Denver Nuggets proprietor Josh Kroenke set the tone for the franchise’s offseason route on Friday, making it clear that the group is ready to discover virtually each roster situation whereas maintaining one boundary firmly in place.
The message got here throughout a press convention during which Kroenke addressed wage construction, roster flexibility, and the aftermath of a season that ended with a six-game first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Nuggets completed the 2025–26 common season 54–28, led by one other elite marketing campaign from Nikola Jokic, who averaged 27.7 factors, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists throughout 65 video games. Regardless of his manufacturing, Denver’s postseason run ended sooner than anticipated, with offensive rhythm and perimeter effectivity collapsing in opposition to Minnesota.
Kroenke pointed to monetary construction as a driving think about latest roster choices, together with final summer time’s Michael Porter Jr. trade that broke up elements of the championship core and shifted the crew away from a three-max contract mannequin.
“I feel that when discussing the tax, you’re additionally speaking about flexibility. And so whenever you sit right here and also you discuss our crew wage, what we did final summer time, and I give lots of credit score to our entrance workplace, we lastly broke up the core, you can say, of gamers that supplied the primary championship in Denver Nuggets historical past,” he stated.
“I feel when the principles across the league and the system modified, we needed to take a tough take a look at the place we’d dedicated ourselves from a wage standpoint and understanding that having three max gamers most likely was not one thing that was going to be steady for us going ahead. Love Michael [Porter Jr.] as an individual, love Michael as a participant. However that was one thing we felt the group wanted to do to take care of a roster going ahead to determine extra depth…”
Kroenke emphasised that these choices had been tied to long-term flexibility quite than short-term swings on the commerce deadline, noting that Denver didn’t establish a transfer price sacrificing future property.
The Nuggets’ core stays centered on Jokic and Jamal Murray, who posted 25.4 factors and seven.1 assists within the common season earlier than rising his utilization within the playoffs. Nevertheless, Denver’s supporting construction has shifted considerably, with a number of rotation adjustments affecting continuity.
Kroenke additionally acknowledged uneven consistency throughout the roster and linked it to an absence of rhythm throughout a season outlined by change and accidents. He pointed to the crew’s incapacity to completely stabilize its id earlier than April.
“I feel that all the things’s going to be on the desk outdoors of buying and selling Nikola… I feel we have to have working it again as a risk. I feel this season was in lots of methods the season that by no means was as a result of this group by no means totally acquired an opportunity to indicate any form of rhythm whenever you’re going to have the quantity of turnover and alter that we did final 12 months.”
The Nuggets’ offseason now sits in a wide-open section, with Kroenke confirming that “all the things’s on the desk,” together with the potential of sustaining the present roster construction. That aligns with reporting that Denver’s entrance workplace is evaluating a number of inside and exterior paths with no outlined timeline for closing choices.
Regardless of hypothesis round roster value management, Kroenke pushed again on the concept of limiting teaching or crew spending targets being a set mandate, reinforcing that aggressive steadiness and suppleness stay central priorities.
What stays unchanged is the franchise’s stance on its centerpiece. Jokic just isn’t a part of any commerce dialog, anchoring each the current and future route of the group as Denver makes an attempt to recalibrate after an uneven title protection cycle.
