Nov. 6, when his back failed him yet again and a third surgery ensued just two months after he’d inked the five-year, $207 million extension of which he spoke. His risky contract, much like the Nuggets’ championship window, became a topic of great debate around the NBA as a result.
Murray, who signed his five-year, $170 million extension in July 2019 and who was also on hand in street clothes to watch the Warriors take the finale 102-98, never played a game despite months of speculation that he was on the verge of coming back.
Gordon, he of the four-year, $92 million deal signed in September 2021, played well at the end but had a terrible start to the series that factored in their demise. With all the hundreds of millions spent by Nuggets ownership, there was a brutal irony on display when minimum-salary, midseason addition DeMarcus Cousins carried a hefty load by scoring 19 pivotal points.
So is this gritty group destined to succumb to the darkness that overtook them this season, or is there still a chance of the light breaking through? The answer is the latter. And as always, it has everything to do with their man in the middle.
Not long after Jokic’s 30-point, 19-rebound, eight-assist outing was over, with the 27-year-old raising his series averages to 31 points, 13.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists, he announced — in essence — that he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The Nuggets are expected to offer him a five-year supermax extension worth a combined $254 million this summer, one that would give him the largest contract in the history of the game. And when they do, he said, he plans on grabbing the nearest pen and sealing the deal.
“I would like it, of course, but it’s not something that I’m deciding,” said Jokic, who is likely to win his second consecutive MVP award sometime soon. “I think of course if it’s offered — if (the) offer is on the table — of course I’m going to accept it because I really like the organization and really like the people who work here.”
Slow down for a brief moment and ponder that sentiment again. In today’s NBA, when so many stars spend so much time sending messages of discontent that often spark chaos, here was Jokic making it abundantly clear that these past four years of disappointing playoff finishes weren’t enough to sour him on the potential that remains here. If you’re a small-market team pondering the sanity of making this kind of financial investment, it’s the kind of emotional buy-in that should make you feel that much better about the choice.
“I’m in (a) really good relationship with people who work here, and a good relationship with everybody from the owner to, let’s say, the equipment manager,” he continued. “I think we have something that we’re building. It actually feels really good.”
All things considered, that’s a pretty positive place to be in less than a half-hour after your season comes to an early end. In stark contrast to Utah, where the collective fatigue of the Jazz’s similar situation is right there for all to see almost every time out, the end isn’t in sight here. And as Jokic discussed, there’s something to be said for the recent reality that has befallen so-called super teams like the Lakers and Nets that have fallen short.
“We don’t know what we can do because we were not healthy,” Jokic said of the Nuggets. “But yes, do we have some talent? Yes. And can we do something? Probably, yes.
“You can see through the league (how) teams are making super teams and they’re not making any success. Let’s say (it) like that. So I think we have talent, we have players, we have pieces, we have tools and (the question is) ‘Are we going to work together?’ That’s the only thing that — that’s the question. (But) you cannot know that until you start playing.”
For all the fan and media focus on winning it all, the more holistic truth about this league is that sustained success is the end game for every organization. To that end, Malone often cites the fact that the Nuggets have won more games — regular season and playoffs combined — than every team other than Milwaukee in the last four years. That’s not nothing. The question from here is whether they’ll ever be healthy enough to turn this dream into a reality when it matters most.
“The future’s definitely bright,” Malone said. “I think we also have to understand that Jamal Murray to start the season next year is not going to be the Jamal Murray right away. I think it’s going to be a buildup, him getting comfortable and confident out there.
“But … during the first two games here, I went back, couldn’t sleep one night (and) at 3 in the morning, I was looking at Jamal’s stats in the (2020 Orlando) bubble. Wow. I knew he was good, but sometimes you forget how good he was. That’s the thing about Jamal, when the stakes are at their highest, he steps up. He’s never afraid of the moment. Michael Porter, what he did last year in 10 playoff games — 17 points, six rebounds (per game), more importantly shooting a high clip from the 3-point line. Shooting makes up for so many things. Jamal and Michael can do that.
“With all that being said, I don’t want to spend all this time talking about Jamal Murray and Michael Porter. The guys that played this whole season, gave their all, put us in this position, I think deserve so much love and respect. I know I have that for those guys. Whenever the season ends, it’s really hard. You’re on this long journey since September non-stop. I always use the analogy, it’s like being on a subway car. Somebody just pulled the emergency brake. It’s hard.”
The Nuggets’ hope, yet again, is that it all gets easier from here.
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(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
