When the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title last summer, there was a lingering feeling of it being the last time the team’s core would ever win a championship together.
It was a new feeling to associate with a core that previously felt like it could win a title every year at the peak of Golden State’s dynasty — a feeling that started to fade when Kevin Durant departed in 2019. A feeling that completely abandoned the NBA to make way for the era of parity … or did it?
The Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat Monday to clinch their first title in franchise history, and with their triumph, they brought that feeling back. It’s palpable. Talk of whether the Nuggets can go back-to-back is everywhere, and with good reason. They have the look of a team built to compete for years to come. Oddsmakers have already crowned them early favorites to win in 2024.
Is it too early to say the Nuggets can be a dynasty? Of course it is. It’s too early to even predict next year’s championship — there hasn’t even been a parade for this year. There’s a whole offseason of drafting, free agency and trades to go through. A lot can happen to shift the landscape of the NBA. But it’s not hard to see that Denver’s core is just young and good enough to make another title run a real possibility.
It all starts with finals MVP and two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic. He’s the anchor of the Nuggets and only 28 years old. The Robin to his Batman — who could be a Batman on a lot of other teams — is Jamal Murray, who’s only 26. The two combined to average 56.1 points per game in the playoffs, which ranks as third-most by a duo in NBA history, according to Elias Sports Bureau, behind Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in 2001 and Stephen Curry and Durant in 2017. Those previous duos each won multiple titles together.
Elias Sports Bureau via ESPN’s Get Up
The Nuggets also have 24-year-old Michael Porter Jr., who has so much more room to grow after a below average postseason, and 22-year-old Christian Braun, who already looks like a major contributor after one year. Those are the players Denver drafted, the home-grown core that’s only getting better. Each is signed through at least 2025, as are key acquisitions like Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
That Denver built its core through the draft — in an era of super teams — and used free agency and trades to add complimentary players makes it the closest thing to the Warriors dynasty we’ve seen since — or the Spurs dynasty before that.
Just go down the list: the 2019 Raptors won their title with a one-year rental of Kawhi Leonard. The 2020 Lakers won their title with a two-man show that cost them their future. The 2021 Bucks won their title on the back of the best player in the NBA.
The Nuggets didn’t win on the back of Jokic, they won with Jokic. They won with a wealth of talent, most of which is returning. And now they know what it takes to get it done. As long as the Nuggets stay healthy, they’ll have a chance to build on what they accomplished in 2023. Unexpectedly, this feels like the start of something special.
