Brian Windhorst on the Nuggets' Uncertainty after "Inexcusable" Playoff Exit

Brian Windhorst pulled no punches about Denver. On The Rich Eisen Show, the ESPN insider called the Nuggets' first-round exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves "inexcusable" and laid out a postmortem that goes well past one bad night.

The lens Windhorst used to frame Minnesota's win was historical. He compared it to the 2007 We Believe Warriors, the eight-seed that knocked out a 67-win Mavericks team and lodged itself permanently in NBA folklore.

"It doesn't matter" what happened next round, Windhorst said. "You go to any Warriors fan, I don't care if they've got replica four rings on, and you say, hey, we believe. Their eyes will get misty."

He sketched the aftermath of that 2007 series, with Dirk Nowitzki retreating to the German mountains for 15 days, growing a beard, and accepting his MVP trophy two days after being upset. The Nuggets, Windhorst conceded, were not on the same level as that Mavericks team. But the galvanizing nature of the Wolves' upset, given Minnesota's pile of injuries including Ayo Dosunmu being ruled out near game time with a leg injury, made the moment resonate the same way for the franchise.

Windhorst kept asking himself the same question while watching. Denver was going to win this, right. At some point. This could not stand. It did. The Wolves called five timeouts in the fourth quarter. The PA system played Prince. They played Rocky. The fans were falling out of the stands.

"It's kind of a legendary moment in that franchise's history," Windhorst said.

For Denver, the reckoning runs deeper. Windhorst laid out the indictment plainly. The Nuggets won a championship four years ago. In the four-year window since, with Nikola Jokic carrying them, they have made one conference finals appearance. They have already fired a successful coach. They have already fired a successful GM. They have shipped out a chunk of their draft picks. And they are further from contention now than they were when they won the title.

"That is frankly unacceptable," Windhorst said.

Jokic faces a contract extension decision this summer. Windhorst expects him to sign it. Jokic told reporters after the loss that he wants to be a Nugget, and Windhorst pointed out that he has been the lowest-maintenance multi-time MVP of his generation, with a playful aside about the Bucks and their own star to underline the contrast.

The complication is structural. Stan Kroenke, Windhorst reminded Rich, runs his teams with the financial discipline of a Sam Walton disciple. Kroenke has hoisted a Stanley Cup, a Lombardi Trophy, and an O'Brien Trophy in the last decade, and his Premier League side might add another title soon. He does not care what fans think about the math, and he does not operate gigantically in the red.

Denver was already up against the luxury tax this season and made deadline moves to reduce salary. Windhorst does not see how the team stays together as costs climb. The Nuggets will likely have to cut payroll and get better at the same time. He summed it up in a way that should make every Denver fan wince.

That is not a good combination.