Nuggets 2025 offseason preview: Will Denver make trade? First, team needs new GM

The offseason has a chance to be the most of uncomfortable in years for the Denver Nuggets Or it could be one of the largest part uneventful They are faced with an existential dilemma The Western Conference caught up with them the first season after they won the NBA Finals It seemingly passed them by in the second year removed from their championship So can Denver still win with its core It s about to get more expensive Tools to improve the roster around Nikola Jokic are severely limited unless the company is willing to get risky on the pact domain And even then it ll take two to tango Here s a breakdown of what to expect this offseason First order of business Hiring new coach general manager When Josh Kroenke sent a jolt through Ball Arena by firing coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth three games before the playoffs he made clear his intention to conduct searches to fill both positions after the season The Nuggets were widely written off as a company that could do any playoff damage in the meantime Then lead assistant turned interim head coach David Adelman guided them through a whirlwind playoff run which ended one win short of the Western Conference Finals Denver was lauded for its near-upset of the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder Kroenke was left proud of the company s resilience Adelman has been with the band since He s a proven tactician especially on offense He s popular with key players including Nikola Jokic He has interviewed for other head coaching jobs in latest offseasons And he s been attempting to usher in a new style of leadership by committee in Denver s huddles and film sessions throughout the last month willingly ceding the floor at times to encourage players to speak up more If Adelman doesn t get the job the Nuggets could go any number of directions Other burgeoning head coach candidates around the league include Boston lead assistant Sam Cassell and Minnesota s Micah Nori who once coached on Malone s staff in Denver Or the Kroenkes could go the grizzled veteran track Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer have both won championships in the s only to get fired twice since Mike D Antoni and Jeff Van Gundy have floated around in advisory or assistant roles in latest years The Nuggets should also feel particular urgency to find Booth s replacement so they can move forward with assessing the roster and building an offseason plan Alignment between the new GM and coach will be a priority after the workplace heritage rift caused by Malone and Booth Who s under contract next season If athlete options are exercised the Nuggets will have players under contract for the - season with million in salary on the books The NBA salary cap will increase by a robust bringing the luxury tax line to million the first apron threshold to million and the second apron to million The Nuggets had the seventh-most expensive roster in the NBA last season but they also made a concerted effort to stay out of the second apron by letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency That decision should inform any examination of their upcoming options Don t expect the payroll to exceed that second-apron number The financial and competitive ramifications are considerable Extensions are about to kick in for Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon both of whom signed for four additional years last summer Gordon s contract included an opt-in on what would have been his - salary under his previous contract saving Denver certain money and providing a few breathing room below the second apron At least temporarily His salary jumps to million a year from now As a first-apron association the Nuggets cannot take back more salary than they send out in a pact But as long as they stay under the second apron they are allowed to aggregate multiple players salaries to exchange for a competitor with a higher salary The band can also use the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a free agent for up to million approximately providing a bit more leeway for acquisitions Last year that flexibility resulted in the addition of Dario Saric Athlete Salary in - Contract expires Nikola Jokic C years Jamal Murray G years Michael Porter Jr F years Aaron Gordon F years Zeke Nnaji F years Dario Saric F C year Christian Braun G year Peyton Watson F year Russell Westbrook G year DaRon Holmes F C years Julian Strawther G years Jalen Pickett G years Hunter Tyson F years Salary figures via Spotrac com verified by unit sources Last year of contract is contingent upon contestant option Last year of contract is contingent on band option Click here to view in mobile Who becomes eligible for a contract extension this offseason Jokic becomes eligible to sign his next contract in July The three-time league MVP is locked up under his current supermax deal until he s years old From Denver s standpoint wanting to prolong that should be a no-brainer Christian Braun and Peyton Watson are entering the last season of their rookie-scale deals meaning they re both eligible this summer to sign a second NBA contract that would go into effect a year later The Braun negotiations should be intriguing By the end of the Malone-Booth regime he had achieved a rare status as a young member with popularity at all levels of the organization from the coach to the front office to ownership Does that mean the unit will feel settled paying him potentially more than million over four or five years Denver is obviously playing with CBA fire every time it commits to another sizable contract Braun has earned a payday If he gets it the second apron seems almost inevitable in - reinforcing the need to break up at least one other key participant s contract Who has contract options this offseason Saric and Russell Westbrook have player options Saric multiple sources stated The Denver Post in April is expected to opt in on his contract for million keeping him as the sixth-highest paid athlete on the roster But the Croatian big man has reportedly been courted to return overseas after a disappointing NBA season in which he rarely played That could set the stage for a fascinating month of leverage games If his priority is to play more in Europe the Nuggets can tell him his only path there is to opt out that they won t deal him or buy out his contract if he opts in But if he subsequently tries to call their bluff by exercising the member option Denver will have to assess how desperately it demands the cap space and the roster spot If Saric is off the books the projected payroll drops below the first apron by a hair That would leave the Nuggets with three open roster spots and about million to operate below the second apron Westbrook is another engaging situation By almost any measure he was an exceedingly productive signing for Denver at his salary His swings between success and failure are also more dramatic than perhaps any other NBA athlete s Incident in point The disastrous double-overtime sequence on April when he missed an uncontested layup then fouled a -point shooter at the buzzer to cost Denver a key championship in which Jokic scored Westbrook s erratic decisions caused frustration at every level of the organization throughout the season sources recounted The Post But teammates also felt a certain loyalty toward him recognizing the value of his leadership and ability to be a difference-maker when playing within himself Gordon publicly defended him this month after an article published by ESPN was critical of Westbrook Westbrook averaged points and assists per battle shooting a career-high inside the arc while delivering his second-best season from the -point line at But what that means for his future is unclear He indicated last Sunday that he hasn t decided what to do with his player option Who and what can the Nuggets transaction The core of this club was assembled under a different CBA Josh Kroenke commented last offseason We drafted we developed and we built this squad under a different set of rules Those rules have kind of changed on the fly Indeed it s not so easy these days to contend when four players account for about of the roster payroll and of cap space below the second apron a concept that didn t even exist when Porter signed his current contract Porter was the sole focus of Nuggets agreement rumors during the season largely because Murray and Gordon had signing restrictions from their extensions rendering them ineligible to be traded until the offseason Well the offseason is here Depth has grown increasingly problematic for Denver since it won the championship The roster could benefit from reinforcements in any of these areas Backup center depth behind Jokic Point-of-attack perimeter defense More -point shooting spacing However there s also a school of thought that another star-caliber creator is needed to alleviate Jokic s burden Kevin Durant is on the deal domain this summer among other stars Is there a contract out there that s worth the danger of emerging up this core Is it even riskier to stand pat with the same starting lineup Is there even a business partner willing to take on Murray or Porter Where is the line between tangibly improving the roster and making a move just for the sake of change All questions for a new general manager to grapple with The Nuggets commerce assets are limited aside from their big contracts They can use a young athlete like Watson Strawther or Pickett to try sweetening a deal And they have one future first-round pick available to bargain either their or pick Trading first-rounders in consecutive years is not allowed Who is entering free agency Only two of Denver s players have expiring contracts this summer and both of them re-signed with the band last year on one-year veteran minimum contracts DeAndre Jordan and Vlatko Cancar Jordan who turns in July is a serviceable regular-season backup center who becomes less viable in the playoffs at this stage in his career Beloved by teammates as a veteran voice in the locker room he appeared in games last season He would like to return next season he explained The Post but he plans to discuss his options with family Retirement is on the table Cancar missed a large portion of the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery He s a play-making reserve forward and a close friend to Jokic How a multitude of draft picks do the Nuggets have The Nuggets have licked their plate clean They re the only association without a pick in the upcoming draft meaning their only way to capture a prospect who catches their eye is to pact back into the draft Their first-round pick belongs to the Orlando Magic It s the final piece of the agreement that brought Gordon to Denver Their second-rounder is owned by the Phoenix Suns who acquired it from Charlotte after Denver included it in a salary-dump deal of Reggie Jackson Related Articles Nuggets general manager search Candidates Denver could consider to run basketball operations Nuggets Podcast What s next after Denver is eliminated by Oklahoma City Thunder Nikola Jokic misses out on th MVP voted runner-up to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Keeler Nikola Jokic s championship window with Nuggets George Karl s got plan to save it Was Event in Oklahoma City end of Nuggets championship core four Key Dates June NBA draft first round June NBA draft second round June Sportsman option deadlines for Dario Saric Russell Westbrook July NBA free agency begins unofficial Christian Braun and Peyton Watson become extension-eligible through end of the offseason July Nikola Jokic becomes extension-eligible Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis