Can Nikola Jokic wiggle from the corner the Nuggets have painted him in without walking out the exit door from Denver?

While Jokic departed to drink the beer he said was in his immediate future after the Nuggets were bounced from the playoffs by Oklahoma City, franchise president Josh Kroenke lifted the interim tag off coach David Adelman.

The move to hire Adelman felt more like an inexpensive way to check a box than a real solution to any of the major problems facing a basketball franchise that has grown stagnant since winning a championship in 2023.

Now 30 years old, neither Jokic nor the Nuggets have another year to waste of his MVP prime.

“The pressure of a team with Jokic trying to win the title, we embrace it,” Kroenke said.

When Jokic puts down that hard-earned beer, he needs to turn up the pressure on Kroenke.

The path of least resistance for Jokic would be to grab a pen this summer and sign a $212 million contract extension. And he’s as loyal as a Serbian summer day is long.

But the power play would be for Joker to politely decline that money now and wield a velvet hammer over the Nuggets with a reasonable demand to improve the roster, whether by trade, hook or crook.

Unlike LeBron James, it is not in Jokic’s nature to meddle.

When asked after the Game 7 loss in OKC about endorsing Adelman as the permanent head coach, Jokic said that decision was “above my paygrade.”

And if you’re naive enough to believe that self-deprecating piece of nonsense from Jokic, could I interest you in trading the Nuggets a three-and-D starter plus a first-round draft choice for Michael Porter Jr., his broken foot brace and his ridiculous $38 million salary on the books for next season?

Jokic was consulted before Kroenke shocked the NBA world by firing coach Michael Malone with three games remaining in the regular season.

Kroenke would be a fool not to take input from Jokic and enlist his help in player recruitment going forward.

In addition to leading Denver in points, rebounds and assists, Jokic should now take control of his career and exercise a bigger voice in personnel decisions.

Although the Kroenke family owns the Nuggets, Jokic is the most powerful voice in the organization.

“Considering what Jokic makes,” said Kroenke, referring to the more than $50 million per year he earns from the Nuggets, “it’s not above his paygrade.”

We saw Jokic raise that voice on the bench during timeouts in the playoffs. He should be heard behind closed doors as Denver looks for a way to maximize what remains of his prime.

As basketball besties, Jokic and Lakers guard Luka Doncic do talk.

Here’s hoping they chat about becoming teammates together in the future, whether in Denver or Los Angeles, then figuring out a way to move heaven and earth to make it happen.

A year ago, after the Nuggets were shocked on their home floor by Minnesota in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, Kroenke told me that lack of depth caused Denver to run out of game in the playoffs and that the NBA’s new salary-cap rules made it impractical to build a championship contender around three max-contract players.

But 12 months later, here we are, with Jokic a year older and Denver repeating the same mistakes.

While Adelman was praised for bringing a new energy to a Nuggets locker room that felt the strain of Malone’s displeasure with the undermanned roster constructed by general manager Calvin Booth, the new coach proved that Malone’s mistrust of the bench was well-founded.

During a dozen playoff games in 2024, the top three reserves on Denver’s bench – Christian Braun, Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday – played 471 minutes and were a cumulative plus-34 in the boxscore.

During 14 playoff games this spring, the top three reserves on Denver’s bench – Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther – played 600 minutes and were a cumulative minus-253 in the boxscore.

Jokic doesn’t need more triple doubles to prove his magic. To cement his legacy as one of the top 10 basketball players of all time, he needs championship rings.

“We definitely need to figure out a way to get more depth,” Jokic said after getting blown out by the Thunder in Game 7. “It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, the longer benches, are the ones who are winning: Indiana, OKC, Minnesota.”

Although Kroenke insisted he heard Jokic loud and clear, he seemed perplexed how to fix the problem with any real imagination, suggesting the answers could be found internally, from the same marginal role players that got Malone and Booth fired.

If that’s the best answer Kroenke can give to a plea for help from the NBA’s best player, Jokic should seriously consider forcing his way out of Denver to pursue a championship elsewhere.