Nuggets’ fatal flaw that will doom 2027 NBA championship chances

October 30, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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The Denver Nuggets have started the season off with just two wins in four contests, with both of those victories coming against the New Orleans Pelicans. Their latest victory, which came on Wednesday, was, at the very least, convincing, unlike their first win against the Pelicans which required them to come back from 23 down.

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Injury problems are already giving the Nuggets trouble. Cam Johnson had to exit Denver’s first game of the season due to an ankle injury, making life difficult for a team that’s already missing sharpshooting forward Spencer Jones, whom they re-signed this past offseason.

There are already quite a few red flags that should worry Nuggets fans about their team through the early goings of the season. Perhaps the team rectifies it as the season moves forward, but some flaws may be too difficult to overcome as they seek out to compete for another NBA championship.

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Here are some flaws that will end up dooming the Nuggets’ chances of winning the 2027 NBA championship.

Nikola Jokic’s knee may cap the ceiling of the Nuggets’ offense

Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Some would argue that the Nuggets’ last chance at competing for a title came last season, when they pulled off some very good cap maneuvering in order to replenish the team’s depth. After all, in the 2025 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets pushed the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to their limit, forcing seven games in their matchup in the Western Conference semifinals.

That’s how good Nikola Jokic is at his best. He was an unstoppable force who bent the court to his will every time he was on the court, and he was so much of a threat that opposing defenses simply had to pick their poison. They either had to make him more of a scorer by cutting off passing lanes, or they had to send aggressive help defense to make him swing the rock.

Alas, injuries seem to be inevitable in today’s NBA. Last season, the Nuggets saw their core players, sans Jamal Murray, experience injury problems — with Jokic having to miss 16 consecutive games at one point due to a knee injury.

It was a borderline miracle for the Nuggets that Jokic only had to miss that many games. Even then, it was clear that Jokic wasn’t quite his best self yet, with his knee appearing to bother him.

Upon his return, he did fill up the stat sheet still, averaging 25.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 10.5 assists per contest. But his scoring average went down from 29.6 points pre-injury. His threat as a scorer makes him the kind of elite offensive threat that he is. Defenses simply can’t play him straight up since he can dominate any matchup one-on-one — even against the best big men defenders in the NBA.

But a decline in scoring means defenses need to commit less bodies to try and stop him in the paint where he does most of his damage. In the playoffs, Jokic experienced a steep drop-off in efficiency against the Minnesota Timberwolves; while he did average a respectable 25.8 points per contest, he did so on a single playoff run-worst 44.6% from the field and a ghastly 19.4% from deep on over six attempts per contest.

Of course, it did not help that Jamal Murray also struggled in the playoffs (23.7 points per game on 35.7% shooting), while Aaron Gordon missed three games and Peyton Watson missed the entire series. But one can see the cracks starting to appear for the Nuggets — a team built around their elite offense centered on Jokic and Murray’s partnership.

Jokic’s showing against the big Thunder front line during the Nuggets’ season-opener was concerning. He was having difficulties muscling Isaiah Hartenstein, and he couldn’t shoot well enough from the perimeter to make up for his struggles near the hoop. He finished that game with just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

In their loss against the Golden State Warriors, Jokic also wasn’t his typically dominant self on the interior, as the Dubs swarmed him on nearly every occasion and made life difficult for him. He once again shot below 50% from the field (8-of-18, 1-of-6 from deep). The Nuggets would lose by 20 points as he finished with just 19 on the night.

It’s telling of the state of this Nuggets roster that they need Jokic to be dominant to win. He had a 35-point triple-double in their first win of the season against the Pelicans, and he had another triple-double in their win on Wednesday. But against elite and swarming defenses, Jokic simply may not be at his best anymore due to lingering effects of his knee injury.

A drop-off in Jokic’s play would have huge ripple effects on this Nuggets’ offense. They won’t be able to create as many advantages if opposing defenses become empowered to play single coverage on him, and it doesn’t help that Denver is going to operate without much floor-spacing.

With Johnson out, the Nuggets have to rely more on DeMar DeRozan minutes. DeRozan has never been adept at spacing the floor, or playing off-ball for that matter. Trevon Brazile has been a godsend though, so that helps.

But Denver’s depth is just so questionable that other teams can simply wall off Jokic and Murray and dare their role players to beat them. It is a bit concerning that Christian Braun, someone who’s never shot more than 3.3 three-point attempts per game in his NBA career, is attempting over five triples per contest while making them on a paltry 23.8% clip through their first four games this season.

This Nuggets team is built to be elite on the offensive end (they finished last season with the best offensive rating in the NBA, at 121.2 points per 100 possessions). Any drop-off on that end is going to be worrisome. They were bottom-10 in the NBA last season in defensive rating, and it’s not like their moves this offseason move the needle in any way on that end of the floor.

Thus far through four games, the Nuggets are scoring just 108.3 points per 100 possessions, which is ranked 22nd in the NBA. Struggling like this on offense when Jokic and Murray are on the court is rather unprecedented for Denver, and this may ultimately cause their downfall.

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