Nikola Jokic knows what the Nuggets need to do this offseason

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Denver Nuggets’ season ended as they ran out of gas during Game 7 of the second round for the second straight season, and it seems everyone knows what the issue was this time.

Nikola Jokic would not say that the Nuggets lacked the horses or were short on firepower — though he did take a slight shot at the core. Instead, he turned to the waves the NBA-best Oklahoma City Thunder, brought off the bench as a big reason they’re moving on to the Western Conference Finals.

Llikely MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got back to his powerful ways and Jalen Williams also played again like an All-Star; it was OKC’s depth that disrupted Denver. During Game 7, Alex Caruso was a plus-40 and guarded Jokic for big portions of the game. Cason Wallace stuffed the stat sheet and was a plus-38. Aaron Wiggins again hit multiple threes.

From the moment Mark Daigneault turned to his bench — compared to when David Adelman did — the script flipped. The Nuggets led by 11 in the first quarter when their first substitution was made, putting Russell Westbrook on the floor. The former MVP was a minus-34 while leading the bench unit.

“It definitely seems like the teams that have longer rotations — longer benches — are the teams that are winning: Indiana, OKC, Minnesota,” Jokic said after Game 7.

The Nuggets’ bench was an issue all year, failing both to score and to play defense. It’s been a problem that’s plagued the Jokic era in Denver but was heightened this year despite the signing of Westbrook in the hope of rectifying things.

Where the Thunder played 11 guys over 700 minutes this season, the Nuggets only used eight that way. In Game 5’s important OKC win that happened as Denver fell apart, the bench scoring went 35-8 against the Nuggets. The Thunder played nine guys for at least 12 minutes in that game, while the Nuggets only had seven players hit a shot.

The number of minutes Jokic and the starters had to spend on the court all season to get the Nuggets to this point was remarkable. There were multiple times in the playoffs when the heavy legs felt like they were catching up. OKC got some rest going into the playoffs as they clinched the top seed early and then again after sweeping Memphis. Denver had been battling almost every night for a month to first make the playoffs, then get past Los Angeles.

The Nuggets couldn’t go as deep in any game, and the shallowness also negatively impacted the starters, who began to struggle.

“I think we played for so long in such a way, and it’s hard for the guys to step up and especially play, especially against two really good teams, Clippers and OKC,” Jokic said. “We cannot ask for somebody who didn’t play maybe 20-30 games to jump in and like, be good. And like, expect him to be good. But Julian he stepped up. He was good enough, Peyton, he was in a rotation, but he had some good minutes too.”

Look for the Nuggets to add some bench depth this summer and give those players a bigger trial run during the regular season. Fatigue — and possibly being a player or two short — may have cost Denver this year.

Nikola Jokic on the Nuggets needs “the ones who have longer benches and rotations are the ones who are winning.” pic.twitter.com/5kyUo3OgLq

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

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