Report: The Denver Nuggets are chasing LeBron James

The Nuggets have contacted LeBron James in free agency, The Denver Post reported Wednesday, confirming that the franchise isn’t just dreaming about one of the greatest players of all time — it’s going for it.

A league source outside of the organization told The Post’s Bennett Durando that Denver reached out to James to express interest in the 21-time All-NBA forward. The Nuggets join the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat among the teams reportedly pursuing the 41-year-old, who informed the Lakers on Tuesday that his eight-year run in Los Angeles was over.

This is not the first time Denver has tried with James. Team president Josh Kroenke mailed LeBron a throwback Nuggets jersey in 2018, back when the Joker was 23 years old and the franchise was a year away from returning to the playoffs. James chose the Lakers. He has described Kroenke as a “very dear friend.”

Eight years later, Nikola Jokic is a three-time MVP and he and James have been contemporaries both as rivals and in the record books. Meanwhile the Nuggets have proven playoff players and LeBron isn’t chasing a max contract — his agent Rich Paul told The Ringer’s “Game Over” podcast on Wednesday that he’s spoken to “12 to 14 teams” and that James is prioritizing “happiness” over money.

Without significant roster maneuvering, Denver can likely only offer James the veteran minimum. Golden State and other contenders can offer the full mid-level exception, set at $15 million this season. But a vet-min deal is precisely what would make LeBron-to-Denver one of the best value plays in NBA history.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst lit the fuse on this connection Wednesday morning, calling Denver “an outlier team” for James on his Hoop Collective podcast.

“I have long believed that if there was an outlier team for LeBron, if he was willing to take sort of some exception, it was Denver,” Windhorst said. “The idea of playing — if you noticed during the year this year, he was overly effusive with Jokic — might be the two most brilliant basketball minds in the league join forces, and they’re complementary.”

Windhorst pointed to the Kroenke relationship, noting James “was a guest a couple of times on their yacht in the Mediterranean in the summer,” and flagged that Nuggets restricted free agent Peyton Watson is a Klutch Sports client — the same agency that represents James.

“If I were Denver,” Windhorst said, “I would kick the tires.”

Well, now we now they did.

James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists last season on 51.5% shooting in 60 games. He’s still an All-Star. Jokic is the most prolific passer at center the sport has ever seen. On top of that, Jamal Murray has elevated to an elite playmaker, ranking fifth in assists last year to complement his elite shooting — earning an All-Star nod.

Where LeBron and Luka Doncic overlapped in Los Angeles, Jokic, Jamal and James would be symbiotic.

James made $49 million last season. The veteran minimum for a player with his experience would pay roughly $3.4 million. That’s a 93% pay cut for a guy who’s earned over $500 million in NBA salary alone and is reported to be a billionaire from his other ventures, but mostly due to his shoe deal with Nike.

But James, through Paul, has said this isn’t about money. And for the Nuggets, there’s a counterargument: the marketing revenue, national TV attention and ticket demand that The Chosen One would generate in the Mile High City could more than offset the luxury-tax implications of a roster that’s already projected to be around $450 million when accounting for penalties — all for a team that won two playoff games.

With James? Denver would be a legitimate title contender overnight. That changes the math for ownership.

The Warriors remain the betting favorites but Denver has climbed the oddsmakers’ boards. Unlikely isn’t impossible, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the Nuggets are in the conversation by their own volition — not just a media hypothetical.

This is the left turn James could’ve taken in 2018. This is the team that held the No. 3 pick in 2003 — the draft where a kid from Akron went No. 1 — and took Carmelo Anthony instead despite having the league’s worst record. The LeBron-and-Jokic partnership has been a what-if for the better part of a decade.

Now the Nuggets are trying to make it a what-is.

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