The Denver Nuggets have been one of the top teams throughout the 2020s, but they could have had a much more dominant reign at the top.
Over the past few years, the Nuggets have established themselves as one of the NBA’s perennial title contenders. Even in a down year in 2025, the team pushed the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the second round.
After making some big moves in the offseason, the Nuggets are set to have one of the best shots at dethroning the Thunder in 2026. While a trade for Cam Johnson and some key additions on the wing have taken some of the headlines this offseason, the team’s trade for Jonas Valanciunas has stolen the spotlight.
While part of that spotlight was because of the now-resolved drama about Valanciunas’ NBA future, the big deal with the trade was that it finally gave Nikola Jokic a reliable backup. However, as Dan Favale laid out in a recent Bleacher Report article, the Nuggets already had one and failed to keep him in town.
In a ranking of the most underrated players of the 2020s, Isaiah Hartenstein earned a spot in the top five. Playing behind Jokic in the 2020-21 season, Hartenstein didn’t get the opportunity he needed to shine and was shipped to Cleveland after playing in only 30 games in Denver.
Of course, Hartenstein has since gone on to help the Thunder win the title as their starting center and was a reliable big for the Knicks over the previous couple of years. Considering the Nuggets simply needed to have patience for the rebounding machine, it must sting a little bit for the Nuggets to know their perfect Jokic backup was already on the roster.
