Tim Hardaway Sr gives his thoughts on the future of the Denver Nuggets.
The Denver Nuggets bowed out in the first round of the NBA playoffs, losing in six games to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Since winning the NBA Championship in 2023, the Nuggets have not made it out of the second round.
This past season was perhaps their most disappointing ending yet as they entered the playoffs as the third seed in the West and had won 12 straight games going into the postseason.
With Nikola Jokic running the offense and Jamal Murray by is side, the Nuggets looked poised to at least challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs en route to a potential return to the finals.
Instead, they fell in six games despite Minnesota missing its starting backcourt for half of game four and all of games five and six.
Run It Back?
In the offseason, the Nuggets signed Tim Hardaway Jr to give the team a scoring boost off the bench.
Depth issues showed for Denver in their 2025 second round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, arguably the deepest team in the league. The Nuggets bench couldn't sustain momentum or build upon the work by the starters when Jokic or Murray had to sit.
Hardaway Jr was brought in as an top tier shooter, floor spacer, and someone who could gave the bench a little bounce off the dribble.
The son of Tim Hardaway Sr, Hardaway Jr was a proven commodity and viewed as one of the better pickups in the offseason, given the needs of the Nuggets.
Speaking on FanDuel's Run It Back, Hardaway Sr said that if he were the Nuggets, he would run it back with the same squad, believing the Nuggets would have beaten the Timberwolves if they were healthy.
While Minnesota was down Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, both suffering injuries in game four of the series, Denver was down Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson.
Watson didn't play at all in the series due to a hamstring injury, and Gordon played in only three of the six games, limited with a hamstring issue.
The Future of the Nuggets
Nuggets executive Josh Kroenke stated that everything is on the table for Denver in the offseason, short of trading Jokic.
Hardaway Jr is an unrestricted free agent and could opt to return to Denver given his role on the team. Already known for his shooting, he shot a career high 40% from three on 6.9 attempts. He finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
His numbers dipped in the playoffs, but he was hardly the only Nuggets player to underperform in the first round series.