The Denver Nuggets are the 2023 NBA champions after beating the feisty and resilient Miami Heat in five games and taking Game 5 despite a desperate effort from Miami.
The lion’s share of the attention is and will be focused on finals MVP Nikola Jokic, who had an incredible postseason. It is also the culmination of a physically and mentally painful journey for Jamal Murray, who rebounded from a torn ACL two years ago to win it all.
But this championship is also an affirmation that in the end, patient team-building trumps hurried efforts to build a superteam.
The Nuggets have gradually built this squad, beginning with the selection of Jokic in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft and Murray two years later at No. 7. They didn’t make the playoffs with this crew until 2019. From there, they simply added to their core rather than hastily trading it for a big name.
It is a model the rest of the league, including the Los Angeles Lakers, needs to pay attention to and emulate.
A quick fix will not get it done for the Lakers
There has been a great deal of talk already this offseason about the Lakers taking a big swing at Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul or possibly even the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young. However, doing so would likely be a big mistake.
For one, such a move would cost them a great deal of depth. It has been Denver’s depth that made the difference between merely a deep playoff run and winning it all, and that type of depth is integral to winning in today’s NBA.
In addition, maintaining depth means maintaining roster continuity and chemistry, and that was another factor in Denver winning it all.
The harsh and punitive new collective bargaining agreement, which places strict limits on the resources available to teams that spend big, will also put a bigger premium on building through the draft and amassing depth rather than big names.
It’s no coincidence L.A.’s previous attempts at building a superteam have failed. The acquisitions of Gary Payton and Karl Malone in 2003, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in 2012 and Russell Westbrook two years ago all resulted in failure, not to mention top-heavy squads that lacked quality supporting players.
There are rumors the Lakers may want to involve soon-to-be free agent D’Angelo Russell in a sign-and-trade. But it looks like their best path to championship No. 18 will be finding a quality player or two in the upcoming draft and going after good supporting players via trade and free agency rather than swinging for the fences yet again.
