1967: Franchise founding , a
University of Denver alumnus, is shown wearing the "
Denver Rockets" uniform The current franchise traces its roots to 1967, when one of the
American Basketball Association (ABA)'s charter franchises was awarded to a group in
Kansas City, Missouri, headed by Southern California businessman James Trindle. However, Trindle was unable to find a suitable arena within the Kansas City area. League commissioner
George Mikan suggested moving the team to Denver instead. After agreeing to name Denver resident and former NBA player
Vince Boryla as the general manager, Trindle moved his
Kansas City team to Denver as the newly named Denver Larks franchise, named after Colorado's state bird. However, the Trindle group was found out to be severely undercapitalized, leading Mikan to order the Larks franchise to post a $100,000 performance bond or lose the franchise before they even played a single game. Hours before the deadline happened, Trindle sold a two-thirds controlling interest to Denver trucking magnate Bill Ringsby and his son for $350,000. Ringsby then immediately renamed the team the Rockets, after his local company's long-haul trucks called the "Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines".
1967–1976: ABA years Playing at the
Denver Auditorium Arena, the Rockets had early successes on the court, developing a strong fan base along the way. However, the team had a history of early playoff exits and only once played in the ABA championship series. Early on, Denver had a solid lineup led by
Byron Beck and
Larry Jones, then later by Beck and
Ralph Simpson.
Lonnie Wright of the
American Football League's
Denver Broncos signed with the Rockets during that first season and became the first player to play professional football and basketball in the same season. Wright played four seasons with Denver. With the drafting and signing of future Hall of Fame player
David Thompson out of
North Carolina State and
Marvin Webster, and the acquisitions of
Dan Issel and
Bobby Jones (all signed for the 1975–76 season), with
Larry Brown coaching, they had their best seasons in team history in their first two as the Nuggets. Playing in the
Denver Auditorium Arena for the last season the 1974–75 team went 65–19, including a 40–2 record at home. However, they lost in the Western Conference Finals in 7 games, to the Indiana Pacers. In 1975–76, playing at their new arena, the Nuggets, with the acquisitions of Thompson, Jones and Dan Issel who had come via a trade after he won an ABA title with the 1974–75 Kentucky Colonels, the team went 60–24, edged the reigning champion
Kentucky Colonels four games to three to make the
1976 ABA finals for the first time. Eventually, they lost to the
New York Nets and
Julius Erving in 6 games.
1976–1982: Early NBA years The Nuggets and Nets had actually applied to join the NBA in 1975, but were forced to stay in the ABA by a court order. The Nuggets continued their strong play early on in the NBA, as they won division titles in their first two seasons in the league, and missed a third by a single game. However, neither of these teams were ultimately successful in the postseason. Similarly to the other new NBA teams, the Nuggets were saddled with stiff financial obligations upon joining the NBA, including a $2 million entry fee.
Red McCombs bought the team in 1978. In 1979, Brown left the team, helping usher in a brief decline in their performance. It ended in 1981, when they hired
Doug Moe as a head coach. Moe brought with him a "motion offense" philosophy, a style of play focusing on attempting to move the ball until someone got open. Moe was also known for not paying as much attention to defense as other NBA coaches. The offense helped the team become highly competitive. During the 1980s, the Nuggets often scored in excess of 115 points a game, and during the 1981–82 season, they scored at least 100 points in every game. The NBA-record streak was halted at 136 consecutive games. During the 1981–82 season, the Nuggets set the league scoring record for the highest points per game average at 126.5 points.
1982–1989: The Alex English era Anchored by scoring machines
Alex English and
Kiki Vandeweghe at the two forward spots, and Dan Issel at center, Denver led the league in scoring, with English and Vandeweghe both averaging above 25 points per game. It was a novel strategy, allowing the Nuggets to top the Midwest Division and qualify for the playoffs during that span. (On December 13, 1983, the Nuggets and the visiting
Detroit Pistons combined for an NBA record 370 points, with Detroit winning in triple
overtime, 186–184.) At the end of the season, English won the NBA scoring title, becoming the only Nugget to win the award despite the heavily favored offensive play of Doug Moe. In
1984–85, they made it to the
Western Conference finals after being perennial playoff contenders, and they lost in five games to the
Los Angeles Lakers. Vandeweghe was traded before the 1984–85 season to the
Portland Trail Blazers for 6–3 rebounding guard
Fat Lever, undersized power forward
Calvin Natt and center
Wayne Cooper. Spearheaded by Alex English and supported by the three new acquisitions and defensive specialists
Bill Hanzlik and
T. R. Dunn, the team replicated its success in the Western Conference despite the loss of Vandeweghe. They even managed to win 54 games in the
1987–88 season, the most they had ever won as an NBA team. However, the Mavericks eliminated the Nuggets in the second round of the 1988 NBA Playoffs. McCombs sold the team to
Sidney Shlenker in 1985. Shlenker, in turn, sold the team to
COMSAT in 1989.
1989–1991: A period of decline Moe left the team in 1990, and was replaced by
Paul Westhead. Westhead also believed in a "
run and gun" style of play allowing players to speed down the court to shoot rather than creating set plays. Combined with the 1980s Nuggets core slowly departing due to age and injuries, the Nuggets collapsed, going from a 46-36 record and a playoff spot in '88-'89 to a pitiful 20-62 record and last place in the conference.
1991–1996: The Dikembe Mutombo era , nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his exceptional rim protecting and shot blocking ability, was drafted by the Nuggets in 1991 and won
Defensive Player of the Year with the Nuggets in 1995. Denver took a positive step in rebuilding by drafting
Georgetown University center
Dikembe Mutombo in 1991. Mutombo finished runner-up to
Larry Johnson for the NBA rookie of the year that season. Denver finished 24–58 that year. Denver fired Westhead prior to the 1992–93 season and hired former star player
Dan Issel as his successor. The Nuggets had two lottery picks that year and drafted
University of Notre Dame forward LaPhonso Ellis and
University of Virginia guard Bryant Stith. Denver improved to 36–46, just missing the playoffs that year. Denver ditched their rainbow colors for a dark navy, metallic gold and wine color scheme starting in the 1993–94 season. Led by Mutombo,
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (who changed his name from Chris Jackson prior to the season), and Ellis, Denver finished with its first winning season since the Doug Moe era at 42–40. Denver clinched the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, playing the first place
Seattle SuperSonics. Denver was a heavy underdog, having only a couple of players on their roster with actual NBA playoff experience. After dropping the first two games of the five-game set in
Seattle, the series returned to Denver. Denver won both games and tied the series at 2. The Nuggets made NBA history in Game 5, upsetting Seattle in overtime 98–94. They became the first 8th-seeded team to defeat a 1st-seeded team in NBA playoff history. Denver almost repeated the feat before falling to the
Utah Jazz in Game 7 of the second round. Denver acquired Sonics sharp-shooter
Dale Ellis in the off-season and drafted
University of Michigan guard
Jalen Rose. Denver struggled, causing Issel to resign as coach partway into the season. Assistant Coach
Gene Littles assumed control for a brief period before relinquishing control to general manager
Bernie Bickerstaff. Denver rebounded and earned the eighth seed again in the playoffs, finishing 41–41. The Nuggets were swept by the
San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs that season. Following that season, Denver acquired
Antonio McDyess in a draft-day trade with the
Los Angeles Clippers. McDyess was the face of the franchise for the next few years, as Mutombo left after the 1995–96 season for the
Atlanta Hawks, Ellis missed the majority of the next few seasons due to recurring knee and leg injuries, Rose was traded to the
Indiana Pacers for
Mark Jackson, and Abdul-Rauf was traded to the
Sacramento Kings prior to the 1996–97 season.
1996–2003: Another period of struggle After finishing the 1996–97 season with the fourth-worst record in the league (21–61), the Nuggets sent
Antonio McDyess to the
Phoenix Suns, and
Dale Ellis returned to Seattle. Denver flirted with history in the
1997–98, by nearly setting the mark for fewest wins in an 82-game season (11). They tied the then-NBA's all-time worst single-season losing streak at
23—only one game shy of the overall worst mark of 24 by the
Cleveland Cavaliers of the early 1980s. The losing streak was later broken by the Cavaliers in 2011 and the
Philadelphia 76ers in 2014 with 26 consecutive losses. While the Nuggets would slowly rebuild towards semi-competitiveness, they remained out of the playoffs, with the best record of this time still a game below .500, a 40-42 finish in 2000-2001. However, it would serve merely a brief respite before struggling further, hitting a nadir at the start of the following season when then-coach
Dan Issel was forced to resign after making an inflammatory comment towards a heckling fan. It all culminated in the Nuggets tying for the worst record in the NBA in
2002–03 with a ghastly 17-65 record, also with the Cavaliers.
Ownership instability The team's struggles in the late 1990s were due in part to ownership instability. COMSAT bought the
NHL's
Quebec Nordiques in 1995 and moved them to Denver as the
Colorado Avalanche. However, its diversification into sports ownership was proving a drain on the company. In particular, cost overruns associated with the construction of Pepsi Center had shareholders up in arms. Finally, in 1997, COMSAT agreed in principle to sell Ascent Entertainment Group, the umbrella corporation for its sporting assets, to
Liberty Media. After almost two years, Ascent sold the Avalanche and Nuggets to
Walmart heirs
Bill and
Nancy Laurie for $400 million. However, a group of Ascent shareholders sued, claiming that the sale price was several million dollars too low. Ascent then agreed to sell the Avalanche and Nuggets to Denver banking tycoon Donald Sturm for $461 million. However, a new wrinkle appeared when the city of Denver refused to transfer the parcel of land on which Pepsi Center stood unless Sturm promised to keep the Avalanche and Nuggets in Denver for at least 25 years. Sturm had bought the teams in his own name, and the city wanted to protect taxpayers in the event Sturm either died or sold the teams. While Sturm was willing to make a long-term commitment to the city, he was not willing to be held responsible if he died or sold the teams. After negotiations fell apart, Liberty bought all of Ascent, but kept the Nuggets and Avalanche on the market. In the meantime, Issel had returned as head coach in 1999, but the protracted ownership negotiations made it difficult for him to rebuild the team. Just before the start of the 1999–2000 season, he told reporters there were several personnel moves he simply could not make due to the unstable ownership situation. Under the terms of Strum's purchase agreement, all basketball decisions required the approval of both Ascent/Liberty
and Sturm. Finally, in July 2000, the Avalanche, Nuggets and Pepsi Center were bought by real estate entrepreneur
Stan Kroenke in a $450 million deal. That same year, the team also updated their logos and uniforms, with a new color scheme of powder blue, gold and royal blue; the latter color was changed to navy blue in 2008. In just two months of the season, the Nuggets recorded more wins than they had in months of play in 2002–03. Much of the reason for this incredible turnaround were the front-office moves of general manager
Kiki Vandeweghe, a former Nuggets player who assumed general manager duties on August 9, 2001. In April, the turnaround was complete as they became the first franchise in NBA history to qualify for the postseason following a sub-20-win campaign the previous year since the NBA went to an 82-game schedule. On December 28, 2004, head coach
Jeff Bzdelik was fired from the organization and replaced by interim coach, former
Los Angeles Lakers player and
Los Angeles Sparks head coach
Michael Cooper. The Nuggets later hired
George Karl as a permanent replacement. Karl led the team to a record of 32–8 in the second half of the regular season, which vaulted the team into the playoffs for the second consecutive year. In the
playoffs, however, the Nuggets could not survive the
San Antonio Spurs. After winning game one in
San Antonio, the Nuggets proceeded to lose the next four games and lost the series 4–1. The Nuggets picked 20th in the
2005 NBA draft; it was acquired from the
Washington Wizards via the
Orlando Magic. Denver selected
Julius Hodge with the pick. The Nuggets also had the 22nd overall selection in the draft, in which they selected
Jarrett Jack, but sent him to the
Portland Trail Blazers for rights to Portland's 27th overall pick,
Linas Kleiza. This placed the team in the third seed of the Western Conference
playoffs. Denver played the
Los Angeles Clippers who, despite their sixth seeding, had a better regular season record. As a result, the Clippers received home-court advantage. They defeated the Nuggets in 5 games. Shortly after, the Nuggets announced that general manager Kiki Vandeweghe's contract would not be renewed. He was replaced by
Mark Warkentien. On December 18, 2006, team co-captain
Carmelo Anthony, shooting guard
J. R. Smith and power forward
Nenê were suspended by the NBA (15, 10 and one games respectively) for a
fight that occurred in the last two minutes of a game against the
New York Knicks two days earlier. The fight was sparked by Knicks rookie
Mardy Collins, when he tackled J. R. Smith on a breakaway layup. According to Anthony, Knicks coach
Isiah Thomas warned him to not go in the paint shortly before the hard foul.
2006–2008: The Anthony and Iverson duo On December 19, 2006, the Nuggets traded
Joe Smith,
Andre Miller and two first-round draft picks of the
2007 NBA draft to the
Philadelphia 76ers for
Ivan McFarlin and superstar
Allen Iverson (McFarlin was waived immediately following the trade's approval). The moves gave the Nuggets the top two scorers in the league at the time in Anthony and Iverson, who were both scoring over 30 points per game at the time of the trade. On January 11, 2007,
Earl Boykins,
Julius Hodge and cash considerations were traded to the
Milwaukee Bucks, in exchange for point guard
Steve Blake. With Iverson, many considered the Nuggets as one of the elite in the West. However, chemistry was an issue, as the Nuggets finished the season with the sixth seed, giving them a first-round matchup against the
San Antonio Spurs. In the
playoffs, the Nuggets took Game 1 and home-court advantage away from the Spurs. However, as had occurred in the 2005 playoffs, the Spurs bounced back to sweep the next four, as the Nuggets were eliminated in the first round in five games for the fourth straight year. On March 16,
2008, the Nuggets scored 168 points in a 168–116 home win over
Seattle SuperSonics. It was the third-most points scored for a regulation game in NBA history (The Nuggets and the Pistons hold the spot for most combined points scored in a game which was over 360 points total.) It was the first time since the
1987–88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season.
2008–2011: The Anthony and Billups duo On July 16, 2008, at the end of the
2007–08 NBA season, the Nuggets traded former
NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Camby to the
Los Angeles Clippers for a second-round draft pick (that was then traded to the
New York Knicks for
Renaldo Balkman). On November 3, 2008, guard
Allen Iverson was traded to the
Detroit Pistons for
Chauncey Billups,
Antonio McDyess, and
Cheikh Samb (part of the trade exception from the Marcus Camby trade was used to allow the deal to go through). McDyess was waived though on November 10, 2008, and he returned to Detroit shortly afterwards. With
Carmelo Anthony averaging 22.8 points per game and Billups averaging 6.4 assists in the
2008–09 NBA season the
Nuggets accomplished a great number of franchise milestones. Their 54–28 record matched the most wins the franchise had gotten since their induction in the NBA; their 27–14 start was also a record for wins in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in the franchise's history the team had back-to-back 50-win seasons. They led the Northwest division for much of the season, eventually winning the division and placing #2 in the Western Conference, matching the highest the team has ever been seeded for the playoffs. General manager
Mark Warkentien won the
NBA Executive of the Year Award for the Nuggets' improvement. They won Game 1 of the playoffs against the
New Orleans Hornets, the first time they had home-court advantage since
1988 and also, the 29-point victory was the largest victory for any team for Game 1 of the first round of the
2009 NBA playoffs. Chauncey Billups set a Nuggets franchise record with the most three-pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 three-pointers in total is also a Nuggets record for threes made in a playoff series. They went on to beat the Hornets in 5, including a 58-point victory in Game 4 which matched the most lopsided win in
NBA playoff history. They then went on to beat the sixth seed
Dallas Mavericks four games to one in the Conference Semifinals to make their first trip to the
Western Conference Finals since 1985. That was also the first time the Nuggets had ever led 3–0 in a best-of-seven series. Up to that point, they held an NBA Playoffs-high in three-pointers made and a 16-point average margin of victory, the largest average margin of victory in the first 10 playoff games in NBA Playoff history. They lost the first game of the Western Conference Finals against the
Los Angeles Lakers but won the second game to tie the series. Anthony became the first Denver player to score at least 30 points in five consecutive playoff games since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976. They lost the series 4–2, ending Denver's longest playoff run in team history. In the
2009 NBA draft, the Nuggets traded a first-round draft pick acquired from the
Charlotte Bobcats to the
Minnesota Timberwolves for the rights to rookie
Ty Lawson, who was drafted 18th overall. On July 13, 2009, the Nuggets traded a second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for
Arron Afflalo (part of the trade exception from the Iverson trade was used to allow the deal to go through) and
Walter Sharpe. Afflalo replaced starting guard
Dahntay Jones, who signed with the
Indiana Pacers. However, on August 10, the Nuggets lost forward
Linas Kleiza, who signed with
Olympiacos Piraeus of the
Greek League. The
2009–10 season saw Anthony average 28.2 points per game and Billups average a career-high 19.6 points per game. In the opening two games of the season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals
Utah Jazz and
Portland Trail Blazers, respectively. Anthony became one of two players in the Nuggets' history to open with more than 70 points through two games (Alex English also accomplished the feat). It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0. They later went 3–0, 4–0, and 5–0 for the first time since 1985 after defeating the
Memphis Grizzlies,
Indiana Pacers, and
New Jersey Nets respectively. Despite injuries that caused all three captains – Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and
Kenyon Martin – to miss a total of 46 games, and then later on in the second half of the season the absence of head coach
George Karl, who underwent treatment for neck and
throat cancer, the Nuggets were still able to win 53 games (third consecutive 50-win season, a Nuggets first) for the season which gave them a second consecutive Northwest division title and finished as the fourth seed in the West Conference. However, they were eliminated by the
Utah Jazz 4–2, their sixth first-round elimination in 7 seasons. Anthony averaged a career-high 30.7 points per game in the playoffs. On July 14, 2010, the Nuggets bolstered their frontcourt depth by signing
Al Harrington. During the 2010 off-season,
Masai Ujiri replaced
Mark Warkentien as the general manager, while Josh Kroenke was named team president.
2011–2015: Period of rebuilding On February 22, 2011, after months of speculation that he wanted to leave the Nuggets,
Carmelo Anthony was traded alongside
Chauncey Billups,
Anthony Carter,
Shelden Williams and
Renaldo Balkman to the
New York Knicks in a multi-player deal also involving the
Minnesota Timberwolves in which the Nuggets received
Wilson Chandler,
Raymond Felton,
Danilo Gallinari,
Timofey Mozgov and
Kosta Koufos. On the day when the trade was done, the Nuggets were left with nine players to play against the
Memphis Grizzlies. The Nuggets won 120–107, where they led by as many as 27 points. In the closing minutes of the game, the arena resounded with chants of "Who needs Melo?" George Karl said after the game, "Our guys, when their backs are confronted with a difficult situation, they usually play at a high level. We always react to tough situations in a very positive way." However, the trade only seemed to make them better. Post-trade, the Nuggets averaged 24.1 assists, showing their newfound teamwork. The defense of the Nuggets also improved, from allowing 105.2 points per game before the trade to 97.1 points per game for the remainder of the season. Despite the franchise-changing trade which saw eighteen different starting lineups through the whole season, Denver finished with 50 wins (fourth consecutive 50 win seasons for the first time in Nuggets history), clinching the fifth seed of the Western Conference. They met the
Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs and lost four games to one. The first full season of the post-Melo Nuggets saw the steady rise of Danilo Gallinari, who averaged 17 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists through the first 25 games of the season, which resulted to the Nuggets' best start through the first 20 games. However, Gallinari sustained injuries to his ankle, thumb, and wrist that year. On March 15, 2012, the Nuggets decided to make their team younger by trading
Nenê, who had played the previous nine seasons for Denver, to the
Washington Wizards for
JaVale McGee. In his first game as a Nugget, McGee made a putback dunk off an
Arron Afflalo miss which proved to be the game-winning basket in Denver's 116–115 victory over the Detroit Pistons. In two of the Nuggets' final games of their season, McGee finally earned national attention when he had a 16-point, 15-rebound effort, and a 21-point, 14-rebound effort in Denver's playoff series against the
Los Angeles Lakers. These performances helped the Nuggets come back from a 2–0 and a 3–1 series deficit, but the Nuggets eventually lost in Game 7, 87–96. On August 10, 2012, Denver was involved in a four-team trade where they received All-Star
Andre Iguodala and sent
Arron Afflalo and
Al Harrington to the
Orlando Magic. This same trade also sent
Dwight Howard to the
Los Angeles Lakers. After the trade, Iguodala tweeted "I'm excited to be joining the Denver Nuggets and I know my best basketball is ahead of me!" Despite losing their first three games, the 2012–2013 Nuggets finished with a franchise-best 57–25 record, and a 38–3 record in Pepsi Center (the Washington Wizards,
Miami Heat, and Minnesota Timberwolves were the only 3 visitors to defeat Denver on their home during the regular season). Denver also clinched the third seed in the Western Conference, with a first-round matchup with the
Golden State Warriors. The Nuggets won Game 1 97–95 on their home court on a last-second Andre Miller game-winner, but the Warriors won the next three games, putting the Nuggets on the brink of elimination. Denver won Game 5 at home to keep their season alive, but the Warriors eliminated the Nuggets in Game 6, winning 92–88 in Oakland. It was Denver's ninth first-round loss in the previous 10 seasons, and the eighth of Karl's tenure. Although Karl won that year's
NBA Coach of the Year Award and had led Denver to the playoffs in every year of his nine-year tenure, it was not enough to keep him from being fired after the season. Along with Karl being fired, Denver saw a major shake-up in the front office with
Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri accepting the general manager position with the
Toronto Raptors and vice-president
Pete D'Alessandro, who was expected to replace Ujiri, being named general manager of the
Sacramento Kings. On June 21, 2013,
Tim Connelly was announced as the new general manager. To replace Karl, the Nuggets hired the Indiana Pacers' associate head coach, former NBA player,
Brian Shaw. Guard-forward Andre Iguodala was sent to the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade in which they acquired guard
Randy Foye from the Utah Jazz. They also signed center-forward
JJ Hickson, who was previously with the Portland Trail Blazers and guard
Nate Robinson, who played for the Bulls during the 2012–2013 season. They also acquired Darrell Arthur from the Memphis Grizzlies and 55th pick Joffrey Lauvergne in return for Kosta Koufos. In a tough 2013–14 season which saw numerous injuries to key players missing a significant amount of the season, the Nuggets finished with 36 wins, their worst in 11 years, and missed the playoffs. During the 2014 off-season, the Nuggets brought back
Arron Afflalo for whom they traded
Evan Fournier. During the
2014 NBA draft, Denver traded their first lottery pick (11th overall pick) since 2003 to
Chicago to acquire two later first-round draft picks, which were used to draft
Jusuf Nurkić and
Gary Harris; with the 41st overall pick and their first pick of the second round of the draft, the Nuggets selected 19-year old
Nikola Jokić from
Mega Basket in
Serbia. On March 3, 2015, general manager
Tim Connelly announced the Nuggets fired head coach Brian Shaw and named
Melvin Hunt interim head coach. Jokić would end up being one of the biggest
draft steals in NBA history.
2015–present: The Nikola Jokić era 2015–2018: Early years was named
NBA Most Valuable Player in
2021 (first player in franchise history),
2022 and
2024. On June 15, 2015, at the end of the 2014–15 season,
Michael Malone was named as the new head coach of the Denver Nuggets. Entering the
2015 NBA draft with their lowest draft pick (seventh overall) since 2003, the Nuggets drafted
Emmanuel Mudiay who was widely regarded as the top point guard of the draft, leading to speculation that current starting point guard,
Ty Lawson, would be traded. On July 14, 2015, Lawson was arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence, his second in six months. The Nuggets traded Lawson a week later to the
Houston Rockets along with a second round draft pick for
Joey Dorsey,
Nick Johnson,
Kostas Papanikolaou,
Pablo Prigioni (all of whom were waived), and a first round pick that was used to draft
Juan Hernangómez. Under Michael Malone's leadership, the Denver Nuggets slightly started to improve while primarily relying on the youth movement consisting of Emmanuel Mudiay,
Nikola Jokić, Gary Harris and later also on the recovered Jusuf Nurkić. On January 27, 2016, it was announced that both Mudiay and Jokić would participate in
BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star 2016. On February 18, the Denver Nuggets announced that they decided to trade veteran shooting guard Randy Foye to
Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for
D. J. Augustin,
Steve Novak and two second-round draft picks. One day later, JJ Hickson and the newly acquired Novak were waived. Over the course of the
2016 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets added the
Kentucky guard
Jamal Murray as well as
Juan Hernangómez,
Malik Beasley, and
Petr Cornelie. Meanwhile, their 56th pick was traded to the
Oklahoma City Thunder. On February 13, 2017, Nurkić was traded, along with the rights to the
Memphis Grizzlies' 2017 first-round draft pick, to the
Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for
Mason Plumlee, a 2018 second-round pick and cash considerations. Thanks to the continuing improvements of Nikola Jokić, the Nuggets would make significant improvements to their team, although they would be just one game shy from reaching the 2017 NBA playoffs, finishing 9th in the Western Conference. On June 15, 2017, the Nuggets officially promoted both
Artūras Karnišovas and
Tim Connelly to become the team's newest general manager and president of basketball operations respectively. In the
2017 NBA draft, the Denver Nuggets selected
Tyler Lydon,
Vlatko Čančar, and
Monté Morris, with the 24th, 49th, and 51st picks respectively. On December 2, 2017, the Nuggets would retire
Fat Lever's number during their 115–100 win over the
Los Angeles Lakers. Despite compiling their first winning season since
2013, they missed the 2018 playoffs, the fifth straight missed playoff run, after losing to the
Minnesota Timberwolves in a win-or-go-home situation in the regular season finale, also ending the Timberwolves' 14-year playoff drought. The Nuggets finished 9th, one game behind the eighth seeded Timberwolves.
2018–2020: Rise of Nikola Jokić In the
2018 NBA draft, the Nuggets drafted
Michael Porter Jr. and traded with the Magic to get
Jarred Vanderbilt. On January 31, 2019, Jokić received his first All-Star selection as a Western Conference reserve for the
2019 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the Nuggets' first All-Star since
Carmelo Anthony in 2011. The Nuggets finished the 2018–2019 season with 54 wins, first in their division and second in the Western Conference, and made the playoffs for the first time since
2012–2013. In the first round, the Nuggets played against the
San Antonio Spurs, winning the round in game seven. The Nuggets were eliminated in the second round by the
Portland Trail Blazers in 7 games. Following the
suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, the Nuggets were one of the 22 teams invited to the
NBA Bubble to participate in the final 8 games of the regular season. Led by Jokić and Murray, the team is the first in NBA playoff history to consecutively come from 3–1 deficits. In the first round, they defeated Utah in 7 games in a record-breaking scoring duel between
Jamal Murray and
Donovan Mitchell. The Nuggets repeated the same feat against Paul George and Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round, becoming the only team in NBA history to overcome multiple 3–1 deficits in a single playoff run. In the Western Conference Finals, the Nuggets' title race came to an end, after the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers trounced them in five games.
2020–2022: Jokić's back-to-back MVP seasons In the
2020–21 NBA season, Jokić was named the
NBA Most Valuable Player, becoming the first center since
Shaquille O'Neal in
2000 and the first player in Nuggets franchise history to win the award. He also became the first Serbian player, third European player overall (along with
Dirk Nowitzki of
Germany and
Giannis Antetokounmpo of
Greece), and sixth international player to ever win the award (along with
Hakeem Olajuwon of
Nigeria,
Tim Duncan of the
U.S. Virgin Islands,
Steve Nash of
Canada, Nowitzki of Germany, and Antetokounmpo of Greece). Jokić also became the lowest ever drafted player at #41, and the first player in NBA history to be selected in the second round of the common era draft, to win the MVP award. Although the Nuggets finished the season with the third seed in the Western Conference and beat their first round opponents, the
Portland Trail Blazers, in six games, the loss of starting guard
Jamal Murray to an ACL tear contributed to the team's sweep by the eventual Western Conference champions, the second-seeded
Phoenix Suns. The
following season saw more poor injury luck for the Denver Nuggets. Nine games into the season, starting forward
Michael Porter Jr. joined Murray on the sidelines with season-ending back surgery. In spite of the injuries, Jokić and starting power forward
Aaron Gordon carried the Nuggets to the sixth seed, the former becoming the first-ever player in NBA history to accumulate 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season. Jokić went on to receive the Kia MVP Award for the second year in a row – joining 12 other players in NBA history to achieve the award in back to back years, and the first center to do so since
Moses Malone in
1982 and
1983. This also marked the first time that the Nuggets had beaten the Lakers in a playoff series (having previously been 0–7 against them), as well as the first playoff series sweep in franchise history. In the NBA Finals, on June 12, 2023, the Nuggets would beat the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat 4–1 to win their first NBA championship, with Jokić receiving the
NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.
2023–2025: Back-to-back chase and Jokic's third MVP season In the
2023–24 season, the first season in league history with the Nuggets as defending champions, Denver finished with the 2nd seed in the
Western Conference with a 57–25 record, tying with the
Oklahoma City Thunder and finishing 1 game ahead of the
Minnesota Timberwolves. On May 8, 2024,
Nikola Jokić won his third
Most Valuable Player Award, becoming the ninth player to do so and tying with other greats such as
Moses Malone and
Larry Bird. The Nuggets faced the
Los Angeles Lakers in the first round and defeated them in five games. In the series,
Jamal Murray finished the Lakers with a game-winning buzzer-beater over
Anthony Davis to complete a 20-point comeback in Game 2, and later hit another game-winner in Game 5 to eliminate the Lakers. Next, they faced the
Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. Along the way, Murray hit a half-court shot in Game 4 to end halftime and stared at
NBA on TNT announcer
Kevin Harlan. The Nuggets ultimately blew a 20-point lead in Game 7 and lost to the Timberwolves.
2024–2025: Change of head coach With the 22nd overall pick, the
Phoenix Suns drafted
DaRon Holmes II from
Dayton. He was later traded to the Nuggets for the 28th overall pick (
Ryan Dunn), the 56th overall pick, a 2026 second-round pick, and a 2031 second-round pick. Holmes tore his Achilles in the
NBA Summer League. Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets achieved a historic feat on March 7, 2025, becoming the first NBA player to record a game with at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, and 20 assists. Nuggets notably signed former MVP
Russell Westbrook. They lost a reliable shooting guard
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. On April 8th, 2025, the Nuggets fired both head coach
Michael Malone, and general manager
Calvin Booth. In the
2024-25 season, Denver finished with the 4th seed in the
Western Conference with a 50-32 record, tying with the
Los Angeles Lakers, and
Los Angeles Clippers, and 1 game ahead of the
Minnesota Timberwolves. In the first round, they played the
Los Angeles Clippers and won in seven games. On the way to winning the series,
Aaron Gordon scored a buzzer-beating dunk in Game 4. Next, they faced the
Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round, where Gordon stunned the Thunder crowd with a game-winning three-pointer in Game 1. The Nuggets ended up losing the series in seven games to the eventual champions. The Nuggets hired their interim head coach
David Adelman as their official new head coach. ==Season-by-season record==