Charles Barkley Names His 2 Most Improved NBA Teams

Charles Barkley Names His 2 Most Improved NBA Teams

Charles Barkley Names Nuggets And Rockets As Most Improved

Sean Keeler of The Denver Post spoke with the 62-year-old Barkley, as the Hall of Fame power forward was in Denver this past weekend. Barkley told Keeler,

“I think (the Nuggets) and the Houston Rockets have probably had the best summers (in the NBA). And (the Nuggets), they’ve got the best player in the world (in Nikola Jokic). They just needed some more depth. They kind of broke the team up after they won the first championship (2023), and that’s really unfortunate. (They’ve) still got the best player. You want to give them as many opportunities as possible. But I thought they had a great summer.”

Those two teams are being viewed as championship contenders, probably one tier below the reigning champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both are coming off strong seasons, but they have looked to improve over the offseason.

Rockets Notable Moves

The most notable move that the Rockets made, of course, was trading for four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant. While Houston ended last season as the second seed in the Western Conference, they at times struggled to put the ball in the basket. Having Durant, who is still one of the premier bucket-getters even as he approaches 37 years old, should make that less of a worry in 2025-26.

In that deal, they gave up two starters in Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks. The Rockets still ensured they had proper depth on the roster. They added Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Okogie in free agency. Fred VanVleet was re-signed as were many of their depth bench pieces. Houston even signed the reigning G League MVP, JD Davison, to a two-way deal.

Nuggets Notable Moves

Barkley mentioned how Denver somewhat broke up the team after winning the title in 2023. They lost two of their top reserves, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, in the following offseason. In 2024, starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed with the Orlando Magic.

The most notable move that the Nuggets made this offseason was dealing away Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Cameron Johnson. The 29-year-old Johnson is making about $17 million less this season than Porter Jr. It may be arguable as to who the better player is, but the move also allowed the Nuggets to add more.

One of the pieces they lost in Brown has been brought back. That wasn’t the only addition to Denver’s bench, one that has been subpar the past couple seasons. Tim Hardaway Jr. was signed, and the Nuggets acquired Jonas Valanciunas. That gives Jokic perhaps the best backup center that he has had in his career.