Troy Renck: Nuggets act like they can't win without Aaron Gordon - but can they win with him?
DENVER - The problem with trading Aaron Gordon is Nikola Jokic trusts him.
How many other players can we say that about on the Nuggets' roster? Four? Five? The list begins with Jamal Murray, includes Christian Braun, maybe a few others, and finishes with Gordon.
It felt like each question on Friday circled back to Mr. Nugget.
President Josh Kroenke insisted "everything is on the table" this offseason, but his answers suggested moving on from Gordon is not one of them.
Nuggets Nation, rejoice at your own risk. Everybody loves Gordon. He has endeared himself to teammates and fans alike because of his unselfishness and toughness.
He plays well. He plays hurt. But he no longer plays enough.
And that is why the leadership press conference came off as underwhelming.
Injuries and complacency were cited for the disappointing first-round exit. Sure, coach David Adelman - he is not going anywhere as Kroenke has "full faith" in him - went into the weeds about needing more ball handlers against pressure and better defensive rebounding.
But much of the talk centered on health and motivation. Those are reasons for the Nuggets' postseason flop. They are easy to identify. What was not offered were solutions, just a lot of word salad and crossed fingers.
Kroenke mentioned "running it back" as a potential best option so many times that it was like he saw the Broncos' offseason and said, "Hold my drink."
As plans go, static would be a mistake.
There is no way Kroenke can digest the postseason, remove emotion and decide to stand pat. Hope is not a strategy unless you are the 2019-2025 Rockies.
The Nuggets are too smart to do something so basic. Nuggets Nation deserves better.
The Nuggets are not a title contender. I was hoping Kroenke would look to his left (Adelman) and right (co-general managers Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace) and break the news.
Instead, they ran out the tired trope that any team with Jokic remains in a championship window. He is responsible for much of their success. And he is also their crutch. We have Jokic. We are fine.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Nuggets need more athleticism, more length, more anger, more hunger.
Kroenke acknowledged that he was frustrated by the Nuggets' response in Games 3 and 4, but stopped short of admitting it revealed a locker-room fissure. His team got curb stomped, and reading between the lines on Friday, you would have thought it was because the Nuggets waited too long to give Tyus Jones minutes to initiate the offense and were too dependent on Jokic's 3-pointers.
There are annual lessons in sports about the dangers of standing pat. Especially about players. Don't love them. Like them. Be real. Be transparent. And if you cannot do either of those? Be willing to change.
If another ring is the goal, it must go beyond trading Cam Johnson and signing Peyton Watson.
Instead, the Nuggets talked about Gordon as if there were only one path forward: helping him heal, physically and emotionally.
This is admirable. It just doesn't seem logical.
Gordon has missed 77 games the past two seasons because of a battery of calf and hamstring injuries. He turns 31 in September as he enters his 13th season.
What we have watched is a former Superman fighting his body and his mind in a public setting that we wished were private.
His older brother, Drew Gordon, died in a car accident on May 30, 2024. Gordon has said that he has struggled to process his grief, and he believes it has contributed to the endless leg issues.
Everyone deals with loss differently. There is no blueprint.
The Nuggets aim to assist Gordon.
"Aaron is one of my favorite human beings I have come across in all of our wide world of sports. What he has been through since we won a championship is simply tragic and would be difficult for anybody to deal with," Kroenke said. "To have to go through it (in public) and knowing what he does for his family behind the scenes, it is very demanding on the human body. We have to help him get better at it. That's absolutely something we have to talk about. We have to look in the mirror and say, ‘AG how can we help you?' "
When he is right, so are the Nuggets. But are they confusing loyalty with reality?
No one can convince me that there is not a market for Gordon's contract, even with $103.5 million remaining if he exercises a 2028-29 player option.
Calling the Celtics to see if they would consider swapping Derrick White for Gordon is a must. All they can say is no.
I don't sense any motivation for a deal. Gordon is not only their guy but also a favorite of Jokic. And the idea of upsetting Jokic before he signs a four-year extension is unnerving.
That leaves a narrow road for improvement. Heal Gordon. And perform some nips and tucks. If shipping out Gordon remains a non-starter, then the Nuggets must get honest about Jokic.
He needs a rim protector. There are too many nights when he is uninterested in defense; his focus is on quickly grabbing the ball as it goes through the net to throw an outlet pass. Gordon is a terrific defender, and there should be discussions with him about focusing on that side of the ball and letting others - like Watson - pick up the scoring.
Regardless, Denver has to add a deterrent in the paint. Someone who can elevate and intimidate. The latter was so lacking against the Timberwolves that it was embarrassing.
The easy thing to do is keep the roster similar, believing that with an overhauled training staff, the team's injury report won't look like an episode of "The Pitt." And to be clear, there must be changes behind the scenes.
It leaves a trade of Johnson as the move to clear the runway for Watson.
That is a little thing. The heavy lifting is navigating the weighty stuff surrounding Gordon.
You know Jokic wants him to stay. The Nuggets' brass loves him. And fans constantly ask: How can the Nuggets win without him?
The better question: Can the Nuggets still win with him?
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This story was originally published May 10, 2026 at 4:42 AM.