Kiszla: With $92 million bet on forward Aaron Gordon, Nuggets gamble their time to win NBA championship is now

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With 20/1 odds to win the NBA title, the Nuggets bet $92 million that forward Aaron Gordon is the final piece to their championship puzzle.

Whether you call that a prudent investment or foolish optimism, I say Gordon should call Jerami Grant and offer to buy him a Tesla. And even a shiny, new car might not be sufficient thanks, because even by the crazy economic standards of pro sports, there’s no way a player with Gordon’s skill set is worth an average annual salary in excess of $20 million.

But here’s the deal: The Nuggets really had no choice except to swallow hard and give Gordon a hefty contract extension. As much as any of us might’ve wished it to be true, Bradley Beal or any other first-tier NBA star isn’t going to walk through the doors of Ball Arena.

Denver couldn’t allow Gordon to play out the lame-duck year of his contract, even though he disappeared as the Nuggets were rudely bounced from the playoffs by Phoenix. After sending guards Gary Harris and R.J. Hampton, as well as a future first-round draft choice, to obtain Gordon at the trade deadline in March, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly could not risk the possibility that the best on-ball defender on his roster would walk after the upcoming season.

Isn’t it obvious? The Nuggets spent heavily on Gordon because of their rocky relationship with Grant, who bolted for Detroit as a free agent in 2020 because he found his lone season in Colorado less than satisfactory. That was a mistake Connelly could not afford to repeat.

What the Nuggets saw when Gordon averaged 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds during 35 appearances in a Denver uniform was the same thing Orlando discovered after taking the athletic, 6-foot-8 forward with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2014 draft: He’s not cut out to be an all-star. But as a willing role player, Gordon can be essential to a talented team with obvious defensive limitations.

With center Nikola Jokic the reigning MVP at age 26, there’s no more waiting until next year for this group of Nuggets. If the Milwaukee Bucks can win a championship, there can be no more whining that flyover cities don’t get rings.

Gordon doesn’t need to be the first, second or even third option in the Denver offense. For the money of his contract extension to be a solid investment, he only needs to be better than Paul Millsap, who averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds during his four seasons with the team. And unlike Grant, who left for Detroit because the Pistons offered a starring role, the laid-back Gordon seems more comfortable when performing one step out of the spotlight.

The $92 million that Connelly gave Gordon pushes all the team’s chips to the middle of the table with a declaration that Jokic and this core of Nuggets can win a championship during the next three years, regardless of how many buddies LeBron James enlists to join him in Los Angeles with the Lakers.

Are Jokic, feisty guard Jamal Murray, young sharp-shooter Michael Porter Jr. and Gordon a match for Phoenix or Utah in the West, much less the megawatt star power in Brooklyn?

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The tricky part of the equation is Murray, the No. 2 reason to believe this team is good enough to win it all. He will be rehabilitating from a serious knee injury and likely won’t be back on the court and performing at peak capacity until next season. That’s a primary reason why the Nuggets are 20/1 long shots to win the championship, while the Nets are listed at 3/1 favorites.

The $92 million paid by Connelly to Gordon is a hefty price to show faith in these Nuggets.

It’s hard to conceive, however, how Denver could seriously upgrade its roster via trade unless the team is willing to ship out MPJ.

So the mission is clear: Either Joker and company will win the first championship in franchise history, or Connelly will have far tougher decisions to make down the road.



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