Three years ago, the entire league had Denver circled. Seriously, everyone agreed: the West belonged to the Nuggets for the rest of the decade. Nikola Jokić was a certified legend, bagging two MVPs and a fresh Finals MVP to match. Jamal Murray, man, he turned into an absolute playoff flamethrower. Jokic was so chill, he reportedly didn’t even know where his NBA Finals MVP trophy ended up! They just bulldozed through the 2023 postseason like it was a walk in the park, the first champion after the Golden State Warriors’ 2022 ring, the fourth of the Stephen Curry era. That’s when the word “dynasty” got tossed around Ball Arena more than free T-shirts at a timeout. Nuggets GM Calvin Booth was even talking big, telling folks, “Our guys are tired. It’s going to be hard to repeat. But if everything is optimized, we should win three or four [titles].” Three or four titles! Imagine that kind of swagger.
The Dynasty That Faded Fast
Yeah, about that “three or four” promise. The rest of the league apparently didn’t get the memo, because they showed up looking for their turn. To be fair, winning a title is brutally hard, and Denver has been in the mix. They’ve played Game 7s in back-to-back years, and plenty of franchises would kill for that kind of “failure.” They’re still absolutely relevant to the title picture out West, a major problem in the conference, no doubt. But the way those runs ended? Oof. In 2024, they blew a massive 20-point lead in Game 7, at home, against Minnesota. Then in 2025, Oklahoma City dragged them to seven games and sent them packing. Somewhere in between those two brutal exits, the front office actually fired both the head coach and the GM. Things were getting spicy.
The Wolves Just Keep Sending Them Home
But then this past April, it somehow got worse. A Minnesota team, missing Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Kyle Anderson, absolutely smoked Denver. Knocked them out in the first round, 110-98 in Game 6 at Target Center. Jaden McDaniels didn’t just drop 32 points, he talked trash all series long and backed up every single word. The Denver Gazette highlighted the kicker: this was the first year Denver exited the playoffs without either Jokić or Murray being hurt. They were the No. 3 seed and the favorite! And Jokić? He’s gotta absolutely hate the Minnesota Timberwolves. Think about it:
- 2017: Lost Playoff tie-breaker to Minnesota
- 2023: Beat Minnesota in 5 games (the good old days)
- 2024: Lost to Minnesota in the 2nd Round
- 2026: Lost to Minnesota in the 1st Round
He just cannot escape those Wolves. After that first-round exit, even Jokić himself admitted they were a long way from contention. When the three-time MVP is saying the team isn’t good enough, that’s incredibly telling. So the real jab isn’t that they only won one ring. It’s that they were set up for years of contention, with the best player in the world locked in, and then… nothing. What a brutal drop from the top.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Golden State of Mind.
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