What’s Next For The Nuggets In 2026?

The Nuggets have lost key pieces one by one. The first to go was Christian Braun. He suffered an ankle injury on November 12 against the Los Angeles Clippers. His defense on the wing is dearly missed.

The next player to go was Aaron Gordon. He suffered a grade two right hamstring strain on November 21st against the Houston Rockets. He was playing the best ball of his career before the injury, averaging 18 points. He was shooting 45% from three and 86% from the free-throw line.

A month later, Denver lost Cameron Johnson on December 23rd against the Dallas Mavericks. He hyperextended his knee and will be available 4-6 weeks from the injury date. He was just beginning to play his best ball of the season after a slow start.

Then came the scariest moment of the year. Nikola Jokic went down in major pain on December 29th with what looked like a knee injury. Many feared it would have been an ACL. There was no structural damage, and it was a hyperextension of his left knee.

Considering how it looked, that is good news for the Nuggets. His MVP odds, however, will be gone because of the 65-game threshold. He may miss more than 17 games, and will be re-evaluated in a month.

The icing on the cake was Jonas Valanciunas’s ankle injury on New Year’s Eve. He will be out for at least four weeks as well.

It has been a brutal month and a half for this team.

What’s The Approach Now?

The Nuggets, with all these injuries, will more than likely drop in the standings. They are 23-10 and sitting in third place in the West. The goal is to make sure they don’t drop too far down.

Denver must find a way to remain in the top six while they slowly start getting players back. For the next few weeks, Jamal Murray will have to pull some games out of the fire to keep them afloat.

Fortunately for him, Gordon and Braun are poised to come back mid-January. With those three, they should be able to hold the fort down. Jokic, Johnson, and Valanciunas will likely make their returns at similar times.

A top seed and home field is not what matters for Denver. They just need to be fully healthy before the playoffs. When this team has been whole, they were 9-2.

Denver’s offense was far and away the best in the league, and the defense was top 10. If they’re healthy, they will be hard to beat.

Right now, the mantra is survive. Avoid the play-in because it is a risky spot to be in, and secondly, being the eight seed would draw the Oklahoma City Thunder in round one. That would be a tough matchup for Denver.

End Of Nuggets Rant

This many injuries at a time, though, can’t just be a coincidence. Should the Nuggets make a change in who’s in charge of strength and conditioning?

This is Gordon’s second time with a severe hamstring injury in seven months. The first one cost Denver a trip to the Conference Finals.

The Nuggets should take a closer look at what’s going on behind the scenes. There are too many significant injuries happening at once for it to be a coincidence.

One thing is for sure: Denver is not out of the dance.