Defending champions are the ultimate test of the phrase, "Don't fix what isn't broken." Or perhaps more accurately: It's the test of the mighty to understand that a successful formula is not necessarily one without flaws. The New York Knicks must learn that painful lesson from Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets before it's too late.
The latest team to face that harsh reality is the Denver Nuggets, as their 2023 championship season has never felt so distant after their best up-and-coming player, Peyton Watson, put an already lackluster offseason into the realm of the devastating.
Most importantly: It endangered Jokic's ability to contend despite his individual brilliance. New York must learn from the experience to help Jalen Brunson.
Nuggets are proof that staying on top requires tough decisions
Denver won a title in 2023 with a three-time MVP in Jokic and a now All-Star point guard in Jamal Murray leading the charge. Three years later, their core is similar to what they ran out when they won a title, with Aaron Gordon still starting and Christian Braun in a more prominent role.
Watson represented the Nuggets' most prolific—and admittedly rare—example of internal development. Unfortunately, he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers just as he began to ascend.
Denver is now stuck in financial limbo with limited resources to make additions to its roster and a first-round exit in 2025-26 hanging over its head. Seemingly destined to dominate the NBA with Jokic at the helm, the Nuggets have now lost in the second round or earlier in three straight seasons—and may not be able to change much about their rotation.
It's far too soon to believe the Knicks could find themselves in a similar spot, but with several massive contracts, an owner unwilling to go into the second apron, and extensions looming, it's a more realistic outcome than one might like to think.
Title windows close as quickly as they open in the NBA
Karl-Anthony Towns will make $57,078,728 in 2026-27 before becoming eligible for free agency next summer. OG Anunoby is owed $42.5 million in 2026-27 and $45,431,034 in 2027-28, and has a player option worth $48,362,068 for the 2028-29 campaign.
MIkal Bridges is signed through 2028-29 with a player option for 2029-30, with guaranteed salaries of $33,482,145, $36,160,714, and $38,839,285.
Throw in Brunson's $37,739,521 salary for 2026-27, $40,535,041 for 2027-28, and his free agency eligibility in 2028, and the Knicks have both massive guaranteed salaries and pivotal potential extensions to consider. That makes the idea of staying the course a bit more complicated than one might presume.
Yes, the Knicks just won a title. And yes, they made a Conference Finals appearance the year prior. But injuries happen, opposing teams improve, and the bounces that once went a team's way end up going in another's favor. It's just the way it works.
With a limited pipeline of players developing internally, minimal financial flexibility to make impact signings, and Miles McBride on the last year of his deal, the window could close as quickly as it opened. Denver is proof of that fact—as is a Milwaukee Bucks side that lost Giannis Antetokounmpo five years after winning what one thought would be the first of several titles. Instead, it was the one and only.
New York should continue celebrating its historic feat, but as the 2026-27 season progresses, the time for difficult decisions about pivotal pieces of a championship puzzle will quickly approach. How they handle them will decide Brunson's window.
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