Nuggets Ownership's Proposal of Running It Back Misses the Point

During the Denver Nuggets' end-of-season media with president Josh Kroenke, exec duo Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace, and head coach David Adelman, there came some interesting comments from Kroenke surrounding some plans that could be in play for this roster in a pivotal offseason ahead.

When asked about the roster changes that could be in store, Kroenke outlined a seemingly real possibility for this Nuggets core to remain primarily the same and "run it back" for another shot next season.

"I think that everything's on the table right now, including running it back," Kroenke said.

"I think this season was, in a lot of ways, the season that never was. Because this group never fully got a chance to show any kind of rhythm... To establish a kind of rhythm, and basketball is a rhythm game, I think, as a whole, we never had a chance to fully do that."

There is slight truth to Kronke's claim. Many moments arose this season in which the Nuggets couldn't find any steady rhythm due to several injuries and struggled to match the same chemistry as other top teams in the West heading into the playoffs. That did take a hit to their chances.

But for running it back to be on the table in hopes of making the correct tweaks for next season? That's completely missing the point and doesn't feel like a strategy that puts the Nuggets in position to truly contend for a title next year.

Why Josh Kroenke Is Missing the Point

Right after the Nuggets' first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Jokic was asked how he felt about where the team stood in terms of competing for a title, where his thoughts were made pretty clear.

"We just lost in the first round," Jokic said. "I think we are far away [from title contention]."

It doesn't take much reading between the lines to notice this sounds like a player who feels confident in the way this team is currently constructed.

Sure, the Nuggets did have pockets of real success this season, having made it to the third seed in the conference, gone on as high as a 12-game win streak to close out the season, and was the best offense in the NBA up until the postseason.

The shortcomings that also came from that same unit are pretty hard to ignore, though.

The defense never quite lifted above the bottom 10 of the league. Athleticism and ball-handling were key flaws that even David Adelman credited as a limitation to their ceiling in the postseason run. Injuries lingered around the rotation all year long, and they didn't tend to help much either.

Injury luck can strike at the wrong time for any team. And for a roster as talented as the Nuggets are on paper, it's easy to fall for the illusion that, had this group been healthy, they could've made a deeper run.

But this same core has had their chances to get to the top of the mountain again since winning their 2023 title.

Nuggets Have Swung & Missed 3 Times

They had the same results against the Timberwolves in a second round loss in 2024, dropped in the second round again in 2025 vs. the OKC Thunder, and have since taken a step back with their latest first round exit. We now have three straight examples of this core falling into a disappointing result.

Comparing each edition of the Nuggets' roster isn't apples to apples. There's been coaching turnover, and a few roster moves around the edges, like swapping in Cameron Johnson for Michael Porter Jr.

But for the most part, the key pieces of the puzzle are still here and have made it harder to ignore that their current formula simply isn't getting the job done to get back to the height of an NBA Finals, or even back to a conference finals.

Running it back and hoping for better health and chemistry probably won't change that fate much. The Nuggets faced a bitter reality check in their playoff loss that this previous championship formula is no longer as effective as it once was. Attempting to try this core out once more feels likely to put them in the same situation this time next year.

Does that mean the Nuggets need to blow it all up and trade their entire core surrounding Jokic? Not exactly. But at the very least, major consideration has to be put into a pivotal shakeup like dealing someone like Aaron Gordon, or even Jamal Murray, as his value is at the highest it's ever been.

Kroenke and Denver's top decision-makers may allude to a potential option of running it back being in play, yet that should be the last outcome on the Nuggets' mind.

Big changes have to be made this summer to get this group to where it needs to be, even if it might lead to some uncomfortable decisions being made to this roster.

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