Three games into the current season, and the Denver Nuggets are 10th in the Western Conference. It's clear that what they're doing isn't working. This franchise has hit the point where they either need to trade Nikola Jokic, or get rid of the rest of the team and rebuild it with him at the core.
At the time of writing, the Nuggets have played three games in the regular season and lost two of them. Fortunately, they managed to beat the Pelicans, one of the four teams left in the league without a win this season. Game four will also be against the Pels, so hopefully Denver can get to .500.
The reality of the Nuggets is that they are an average team that's captained by the greatest player in the NBA, despite what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thinks. Jokic currently leads Denver in points, rebounds, assists, and blocks this season, basically proving he's a one man show.
Denver has made the playoffs for eight straight seasons, winning the NBA Championship once. If the Nuggets had roughly the same roster without Jokic, they wouldn't have accomplished any of that. And they never will get another championship during his tenure without doing something drastic.
It's time for bold, borderline insane moves for the Nuggets
The Nuggets payroll is legitimately crazy. This season is costing them almost $220 million, putting them over the second apron and into severe penalties. They have no trade assets to work with, and are grossly overpaying Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray.
Honestly, the only top player they have who is being paid appropriately is Jokic. You can bet no other team is trading for Murray when he's owed over $160 million over the next three seasons. Denver has no resources to build a team around Jokic capable of winning another title. So, it's time to get nuts.
Trade Jokic. Then, rebuild the team without him. That's the best option they have as numerous teams would be interested in Joker, though only a few could make it happen. The Nuggets could also try trading everyone else and rebuilding around Jokic. Again, no one is taking Murray at that price.
The only other option for the Nuggets is to stick with what they have, keep getting bounced early in the playoffs, and make small moves as they can. They're not winning any titles that way, but they'll eventually be able to rebuild after this aggressively mediocre roster fades away by attrition.
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