The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement is built to essentially be a dynasty buster, but one league insider believes the Denver Nuggets are one of the few teams that have the structure to maintain their elite status for longer than the next two or three seasons.
When Lebron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 to “take his talents” to Miami so he could join pals Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Heat, it created a domino effect. Their success and consistent trips to the Finals sent a message to NBA teams that a “Big Three” was necessary to create a championship contender for multiple seasons.
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It was a major shift from a decades-long trend when contenders like the Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, and Houston Rockets had just one or two elite stars on the roster. The Golden State Warriors were able to develop their own “Big Three” through the draft, however, they expanded on the strategy with a willingness to spend huge sums to add a fourth star — in Kevin Durant — or pricey role players as they did in handing out huge contracts to Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins last year.
While the Warriors’ impressive success as the latest dynasty team in the NBA delivered the league big ratings on television, it seems the other owners got quite tired of their dominance and made sure to negate it for the foreseeable future in the new league CBA.
Starting next season, there will be many more restrictions on franchises that spend big on talent with a new luxury tax threshold that will not only bring a larger financial punishment but will also have an even bigger effect on the moves teams are allowed to make. That is why many around the league believe this could not only be the end of dynasties but the end of powerhouse teams that stay together for more than two or three years at a time.
Are the Denver Nuggets best positioned to be a dynasty team under the new CBA?
In a recent conversation with Sportsnaut, NBC Sports NBA managing editor and lead writer Kurt Helin added to this shared belief when he spoke about how some rising teams may not be able to stay strong for long and the new approach top teams will have to maintain their spot in the years ahead.
“I’m not sure we are going to see a dynasty again, in the wake of this new CBA, which was designed to kill dynasties,” Helin told Sportsnaut. “I love that Oklahoma City is up and coming. They’re so much fun. It’s going to be hard to keep this team together in three years or five years. That’s the way the system is built.
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“You’ve already seen Denver trading players and picks to get back-end first-round, high-end second-round picks because that’s how you’re going to have to fill out your roster if you’re going to be a contender and nail some back-end picks.”
So does that mean we won’t see another dynasty until the next CBA can be negotiated in the 2030s? Well, if there is one team that has a chance to remain an elite squad for many years, Helin believes the current defending champion Denver Nuggets is best positioned to do it under the new guidelines for the league starting in 2024-25.
“I think [the Denver Nuggets] are as close as anybody because it’s a two-star system with Jamal Murray and Jokic, who are healthy, in their prime, and probably going to play this way for a while,” says Helin. “Just keeping the right pieces around them seems more doable. I like Boston a lot. I like how their roster’s constructed, but it feels like a two or three-year window and they’re not going to be able to sustain that.
“I don’t know if there’s going to be great dynasties, but if you want to go to the Finals four times in six years, or three times in six years, I think two elite players and quality role players around them might be the new model you have to go to.”