NBA
Nikola Jokić expects Nuggets to add ‘more depth’ to roster this offseason
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated4 hours ago on May 19, 2025
Denver’s campaign finally came to an end after a hard-fought playoff series against the Thunder, the West’s best record, that had to be settled this past Sunday in seven games. Their elimination came short of their second Western Conference Finals appearance in the last three seasons.
The matchup wasn’t just a battle between giants, but also a head-to-head clash of MVP frontrunners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, who wasn’t able to produce his magic and finished the game with just 20 points, as rival Alex Caruso hounded the Nuggets big man throughout the floor.
Oklahoma City‘s 125-93 victory came with a huge lesson, proving how a suffocating defense can beat any team. There’s no wondering why the Thunder club had led the league this regular season in forced turnovers with 17.0 per game and in steals (10.3).
The Serbian center didn’t mince his words when asked what Denver needs to come back next campaign as a true title contender. “We definitely need to figure out a way to get more depth,” the 30-year-old said after earning just nine rebounds and seven assists in their Game 7 loss.
The league MVP candidate then explained why a deeper roster can help especially during playoff contests. “It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, the longer benches, are the ones who are winning. Indiana, OKC, Minnesota,” the big man assured last night.
“I think we played for so long in such a way, and it’s hard for the guys to step up and especially play against two really good teams, Clippers and OKC,” Nikola added. “We cannot ask for somebody who didn’t play maybe 20, 30 games to jump in and be good.”
As for teammate Aaron Gordon, he believes the growing fatigue was also an issue. “I would really, really appreciate it if there were a couple of days off in-between games in the playoffs,” he said after playing through an injury in Game 7. “Just to give all these professional athletes one more day of rest and you would see a higher level of basketball.”
