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Friday Faceoff: Where are Nuggets in NBA power rankings after robust offseason?

By Tyler King August 8, 2025 | updated 2 days ago

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Clippers Nuggets Basketball

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left, confers with guard Jamal Murray, right, in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers, Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

David Zalubowski

The start of the NBA season is over two months away, but offseason moves are all but complete for the majority of the league.

Where should the Nuggets rank in the NBA power rankings after a positive summer in Denver?

Vinny Benedetto, Nuggets beat writer: 2nd

There’s good and bad news for the Nuggets after an eventful offseason.

Bad news first, because Nuggets fans are reasonable people. The only team in the NBA with a better roster than Denver’s is younger and coming off the confidence gained from a championship run. Oklahoma City enters next season with the league’s best roster, and 31-year-old Alex Caruso is the Thunder’s only rotation player who’s older than 27. The Nuggets got a little younger and significantly better this offseason, but Christian Braun, 24, is Denver’s only expected starter who’s younger than 28.

The good news for the Nuggets is they’re in a better position than the 28 other teams in the association. Denver’s roster significantly improved over last year when it took the Thunder to seven games despite Michael Porter Jr. playing with one healthy shoulder and Aaron Gordon playing on one healthy leg.

If Cam Johnson is as seamless a fit in the starting five as he looks on paper and Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas can solidify the bench, Denver is in good position to give the Thunder an even better fight this season.

After the offseason departures, Denver is heading into next season with one open roster spot. The best use of that spot looks to be another point guard. Jalen Pickett and Brown are the only real options behind Jamal Murray. Both enter next season with questions. Pickett played well for a short stretch late in regular season, but he’s yet to prove he’s a playoff guy. Brown was a valuable member of Denver’s championship rotation, but he’s struggled with injury and productivity with three different teams in the two seasons since he signed his big contract.

If the Nuggets can add a steady option like Malcolm Brogdon or Monte Morris to the roster, they would be closer to Oklahoma City than the other elite rosters in the league – Houston, Cleveland and New York.

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Unfortunately for the Nuggets, it looks like the Thunder will stand in Denver’s way back to the finals for the foreseeable future.

Tyler King, college sports writer: 3rd

There should be no arguments about the top spot in any power rankings heading into next season. The defending champion Thunder are well-positioned to be the first NBA team to repeat as champions since the Warriors in 2017-18 and potentially beyond, even in an era of the league where the second apron is acting as a hard cap.

After that, it’s anyone’s guess who the second-best team in the NBA is heading into next season. The defending Eastern Conference champion Pacers are almost certainly not going to be in position to contend again with star point guard Tyrese Haliburton out for the season due to an Achilles injury and starting center Myles Turner now a member of the Bucks.

I’m going to go with the Cavaliers as my No. 2 because Cleveland deserves some level of status after last season’s 64-win campaign and best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference. Yes, the second-round defeat at the hands of Indiana was disappointing, but with the Celtics also likely out of the picture due to Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury, the Cavs deserve to be the favorites to get over the hump and reach the Finals for the first time without LeBron James.

That leads us to the Nuggets, who were the only team, along with the Pacers, who forced a series longer than five games out of the Thunder — and that was with a Gordon who couldn’t sprint by the end, a banged up Porter Jr. and no bench.

The Nuggets had about as perfect of an offseason as possible to fix all of that. Aaron Gordon avoided a major injury, Michael Porter Jr. was traded to the Nets for Cam Johnson in what is a seamless fit and an upgrade at small forward for Denver, and the bench has been completely revamped with the additions of Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr. and the return of Bruce Brown.

Oh, and the Nuggets still have that Nikola Jokic guy. Maybe you’ve heard of him? The best player in the world with a capable sporting cast is a bona fide championship contender.

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