Nuggets’ dream 2026 NBA trade deadline scenario as Nikola Jokic recovers

Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Denver Nuggets were among the teams that were being hyped up as a worthy challenger to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the NBA championship. They were meeting the hype towards the start of the season, but they’ve had to weather a few storms over the past few months, with none of them being more devastating than Nikola Jokic’s knee injury that has kept him out for nearly a month now.

The Nuggets can at least take some positives amid Jokic’s absence. Peyton Watson has broken out into a legitimate high-level scoring threat, while Jamal Murray seems to be on track for his first All-Star appearance with the way he’s kept Denver humming amid the absence of the team’s best player.

Heading into the trade deadline, it’s not likely for the Nuggets to be active on the trade market, if only because they lack the assets to pull off any deal that moves the needle for them. They can dream all they want, however. And in their dreams, one player has to be at the top of their wishlist — after all, anything can come true in one’s imagination.

In this article, we will be discussing the absolute, no holds barred dream scenario for the Nuggets as well as the more realistic dream scenario they must aspire towards.

Nuggets’ absolute dream scenario: Acquire Trey Murphy III from the Pelicans

The Pelicans, as per reports, have already come out and set an exorbitant price for Murphy on the trade market. They will be demanding multiple first-round picks, as they have set their minds on acquiring a package similar to what the Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets got for Desmond Bane and Mikal Bridges, respectively.

This all but rules out the Nuggets of a potential pursuit of Murphy. But it’s clear how much of a fan head coach David Adelman is of the 25-year-old wing. In the Nuggets’ most recent clash against the New Orleans Pelicans, Murphy put up 31 points in a losing effort, prompting Adelman to call for an Eastern Conference team to trade for him so that they would face him just twice in a single season.

Murphy would make an already-dangerous Nuggets team that much more difficult to deal with. 76.6 percent of Murphy’s buckets are assisted, and he’s been thriving playing alongside big-man playmakers such as Derik Queen and Zion Williamson. It’s tantalizing to imagine just how much better he’d be playing in a Jokic-led offense.

The 25-year-old Murphy is a more athletic threat than Michael Porter Jr., which makes him a more dangerous presence as well around the basket. Now, he doesn’t have as audacious of a shot diet as Porter does, but he’s more versatile, scoring-wise, that he may end up making the Nuggets the unquestioned title favorite.

The prospect of upgrading from Christian Braun and Cam Johnson to someone like Murphy is so tantalizing that the Nuggets front office has to be dreaming about acquiring the Pelicans’ burgeoning star.

Braun’s extension is set to kick in next season, and he hasn’t been good at all this year, perhaps due to the fact that he’s been dealing with persistent ankle troubles all season. Johnson, who’s currently out with a knee injury, has been uninspiring in his first season in Denver, as he’s been a clear downgrade from Porter.

Murphy combines Braun’s athleticism and transition prowess as well as Johnson’s proficiency from beyond the arc, and he’s set to make a similar amount of money as the former.

However, the Nuggets do not have much in the way of tradeable future first-round picks. They traded away their 2027 first-rounder to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a slew of draft picks, one of which became Watson. Their 2029 first-round pick is also owned by the Thunder, and the conditions involved in conveying the pick to OKC make it so that it will be very tricky for Denver to even trade away pick swaps in 2028 and 2030.

Pick swaps from the Nuggets aren’t even of much value, as Denver might still be a better team than New Orleans by 2028 and 2030. Suffice to say, the Nuggets aren’t a realistic destination whatsoever for Murphy, and the best package they put together won’t be enough to match what teams such as the Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, or even the Golden State Warriors could offer the Pelicans for the 25-year-old wing.

Maybe in another lifetime.

Nuggets’ realistic trade deadline scenario: Just get everybody back healthy

It’s kind of twisted that in the year the Nuggets have put together quite a deep roster around Jokic and Murray, they’ve experienced a deluge of injury problems. Jokic is only a few missed games away from being disqualified from winning MVP. Aaron Gordon is dealing with a hamstring problem, which is a concern since soft-tissue injuries require so much rest and recovery. Even Murray has been dealing with hamstring tightness.

Beyond the injury woes of their three main guys, the Nuggets have seen Braun and Johnson, their starting duo on the wing, miss plenty of time with ankle and knee troubles, respectively. Even Jonas Valanciunas, the man who was supposed to feast in Jokic’s absence, has dealt with a calf strain that he only recently recovered from.

But amid all those problems, the Nuggets have held strong, sitting in the top three of the Western Conference. That is nothing to scoff at considering how competitive things are out west. If this was any other iteration of the Nuggets, they would have collapsed sans Jokic. But reinforcing the roster has paid dividends, and so has the emergence of youngsters such as Watson, Jalen Pickett, Spencer Jones, and Zeke Nnaji.

Moving forward, all the Nuggets need is to get their key guys back up and running. Getting Braun back on track after an incredible 2024-25 season should be a priority. Making sure that Gordon and Murray don’t suffer lingering effects from their hamstring troubles is a must. And having Jokic back is like getting a superstar at the trade deadline for free. The Nuggets have the luxury of not being able to make any moves and yet remaining one of the best teams in the NBA as is.

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