After winning an NBA Championship in 2023, the Denver Nuggets fell short in their quest to defend their title. The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets in the second round of the 2024 playoffs following a grueling seven-game battle. With Denver's season now over, they now focus their attention to the offseason. During the offseason, they'll look at making some free-agent additions to improve their team for another championship run in 2024-24.

Thankfully for the Nuggets, their main core of players will remain intact next season. Their roster is also relatively solid, but there are a few missing puzzle pieces they'll look to fill in this offseason. The Colorado franchise will have to navigate their slim cap space situation, though.

Let's take a look at some early free agents the Nuggets should target in the 2024 offseason.

Moritz Wagner

The Nuggets may or may not have a chance at pursuing Moritz Wagner if his current team, the Orlando Magic, exercises his $8 million team option. The Magic do have a decent amount of big men to pick from, so there is a decent chance the Magic do part ways with Wagner this offseason. Wagner might also be a bit out of Denver's price range, but let's dream a little bit here.

There is no question that Nikola Jokic is the defacto starting center in Denver. The one thing the Nuggets do not have, however, is a formidable center to back up Jokic. This past season, veteran DeAndre Jordan was listed as their backup center. The thing is, Jordan rarely saw the court, and only played in 36 of the team's games during the 2023-24 season. So for a majority of the season when Jokic was taking a breather on the bench, Denver ran a center-less offense.

One of the biggest knocks against the Nuggets in their playoff series against the Timberwolves was their struggle to score in the paint. The addition of Wagner could definitely help that problem. Some may argue that Wagner is too good to be a backup. While that could be true, Denver doesn't have to strictly use him in a backup role. He would be a fine addition playing next to Jokic if they ran a double big-man lineup.

Perhaps Wagner has some interest in joining a serious contender and the Nuggets front office can work some magic on bringing him in on a team-friendly contract.

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Lonnie Walker IV

There were many instances this past season where the Nuggets' bench simply wasn't putting up enough points in relief of the starters. If they were to sign Lonnie Walker IV, he could come in and provide that much-needed scoring boost to the bench.

Walker has bounced around the league a bit, but he has shown the ability that he can get hot and really start to drain some buckets. Having this type of scoring off the bench would definitely lighten the load for Jokic and Jamal Murray.

While with the Brooklyn Nets last season, Walker averaged 17.4 minutes per game, 9.7 points, and 38.4% shooting from 3. While these numbers are obviously not eye-popping, there is still a chance he could find much more success joining a championship-caliber roster. There is also a chance he plays a role similar to what Bruce Brown did during the Nuggets championship season.

Walker had a cap hit of just over $2 million with the Nets last season. If the Nets are aiming to keep him, they could potentially outbid Denver. That doesn't mean the Nuggets shouldn't take a look, though.