Nuggets explore trading Murray and Gordon! The former championship lineup may disband, with Braun and Johnson also possibly leaving.

On June 29, Beijing time, the Denver Nuggets are no longer able to reproduce the glory of their 2022-23 championship campaign, and the franchise is now looking to move multiple key players.

According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, Nuggets president and owner Josh Kroenke had already declared in May: "Except for Nikola Jokić, everyone can be put on the trading block." Since then, the Nuggets have started exploring the feasibility of trading Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.

Stein and Fischer indicated that the general consensus is that the Nuggets are more inclined to move Christian Braun or Cameron Johnson, but the team has not abandoned negotiations involving trades for Murray and Gordon.

The 29-year-old Murray had a career-best season in 2025-26, averaging 25.4 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per game, earning his first All-Star selection. However, in the Nuggets' first-round series loss to the Timberwolves, he struggled: averaging 23.7 points with a shooting percentage of only 35.7%, and his three-point percentage fell to just 26.2%.

Gordon performed consistently when on the court, but injuries limited him to just 36 games in the regular season, and he missed half of the first-round series against the Timberwolves.

The core trio of Jokić, Murray, and Gordon once won a championship together, but the strength of Western Conference teams has been rising year by year, and the Nuggets clearly need to make roster adjustments this offseason.

In the 2025-26 season, Murray played 75 regular-season games, averaging 25.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists; Gordon played 36 regular-season games, averaging 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists; Braun played 44 regular-season games, averaging 12 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists; Johnson played 54 regular-season games, averaging 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.