The new season is 29 days. Looking back on last season, how do you evaluate the Denver Nuggets who have stopped in the second round?

The Nuggets have repeated the same plot in the past two years since winning the championship in 2023: Due to the explosive salary of the starter, players are lost every year. Bruce Brown and Jeff Green left the team in the summer of 2023, and champion 3D starting guard Pope was also let go by the management in the summer of 2024, and the substitute lineup has no depth.

In the 2024 playoffs, the Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves in the second round. Jokic played 47 minutes in the life-and-death battle, Gordon 42 minutes, Murray 43 minutes, and Pope 40 minutes. Braun played 20 minutes on the bench, Justin Holiday played 9 minutes, and Reggie Jackson 5 minutes. The Nuggets have been playing time for starting the game, and 8 people rotated on paper. In fact, Holiday and Reggie did not score, and the substitute scored only 5 points in the tiebreak!

In the 2025 playoffs, the Nuggets played 7 games with the 50-win Clippers in the first round. The key players such as Westbrook, Braun, and Watson performed well and helped the Nuggets lead the Clippers 27 points in the third quarter to advance. In the second round, the Nuggets played against the Thunder again to tiebreak. The Nuggets once played with seven people in the series. Jokic + Gordon + Porter Jr. + Braun + Murray + Westbrook + Watson is David Adelman's most trusted core rotation group. G4 only allowed Strauser to play for 5 minutes, and G6 and G7 increased Strauser's playing time to more than 18 minutes.

Jokic + Gordon + Porter Jr. + Murray, the starting four King Kongs, are indeed the same, but the insufficient substitute depth seriously restricts the Nuggets' upper limit. Starting heavy blows and substitutes are bullied, which is the norm in the Nuggets' matches in the past two years.

The most fatal problem of the Nuggets is that the four starting salaries exploded, and they have no money and space to recruit useful substitutes. The 7-8 players rotated for a whole season, and the lineup depth has not increased.

Nuggets fired former general manager Booth and appointed Ben Tengze as the new general manager. The new official took office for three successes. The Nuggets truly achieved a complete transformation through "salary slimming".

The total salary of Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Porter Jr., last season was 146 million yuan, and the total salary of these four people in the new season was as high as 162 million yuan - the salary cap next season was 154.6 million yuan, and the total salary of the four King Kongs has been seriously over the cap!

There is no doubt that if the Nuggets do not defeat the four King Kongs, they will repeat the same mistakes in the new season. The four starting salaries explode and the bench is still poor and weak.

Jokic + Murray are the core duo of the Nuggets who can't move. Gordon has proved his value this year's playoffs, and the only thing that can and must move is Porter Jr.

Potter Jr. has 2 years left with 79.14 million contracts. He averaged only 7.4 points per game with injuries in the second round this year, and averaged only 25.0% of his three-point shooting percentage. Five of the seven games in the second round were single-digit scores - nearly 40 million in the next two years, with high salary and low energy, and a serious premium for the contract.

The new general manager took decisive action and sent Porter Jr. to the Nets in the first round of unprotected 2032, and replaced the 3D forward Cameron Johnson.

Cameron Johnson is not only easy to use but also saves money for the Nuggets. His average three-point shooting percentage average last season reached 39.0% (2.8/7.2), and his defense is better than Porter Jr. His contract in the next two years is only 43.04 million, which is 36 million cheaper than Porter Jr. This transaction directly saved the Nuggets 40 million expenses and created a 16.8 million trade special case!

The Nuggets can recruit soldiers with the salary difference between Porter Jr. and Cameron Johnson. Slimming in salary creates important conditions for improving the depth of substitutes in the future.

Ben Fujisawa continued to expand his results after the free market opened, and the Nuggets' substitute strength has undergone a qualitative change.

Nuggets first signed back the 2023 champion Bruce Brown. He averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game with the Pelicans last season, especially his three-point shooting percentage reached 40.4% - his space value basically replaced Westbrook's position, and he served as the substitute point guard and the team's sixth man in the new season.

Nuggets also signed veteran shooter Hardaway to increase the projection firepower of the bench.

Hardaway Jr. played for the Pistons last season, averaged 11.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 36.8% (2.2/5.9). 5.9 of 8.8 shots per game were all three-pointers. His three-point shooting percentage was as high as 63% (36/57) last season. This full-time space shooter must have food and drink around Jokic. Compared with Westbrook and Watson who were often emptied last season, the space threat provided by Hardaway Jr. forced the opponent to not let go easily.

Nuggets gave Saric a two-year $10.6 million contract last year, and the second year player option. Saric's performance declined completely and fell out of rotation. The new general manager used Saric as the signing first and then exchange chips to get Valanciunas from the Kings (20 million in 2 years), finding a qualified substitute for Jokic.

Valanciunas is a Lithuanian national player. Last season, he averaged 16.9 minutes per game with the Kings, averaged 8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He has mid-range shots, low-post hard solution and support skills - he averaged 15-20 minutes per game, and it is enough to be a substitute for the teacher.

The Nuggets' bench depth is completely new compared to last season. Five players are available, including Bruce Brown, Hardaway Jr., Valanciunas, Watson and Strauser. The Nuggets can use 9-10 players to rotate in the new season, and they will wake up when they meet in a dream!

The Nuggets split the four King Kongs by sending away Porter Jr. during the offseason, upgraded the bench, the biggest shortcoming in the past two years, and returned to the first echelon of the championship.

Former Nuggets general manager Booth let Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Pope go, and also offered Najib a four-year, 32 million contract renewal contract. This series of operations almost ruined the Nuggets' 2023-25 ​​season..

Jokic + Gordon + Cameron Johnson + Braun + Murray are still the top starting five tigers in the league. Cameron Johnson can not only provide Porter Jr.'s space function but also better defense. As far as the needs of the Nuggets system are concerned, they do not need to play singles with the ball at the 3rd position, they only need defense + three-pointers. The Nuggets are equivalent to getting the No. 3 position with more balanced offense and defense with less money.

Braun's growth is obvious to all. The 21st pick in 2022 has one year left to take on the rookie contract dividend. He averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season, and his three-point shooting percentage reached 39.7% (1.1/2.8), quickly hitting the original Pope's vacancy and has grown into a reliable 3D starting guard.

Nuggets No. 2 Braun and No. 3 Cameron Johnson are both offensive and defensive players. The Nuggets' new starting five Tigers are more balanced than in the past. These five teams also have ranges. They will be matched with Murray and Mr. Joe's pick-and-roll pass-cut flow offensive system, which will inevitably shine.

The Nuggets have a top starting five Tigers, and the depth of the bench has changed qualitatively compared with the past two seasons. Bruce Brown, Hardaway Jr., and Valanciunas have joined the team to make up for the biggest shortcoming that has plagued the Nuggets for two years.

Top starter + substitute depth, the Denver Nuggets can be said to have truly returned to the championship ranks this offseason!