Oct 12, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) reacts to a ref’s call against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second quarter at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

Denver Nuggets Have One Flaw That Could Implode Their Season

Originally posted on Denver Nuggets on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 10:45 AM ET

The Denver Nuggets head into the 2025-26 NBA season with one of the best rosters in the Western Conference looking to claim their fourth-straight year of a 50-win campaign, while also looking the part as one of the few top contenders who are in prime position for a championship run.

But while the Nuggets have some of the better odds in the entire NBA to walk away with a Larry O'Brien at the end of the year, there's no perfect team in the league. So what would be the one aspect of their season that could limit that ceiling from being reached?

Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley recently highlighted each NBA team's most glaring hole that could implode their season ahead, where for the Nuggets, their flaws were simply noted as: "leaky defense."

"The Nuggets' offense is always going to hum with three-time MVP Nikola Jokić at its epicenter. If they can't field an average defense, though, they'll struggle to seriously impact the championship race," Buckley wrote.

When they did have their title breakthrough in 2022-23, they were a respectable 15th in defensive efficiency. They slipped back to 21st this past season, and the depth pieces they added this summer (Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas) offer no obvious solutions to this issue."

Could this offense be so spectacular that it offsets the defensive deficiencies? Look, you never want to say never when a player of Jokić's caliber is involved, but it's hard to see anyone capturing the crown while saddled by a bottom-third unit on either end of the floor."

Bob Frid-Imagn Images

Offensively, it's hard to find a huge wrinkle that would derail their efficiency. As long as Nikola Jokic is still in his prime and on the floor, the Nuggets are going to be a well-oiled machine when it comes to scoring the ball, and thus lead to many wins in the regular season.

But it's on the other side of the ball where the Nuggets' ceiling could find some limitations. Last season marked the worst defensive rating Denver has seen through their past 50-plus win seasons (116.0, 22nd in the NBA), and will need to show steps forward in a daunting Western Conference, and especially against playoff matchups like the offensively dominant OKC Thunder.

The pieces are there for that improvement to happen. Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun will set the tone in a major way within their starting five, and down the bench, Peyton Watson and the re-addition of Bruce Brown can help shoulder some of that weight as well.

Time will tell if this revamped Denver roster can make those strides, and if they can, the sky might be the limit.