NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates 
Three years ago, the smart money said the West belonged to Denver for the rest of the decade. Nikola Jokić was a two-time MVP with a fresh Finals MVP to match, Jamal Murray had turned into a playoff flamethrower, and the Nuggets had just bulldozed through the 2023 postseason like the whole thing was a formality.
They were the first champion after the Golden State Warriors’ 2022 ring, the fourth of the Stephen Curry era. And per The Ringer, when Denver climbed the mountain the word “dynasty” got tossed around Ball Arena like free T-shirts at a timeout:
“Fresh off a summer of victory cigars, champagne toasts, and celebratory dances, the Denver Nuggets are not just preparing to hang their first championship banner in 47 years—they’re eyeing a dynasty.
Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth was candid about his franchise’s goals when we met for lunch in Denver this offseason. “Our guys are tired. It’s going to be hard to repeat,” Booth said. “But if everything is optimized, we should win three or four [titles].”
Damn, three or four huh? Then the rest of the league showed up looking for their turn. To be fair to Denver, winning a title is brutally hard. The Nuggets have been in the mix everywhere, they played Game 7s in back-to-back years, and plenty of franchises would kill for that kind of “failure.” They’re absolutely relevant to the title picture out West and they’re a major problem in the conference.
Advertisement
But look at how those runs ended. In 2024, Denver coughed up a 20-point lead in Game 7 at home against Minnesota. In 2025, Oklahoma City dragged them to seven and sent them home. Somewhere in between, the front office fired the head coach and the GM.
And then this past April, it got worse. A Minnesota team missing Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu and Kyle Anderson knocked Denver out in the first round, 110-98 in Game 6 at Target Center. Jaden McDaniels dropped 32 and talked trash the entire series, and he backed every word of it. The Denver Gazette pointed out that this was the first year Denver went out without either Jokić or Murray hurt in a playoff series, and the Nuggets were the No. 3…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/denver-dynasty-never-arrived-golden-210555328.html
Author :
Publish date : 2026-10-26 21:05:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
