Only two teams posed much of a threat to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the duration of the 2024-25 campaign — the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers. The latter has been ravaged by injuries. This leaves the Nuggets, among many aspiring championship contenders, as perhaps the most likely team to dethrone the Thunder — especially when they're flowing with so much confidence.
In fact, in an appearance on The Old Man and The Three podcast, Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has utmost belief in his team that they'll be the last ones standing come June in a playoff run reminiscent of their journey to winning the NBA championship back in 2023.
“At the end of the day, I believe, we’re going to be the ones that walk off with a win. We’ll be the last team to win. Everyone else is going to hold an L at the end of the season. Except for us. We’re going to be the ones to win at the end of the season,” Gordon said.
There is nothing in what Gordon said that should ruffle anyone's feathers. This is the kind of mindset that anyone who wants to win a title must bring on a nightly basis, and to be fair to him, the Nuggets have so much talent, especially with Nikola Jokic leading the way, that making this kind of proclamation is far from the most egregious thing in the world.
Nuggets look to make use of newfound depth to win it all
Any team built around Jokic would have to intentionally throw for them to not be in championship-contending conversations. But the Nuggets went out and established a much deeper team around arguably the best active player in the NBA, and they certainly look like a team that could pose major trouble for the Thunder especially when they did so with a much shallower roster last season.
Of course, whether or not the Nuggets would be able to win the title isn't entirely up to them. A lot of matchup and injury luck goes into deciding which team hoists the Larry O'Brien trophy come the end of the season, after all.
