DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic considers the Denver Nuggets a dark horse in the race for an NBA title.
Technically speaking, of course, they’re not. Far from it, even.
The Nuggets are only slightly behind the
reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder as a favorite to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy at the end of the season. One thing’s for sure: There’s plenty of horsepower in the Northwest Division, with Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves a strong contender, too. Portland and Utah are up-and-comers with youthful lineups.
“They are definitely the hunted one and they’re playing good," Jokic said of the Thunder. "Hopefully we can be the — how do you say it? The silent knight? Silent horse? Dark horse.”
In the league’s annual preseason polling of general managers, three of the top four seeds in the West are expected to come out of the Northwest (the Houston Rockets were the exception, as the third seed). All paths to the NBA title, though, lead through Oklahoma City, where NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates aren’t ready to hand over anything.
“It would suck to lose the NBA championship in 2026,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s the new focus. That’s the new goal. ... Hopefully we look up and we’ve accomplished the same thing we just accomplished.”
One of the summer's highlights for Gilgeous-Alexander was taking the NBA trophy back home to Hamilton, Ontario, where he received the key to the city.
“I couldn’t imagine as a kid the Larry O’Brien coming to Hamilton,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was voted the NBA Finals MVP after the Thunder beat Indiana in a thrilling series that went seven games. “It was special.”
Here’s a look at each Northwest Division team in a predicted order of finish:
The defending champions might be even better this season.
Oklahoma City signed stars Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to extensions in the offseason, positioning the Thunder to be title contenders for the foreseeable future. Gilgeous-Alexander is just hitting his prime at age 27.
Nearly everyone returns from the team that went 68-14 in the regular season before winning the championship. That includes defensive stoppers Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace, rebounding machine Isaiah Hartenstein, proven scorers Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe and all-around energy players Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams.
The Nuggets will have a new look after losing to the Thunder in a second-round series that went seven games. They traded Michael Porter Jr. to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson and orchestrated another deal with Sacramento for big man Jonas Valanciunas. Denver also added Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown, who was a key piece when the Nuggets won the title in 2023.
They also have Jokic, a three-time NBA MVP who averaged a triple-double last season.
And perhaps less theatrics after letting go of coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth with three games remaining in the regular season.
The Nuggets made interim coach David Adelman the full-time coach and divvied up the front-office duties between Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace. The offseason was a home run.
“We hope we're going to stay healthy and we hope we're going to figure out the playing with each other," Jokic said. “I think we're going to be good.”
The Timberwolves stayed as committed to their current core as any team in the NBA over the summer, re-upping with Julius Randle and Naz Reid to run back the squad that reached a second straight Western Conference finals. Seven of their top eight players have returned, with elevated backcourt roles coming for recent first-round draft picks Terrence Shannon Jr., Rob Dillingham and Jaylen Clark. Everything goes through Edwards, who focused during the offseason on rounding out his game with an eye toward improving his ballhandling and defense.
The Trail Blazers have worked hard to develop their young core, including Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara. It was partly in interest of that group’s development that the team pushed for a possible play-in spot last season rather than tank in favor of draft position. They fell short, but now Portland looks to take that next step.
The team traded away Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton, and brought in steady veteran Jrue Holiday and a familiar face, nine-time All-Star Damian Lillard, who spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Blazers. There’s a catch, though. Lillard is recovering from an Achilles tendon injury and won’t play this season, so he’ll serve as more of a player-coach. One intriguing addition is draft pick Yang Hansen, a 7-foot-1 center from China who has turned heads with both his height and passing ability.
The Jazz are going through a rebuild that requires patience.
They do have Lauri Markkanen — for now, anyway. Markkanen, who agreed to a five-year, $238 million contract renegotiation and extension in August 2024, continues to be the subject of trade speculation.
First-round draft picks Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. will learn on the fly. The Jazz, who turned in the worst record in the NBA last season at 17-65, lost three of their top scorers in John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton.
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AP Sports Writers Cliff Brunt, Dave Campbell and Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.
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