The Nuggets are getting antsy, as it relates to their hopes of securing another championship during three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic’s prime years.

After a magical run to a title in 2023, Denver is trying to decide whether or not it’s worth it to keep their core intact. Jokic isn’t going anywhere, neither is Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon who recently inked hefty contract extensions.

If the Nuggets want to move a player on the roster to potentially obtain a game-changer who can be the much-needed accelerant for another Finals push, Michael Porter Jr. is the obvious choice.

And so far, Denver has shown a willingness to discuss Porter in win-now transactions, a league source told Forbes Sports.

One of the transactions being bandied about currently in league circles is whether Denver will pull the trigger on acquiring score-first All-Star guard Zach LaVine from the Chicago Bulls.

According to Sam Amick and Tony Jones of The Athletic, Denver has been putting out feelers on the trade market to acquire a jolt of scoring punch. Not only has LaVine been discussed in a serious manner, but all of the following veterans have been connected to the Nuggets recently: Cam Johnson, Jordan Poole, Jordan Clarkson, and Jonas Valanciunas.

As you can see, Denver is looking across the board at upgrades — and a lot of those roster flaws point back to a disastrous offseason period. The Nuggets certainly look like they swung-and-missed on Dario Saric as a backup center signing in free agency. Also, most of Denver’s young prospects have failed to take a step forward, which was of the upmost importance with their team-building strategy.

Denver is in the middle of the pack in a loaded Western Conference, which shouldn’t be happening when you realize the type of historical dominance Jokic is once again putting together. The Serbian big man is on his way to a fourth MVP award averaging 30.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game. Only Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have put together historic statistical campaigns in line with Jokic, and his brilliance is the true DNA of Denver’s roster.

How can the 14-10 Nuggets best maximize another season from Jokic where he’s undeniably the best player in the Association? It’s likely going to involve an uncomfortable conversation around breaking up their entrenched core four of Jokic, Murray, Porter and Gordon, and the 26-year-old wing from Missouri would be the trade chip in this scenario.

For a Porter blockbuster deal for Denver, LaVine is the obvious match. And those talks continue on into the early portion of NBA trade season.

Chicago has been trying to sell off on LaVine over the past 18 months, but no team has shown significant interest prior to this sudden pursuit from the Nuggets.

The Pistons were a potential match at the 2024 trade deadline before they backed out asking for a young prospect in return. The Lakers, Warriors, Clippers, and Kings put out feelers last summer, but no franchise felt comfortable absorbing LaVine’s remaining $110+ million salary.

Why would the Nuggets feel comfortable swapping out Porter for LaVine? The on-ball creation from LaVine, and the heliocentric offense being built around Jokic, would be a beautiful synergetic match from an on-court standpoint.

Imagine Jokic running a hand-off flare action with LaVine running around him to get open. LaVine is one of the best in the Association at hand-off actions, shooting 66.7% in those situations this season but only attempting less than one per game. Compared to Murray and Porter, who are both shooting well below-average on higher volume, LaVine could be fully unlocked playing alongside Jokic in the Rocky Mountains.

Also, the Nuggets have been a complete disaster offensively whenever Jokic rests. Incredibly, the Nuggets rank No. 1 in offensive rating at 123.1 with Jokic on the court, but nosedive to the worst when he sits on the bench scoring only 96.3 points per 100 possessions. A massive gulf exists between how Denver operates with and without Jokic, so acquiring an alpha scorer who can take the burden off him appears necessary at this rate.

Another factor to note is the Nuggets have already been showing significant buyers remorse on the four-year extension for backup big man Zeke Nnaji. The former Arizona Wildcat signed a $32 million deal last year before the rookie-scale extension deadline, but he’s continued to show no real developmental jumps in Denver while now being viewed as an albatross contract.

An early framework discussed between Denver and Chicago revolves around LaVine and Porter, per a league source, which includes Nnaji as the necessary salary filler.

Keep an eye on veteran wing Torrey Craig being a potential add into the deal, if talks continue to progress. Craig, a former Nugget, would be included alongside LaVine while receiving Porter, Nnaji and another minimum salary to make the trade legal under apron restrictions.

For Denver, Chicago presents the opportunity to acquire a former All-Star scorer who is quietly putting together one of the most efficient seasons of his career. LaVine is averaging 21.7 points while carrying 50.1/42.8/80.0 shooting splits, and it’s hard to imagine that figure dipping if he’s paired next to Jokic.

A key note is how including Nnaji wouldn’t require draft capital, which has been the hold up for Denver in other talks around the league due to limited draft assets. Denver hasn’t shown an appetite to attach their only tradeable first-round pick in 2031.

Would swapping out Porter for LaVine be the necessary antidote to cure Denver’s inconsistencies? At this moment, it appears to be an idea they are open to. And from Chicago’s perspective, they would be willing to take on Porter’s salary as a better long-term fit for their youth movement headlined by Coby White, Josh Giddey, and recent lottery pick Matas Buzelis.

Keep an eye on the Nuggets throughout NBA trade season, because they appear to be one of those teams ready to make an aggressive move to potentially maximize their window with Jokic.

It’s the season of giving, but for many Denver nonprofits, there’s a tinge of worry.

Some local non-profits are seeing a shift in donations as income inequality grows and costs rise with inflation. Both nonprofit organizations and the people they serve are feeling the squeeze.

“We’re doing everything we can to serve just as many people, if not more,” said Erin Pulling, CEO of Food Bank of The Rockies.

The food bank serves people directly as well as hundreds of partner organizations that distribute food, but Pulling said the need keeps growing.

“At our biggest Thanksgiving distribution (ever) we had a thousand households in line to pick up a couple boxes of food,” she said.

Those in line told food bank volunteers how their struggles have affected them.

“Just story after story of hard-working people making really tough choices,” said Pulling.

Florence Crittenton Services, or FloCrit, is one of the oldest charities in Denver, dating back to the 1890s. Its mission is to educate, prepare, and empower teen mothers and their children. FloCrit Director of Development Theresa Garcia said nonprofits like theirs are in a period of change.

“I think that there is just kind of a shift in the way that people are engaging with non-profits and are engaging with kind of the work in their community,” said Garcia.     

FloCrit received donations from many of its large donors on Colorado Gives Day this year, but there were fewer small and entry-level donors.

“Fewer donors are being asked to fill greater needs,” said Garcia.

She said the costs for young mothers are often out of reach. Housing costs have remained high and the price of necessities has continued to grow.

 “We buy lots of diapers, lots of wipes, lots of formula. All of the things that we know that everybody struggles with,” said Garcia.

Garcia said the needs of the teenage mothers they serve have also continued to grow, including more mental health care, baby items, supplies, educational needs, and employment help. Many don’t have enough to cover these things.

“There’s a lot of things that our families are dealing with that just make it harder to climb out,” Garcia added.

Organizational costs are a major hurdle. Although 70% of the food at the food bank is donated, Pulling said they purchase about 30% themselves.

Each year the food bank ships out about 17 truckloads of cabbage. Now the pricetag has them searching for ways to keep supporting the community as more people struggle financially.

“For that cabbage, we now spending $31,000 more for the cabbage than we were a year ago,” Pulling said. “Like how do we meet this high need? Higher need than we’ve ever seen before with fewer resources.”

SAN JOSE — Alexandar Georgiev was traded on a Monday and he was in net for his new team barely more than 72 hours later.

It’s just a blur of logistics and text messages for anyone who gets traded in the middle of an NHL season. So much to figure out in such a short period of time.

Georgiev spent two-plus seasons as the starting goaltender for the Colorado Avalanche. Then, in an instant, he wasn’t. During all of the welcomes, goodbyes and “OK, what do I need to focus on next?” conversations, Georgiev did have some time to reflect on what just happened.

“I thought about it the evening after I got traded,” Georgiev told The Denver Post on Wednesday, a day before his new team, the San Jose Sharks, will face his former club. “The number that stood out for me was probably 95 wins in two years and two months. That’s a lot of good hockey.”

The Avalanche acquired Georgiev shortly after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. Colorado has an established pattern of not expending a lot of salary cap space on its goaltenders, so after Darcy Kuemper helped the club to a championship and earned a big contract, it was with someone else.

The Avs signed Georgiev to a three-year contract. For the first two seasons, he provided a strong return on investment. Great first season, up-and-down second year, but a strong finish during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Then, in his contract year, things went off the rails. Georgiev started poorly, improved his play and then had more stumbles. His last two starts for the Avs were a snapshot of this season — pulled in the first period in Buffalo, then lights-out great in Detroit.

Colorado overhauled the positions in 10 days, first trading backup Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood, then flipping Georgiev, Nikolai Kovalenko and a second-round pick to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood and Givani Smith.

“Yeah, honestly not too much emotions, I would say,” Georgiev said. “It just happened. Management just made decisions. You do your job. They do theirs. You have to accept it.

“Obviously I was planning to keep going, to help get us in a playoff spot and fight for the (Stanley) Cup. But this is how it developed and I’m excited for a new chapter here.”

When the Avs made the second trade, Georgiev was ranked 79th out of 80 goaltenders in goals saved above expected, according to Money Puck. He has shown the ability to snap back from a deep funk before — just refer to the end of last season and Game 1 of the playoffs in Winnipeg, followed by his work the rest of that postseason. But Colorado’s decision-makers decided it was time to move on.

Georgiev has made two starts for the Sharks — a win in St. Louis three days after the trade, and a last-minute loss Tuesday night to Winnipeg.

“(Georgiev) has been good,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “He competes in there. He’s quick. I think he made some big saves when we needed them (Tuesday night). They had some really good chances before the tying goal and they could have easily gone up earlier than that. I thought he gave us a chance to win.”

This will be a new challenge for Georgiev. The Sharks have rebounded from a horrible start and appear to have a young, fun team on the rise. But that rise isn’t really expected to kick into high gear for another year or two. There are probably going to be some long nights and a lot of shots to face.

They also have a clear-cut goalie of the future. Yaroslav Askarov, just up from the AHL, was sitting about 15 feet to Georgiev’s left in the Sharks’ locker room after practice. Also in the room was Evgeni Nabokov, one of the greatest Russian goalies ever and part of San Jose’s front office.

Just like Blackwood, the future is very uncertain for Georgiev. Both goalies can be unrestricted free agents after this season. Georgiev should have a chance to rebuild his value with the Sharks, and getting to work with both Nabokov and Askarov could help determine if his future can be in San Jose.

The future is what’s most important now. There will be more time to reflect on the past once the future is settled.

“A lot of positivity,” Georgiev said of how he’d sum up his time in Denver. “It was a great group of guys. That was so awesome. The expectations were so high. That’s what I loved about it. It felt like we were fighting for something special. It’s all about the final goal, the Cup there. That was a lot of fun. I learned a ton.

“Winning is so much fun. Being in a position with a really, really good team and having that opportunity every night is just incredible. I’m happy I got to experience that, and I will experience that on another team again.”

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