The 2022 NBA Trade Deadline had some incredible deals. James Harden and Ben Simmons traded places, while Kristaps Porzingis was part of a shocking blockbuster. Yet, some teams decided to stand their ground and will attack the postseason with their rosters as they are, barring making a move on the buyout market. The Denver Nuggets were one of these teams, though they are in a rather unique situation given some key players are set to return from injuries before the playoffs.

The Nuggets are currently sixth in the West with a 31-25 record. Standing pat sounds good with Nikola Jokic on your roster, but it might be a costly error. Not getting Jokic more help, especially on defense, might be the Nuggets’ biggest mistake at the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline.

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Nuggets’ biggest 2022 NBA Trade Deadline mistake

Now, one thing needs to be understood. The Nuggets are really not an awful defensive team. According to Basketball Reference, they occupy the 16th spot in their defensive rating metric. Interestingly enough, with his late-game heroics in a recent game versus the Toronto Raptors, Nikola Jokic reached an NBA-high three game-saving blocks on the season. He still isn't a great defender, especially on switches, but he keeps coming up clutch and has improved overall. Additionally, coach Mike Malone has done a great job working around his inefficiencies defensively. Still, they need defensive help, and this is actually very evident when Jokic goes to the bench (the offense also really stinks with him on the bench).

The Nuggets are in win-now mode. While they will have a much better chance once Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr are back thanks to their offensive prowess, they aren't exactly known for their defense. The age-old saying states that defense wins championships, and the Nuggets do not have enough of it. They could have improved on that end, and there were three players they could have targeted at the deadline.

Interestingly, they are all former Nuggets. Starting at center, Portland Trail Blazers big man Jusuf Nurkic could have been an option. Nurkic has similar faults to Jokic and would have been a one-year rental due to his expiring deal and upcoming salary demands, but he would have been a great rebounder and a solid rim protector to help anchor their defense. There are reasonable doubts about how he would look with Jokic on the court since that was the reason he was traded to the Blazers in 2017, but both players have grown a ton and the pairing would likely look better. If anything, Nurkic would have been a great backup to have to help Denver succeed without Jokic on the court.

The next name is Jerami Grant. The Detroit Pistons forward was an excellent 3-and-D player for the Nuggets not too long ago, and having Grant and Aaron Gordon at forward would be quite a fearsome defensive duo. Of course, Grant wanted to leave Denver for Detroit because he wanted a bigger role, so the fit would not have been ideal. The Pistons also wanted a massive haul for Grant, further complicating matters. Still, while a long shot, it would have been awesome to see Grant back in Denver.

Last but not least, the Nuggets could have brought in Gary Harris from the Orlando Magic. Around a year after they dealt Harris to the Magic in exchange for Gordon, the Nuggets could have pushed for Harris to be sent back to Colorado. He is a capable guard defender while also being an offensive spark. Harris has bounced back a bit after some injury-plagued seasons, and Nuggets fans remember his great play in a couple of seasons, especially the 2017-18 season when Harris averaged 17.5 points on almost 40% shooting from 3-point land. Of course, it would be hard to expect the same numbers from him today, as age and injuries have done damage to the veteran guard, but he would still be useful.

As said in the beginning, standing pat might be a good option when the team has an MVP on the roster. Nikola Jokic and his level of play guarantees success to the Nuggets faithful, and Denver should be getting reinforcements in the form of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. However, the expectations should not be too high on those players coming back from serious injuries, and once again, they won't fix the defensive issues on the team. It would have been nice to see the Nuggets make at least one move ahead of the trade deadline to improve the defense around Jokic, but it simply was not in the cards. We will see if that hurts them come playoff time when opponents look to take advantage of this roster on that end of the court.