The Denver Nuggets have joined the Golden State Warriors as teams eliminated in the second-round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, having been run off the floor by the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 at Paycom Center.
After taking a 26-21 lead at the end of the first-quarter, the Nuggets were subsequently outscored by 37 over the final three periods as injuries and a lack of bench depth eventually took their toll on the 2023 NBA champions.
Former Warrior Dario Saric was a complete non-factor in the playoffs
Sunday's Game 7 capped off 14-straight DNPs for former Warrior big man Dario Saric throughout the playoffs. The Croatian was viewed as one of Denver's key acquisitions last offseason, but became a complete non-factor from essentially 15 games into the season.
The unplayable nature of Saric typified the Nuggets' bench problems throughout the season, particularly given the 31-year-old was added to help support 3x MVP Nikola Jokic. Instead, Jokic took on an even heavier burden and eventually ran out of steam, leaving attention to be turned towards how Denver can possibly improve their bench ahead of next season.
“We definitely need (more depth)," Jokic said after the game. "It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, longer bench, are the ones who are winning. Indiana. OKC. Minnesota.”
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, their ability to go out and improve the roster is set to be hampered by the bewildering contract they gave Saric last offseason. Not only did they strangely give him more than the minimum deal he was on previously with the Warriors, but they gave him a second-year player option that he's surely now bound to pick up.
Perhaps Denver thought they could easily trade the two-year, $10.6 million deal they gave Saric if push came to shove, yet it now appears they'd have to give up genuine assets to turn it into something usable. For a team that's already sent out three future first-round picks in other deals, it's not an ideal situation to be in.
Combine Saric's contract with Zeke Nnaji's four-year, $32 million deal, and you can see why Calvin Booth may have lost his job as GM given how just how terribly the Nuggets have done on the margins of the roster.
After averaging 8.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and shooting 37.6% from 3-point range with the Warriors, Saric appeared in just 16 games with the Nuggets where he averaged 3.5 points and shot 26.9% from beyond the arc.