What 2026 NBA Finals Showed Nuggets About Their Championship Hopes

The New York Knicks took down the San Antonio Spurs to win the 2026 NBA Finals, with star point guard Jalen Brunson rightfully taking home Final MVP and giving one of the NBA's biggest markets their first championship since 1973.

In the past handful of years, the league has seen a few huge title droughts broken, like the Denver Nuggets winning their first in franchise history, the OKC Thunder winning their first since 1979, and the Milwaukee Bucks winning their first since 1971. However, none of these teams has been able to get back over the hump since.

After watching this year's Finals, just over a month after the Nuggets got knocked out of the first round of the playoffs, it has become even clearer what Denver needs to get back to the Finals and ultimately win another championship.

Only thing missing is defense

Apr 30, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) seats on the bench before the second half begins against the Minnesota Timberwolves during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

To minimal surprise, the NBA's two defensive rating leaders in this year's playoffs were the Knicks and Spurs. Sure, their offense was clicking as well, holding two of the top three offensive ratings in the playoffs, but defense was undoubtedly key for these teams.

For the Spurs, they were leaning much more heavily on actual defensive talent. Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, and Dylan Harper were all very impactful on the defensive end, which is much harder for a team like the Nuggets to replicate.

However, the Nuggets can certainly learn from the Knicks. New York does have a good mixture of defenders, with Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns each making a difference on that end, but their defensive dominance stemmed more from their game plan and overall effort.

Knicks defense making Wemby look rough right now pic.twitter.com/H9YdL6aeT7
— KNICKS BEAST (@KnicksBeast) June 4, 2026

The Nuggets' coaching staff should undoubtedly be watching some Knicks tape this offseason to see how they handled the Spurs' driving attack, while being able to rotate to defend shooters on the perimeter. Of course, Wembanyama gave them some fits, but overall, they did a stellar job at slowing him down.

The priority for the Nuggets this offseason undoubtedly needs to be addressing their defensive lapses by bringing in more defensive-minded contributors. Still, it all comes down to coaching and the willingness of this Nuggets roster to buy in on defense.

Looking at the Knicks' overall roster, and even what the Spurs were working with to get to the Finals, it is bizarre that the Nuggets are not able to get over the hump. Granted, injuries have not been in their favor in either of their previous two playoff runs, but from a talent and roster construction standpoint, this should've been Denver's year.

On this day 3 years ago 🏆💍

The Nuggets won the NBA Championship pic.twitter.com/XvwXQ9wTvU
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) June 12, 2026

It seems fair to say that the Nuggets are an improved defense away from winning another championship. While their overall collapse, especially offensively, in the first round of the playoffs is still a huge concern, there should be hope that it was a significant outlier against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that simply has every counter for Denver.

While some fans are expecting some major moves to be made this offseason, they will likely give this core another run in 2027. A healthy trio of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, with a proper supporting cast around them, should be enough to make some noise next season.

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