Northwest Notes: Nuggets, Jazz, Mitchell, Blazers

When he spoke to reporters last week at his end-of-season media session, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke repeatedly referenced “running it back” as a viable offseason path for the club. However, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post writes, going that route that doesn’t necessarily mean Denver would bring back everyone who played a rotation role this season.

“When I say running it back, you’re talking about a lot of different variations of what ‘running it back’ could look like,” Kroenke explained. “Is it gonna be the exact same team? I don’t think there’s ever the exact same team of the 13 to 16 guys in there. But are you talking about the same core group of players? Potentially. And that could mean re-signing and bringing back certain guys as well.”

According to Durando, the “core group” Kroenke is referring to is made up of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon. In other words, there’s a scenario in which the team “runs it back” with that trio while making a meaningful change to its rotation. Several league sources have told The Denver Post they expect the Nuggets to trade one of their starters – perhaps Cameron Johnson or Christian Braun – this summer, especially if the team intends to re-sign Peyton Watson.

As Durando points out, if the Nuggets remain out of luxury tax territory for a second straight year in 2026/27, they’d reset the repeater clock and avoid more punitive tax penalties. However, that won’t be easy, given that the team already projects to operate well into tax territory even without a new deal for Watson on the books.

“If we deem running it back the most competitive thing we can do for the roster, that’s probably what we’re going to be doing,” Kroenke said when asked about paying a significant tax bill. “So I don’t want to put words in my dad (Stan Kroenke)’s mouth by any means, but he has owned the team for a very long time. We’ve run it aggressively as we can at different points in time. I think that the joke is always, we love to pay for talent on the floor. So leaning into that assessment that people have put on us at different points in time, if we deem that’s the most competitive thing for us, then that’s what we’re gonna be doing.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

• Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (Substack link) looks ahead to the difficult decisions facing the Nuggets this summer, considering whether it makes sense for the front office to complete a more significant overhaul of the roster around Jokic or just make smaller changes.
• The Jazz upgraded their front line in February by acquiring Jaren Jackson Jr. to complement Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t take another frontcourt player with the No. 2 pick in the draft. As Sarah Todd of The Deseret News writes, Utah fully intends to take a “best player available” approach to that selection rather than drafting for need. “As they say, ‘Need is a bad evaluator,'” president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. “Because everyone is going to react to the NBA in different ways. It’s unpredictable.”
• Second-year Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell continues to thrive in an increased role this spring, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, who awarded Mitchell a grade of A-plus for his performance in Monday’s series-clinching Game 4 win. Having replaced injured star Jalen Williams in the starting five, Mitchell averaged 22.5 points and 6.0 assists per game in the second round vs. the Lakers. He’s one of the league’s best bargains, with a $2.85MM salary for 2026/27 and a $2.85MM team option for ’27/28.
• In a pair of subscriber-only stories for The Oregonian, Bill Oram argues that Portland’s city council would be making a mistake not to take the threat of relocation more seriously as the Trail Blazers seek public funding for arena renovations. “I think (Portland’s city councilors) think if they vote no they are sticking it to the new ownership group,” one source close to the negotiations told Oram. “But what I don’t think they realize is that if they vote no it gives the new ownership group a window to move the team.”