Jokić’s Denver Exit Talks Set Stage for Spurs Trade Push

Nuggets everything’s – After a rough run that included consecutive second-round exits and an opening-round loss, the Denver Nuggets are signaling major roster change talks this summer—except one player. In that churn, Nikola Jokić is explicitly off the table, and attention turns to

After the Nuggets won it all in 2023, the next stretch has been hard to watch—consecutive second-round exits, followed by elimination in this year’s opening round. For a team that built its identity on control and certainty, it has become a season of sudden endings and uncomfortable questions.

Now those questions are moving into a very specific place: the summer trade market.

Denver is expected to revisit the roster, and the stakes were made unmistakable by what team president Josh Kroenke told reporters. He said, “I think that everything’s going to be on the table, outside of trading Nikola.”

That sentence does two things at once. It acknowledges the reality of Denver’s results since the championship, and it draws a bright line around Nikola Jokić—31 years old, with what the piece frames as a legitimate argument that he could be considered the best player on the planet.

The part that comes after Kroenke’s quote is where other teams begin to circle.

The Nuggets would presumably prefer to keep Gordon, described as their uber-valuable Swiss Army knife. But the logic of the trade market is brutal: if the Spurs dangle the kind of package that forces Denver to rethink its stance, the roster could change anyway.

The pitch for what Gordon represents is straightforward. A big, physical forward who can finish, shoot, create, and defend is positioned as exactly the kind of piece this roster could want if it’s trying to get over its final hurdle.

Still, there’s a hesitation baked into the debate. Gordon’s relative lack of three-point volume is flagged as a potential concern. That matters because of the spacing worries tied to this guard group. where three-point shooting and floor spacing can decide whether a roster’s strengths actually show up on the floor together.

Even so, the discussion doesn’t portray Gordon as a perfect fit—just a potentially necessary one. No trade candidate is presented as perfect, and the argument closes by suggesting Gordon would still be more of a need-filler than most.

For Denver fans, the pressure is obvious: the championship was real, but the follow-up hasn’t been. For teams like San Antonio, the opening is just as clear. Once “everything’s on the table” becomes more than a slogan. a player like Gordon—useful in multiple ways. costly to ignore—can suddenly become the centerpiece of a summer decision.

Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic Josh Kroenke trade rumors San Antonio Spurs Gordon NBA offseason roster changes second-round exit