Denver, CO
Why Nuggets Could Be Closer to a Championship Than It Seems
Since winning it all in 2023, the Denver Nuggets have been disappointing. Of course, they did their job by winning a championship, but they have failed to follow it up with any real success. In their three playoff runs since, they have been knocked out of the second round twice, and most recently, suffered a first-round exit.
Despite this, the Nuggets could be much closer to getting back into championship conversations than it would seem, even if they have a relatively quiet 2026 offseason.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are at their best
Of course, the Nuggets are built around their All-NBA duo of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Granted, there have been some conversations about the Nuggets potentially moving on from Murray, but they have already proven to be one of the best duos in the league and are unlikely to break that up.
This past season, Jokic and Murray both reached their peaks. Sure, Jokic’s production took a hit after a knee injury sidelined him for a month, but Murray had the best season of his career, by far. With both stars in the prime of their careers, it should be the perfect time for Denver to compete for another championship.
If both stars are healthy, the Nuggets are automatically in contention to be one of the Western Conference’s biggest title threats, but it all comes down to their supporting cast.
Depth upgrades?
While the Nuggets might not need to make any huge moves this offseason, improving their depth should be a priority. As the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs face off in the NBA Finals, we see how important depth is. Guys like Dylan Harper, Landry Shamet, and Jose Alvarado are all guys who have come off the bench and made an impact, and the Nuggets need that.
When healthy, the Nuggets actually had a good bench unit this past season. Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, Peyton Watson, and Spencer Jones all made an impact, but it just never came together at the right time. Not to mention, with all of their injury problems, it feels like they never had a full bench unit to lean on.
The Nuggets do not need to waste resources breaking up their core this offseason. If they can keep Jokic and Murray together, while simply reinforcing their supporting cast, there is no doubt that they can compete for a championship.
A better defensive mindset
The Nuggets had the 21st-ranked defense in the NBA this season. Despite having the league’s top offense, it could not make up for their poor defense. Granted, even their offense fell apart against a tough Minnesota Timberwolves team in the playoffs, but it is clear that teams need defense to compete for a title.
First, the Nuggets need to actually acquire better defenders. As they look to fill out their roster, they should be searching for defensive-minded role players. Even then, a better supporting cast will not do all the work. Head coach David Adelman needs to make sure his team is fully bought in on the defensive side of the ball next season.
With that, guys like Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon, barring a trade, should be stepping up defensively. If those two are not helping out on the defensive end, their spots in Denver’s lineup become more expendable.
There were far too many defensive lapses in their first-round series that led to easy paint points and open three-pointers, and while better defenders will help that, it also stems from the team’s game plan and mindset.
With some minor tweaks this offseason, again, nothing major, the Nuggets should be back to title contention next season. Unfortunately, the West is only getting tougher, with teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder running the conference, but the Nuggets have all the pieces to compete with the best.
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The return of Denver Broncos football is getting closer.
In addition to facing their AFC West rivals at home and on the road, the Broncos will also face the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, conference rival Buffalo Bills and the title-contending Los Angeles Rams at home in 2026. On the road, Denver’s opponents include the contending San Francisco 49ers and conference-rival New England Patriots.
The NFL has given Denver three prime-time games this season, with national spotlights on Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football in 2026. SNF and MNF will be available to stream on FuboTV, and TNF is available to stream on Prime. In addition to those prime-time slots, the Broncos will also play in standalone windows on Black Friday and Christmas Day.
View the team’s complete schedule with dates and times below. Note that networks for nationally televised/streamed games are in bold.
- Week 1: Monday, Sept. 14, at Chiefs (MNF), 6:15 p.m. MT, ESPN
- Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, at Jaguars, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, vs. Rams (SNF), 6:20 p.m. MT, NBC
- Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4, at 49ers, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, at Chargers, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 6: Thursday, Oct. 15, vs. Seahawks (TNF), 6:15 p.m. MT, Prime
- Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at Cardinals, 2:05 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, vs. Chiefs, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8, at Panthers, 11:00 a.m. MT, CBS
- Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 15, Bye Week
- Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, vs. Raiders, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 12: Friday, Nov. 27, vs. Steelers (Black Friday), 1:00 p.m. MT, Prime
- Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6, vs. Dolphins, 2:05 p.m. MT, Fox
- Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13, at Jets, 11:00 a.m. MT, CBS
- Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, at Raiders, 2:25 p.m. MT, CBS
- Week 16: Friday, Dec. 25, vs. Bills (Christmas), 2:30 p.m. MT, Netflix
- Week 17: Sat/Sun, Jan. 2/3, at Patriots, TBD, TBD
- Week 18: Sat/Sun, Jan. 9/10, vs. Chargers, TBD, TBD
The team’s Week 17 showdown in New England is one of four candidates to be played in a Saturday window. Additionally, dates, times and TV networks for Week 18 will be announced following Week 17. The league will schedule two Saturday games and a Sunday Night Football matchup for the final week of the regular season.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
Legend has it that there are space aliens and lizard people living in the underground tunnels at Denver International Airport (DEN). But if it’s true (and why not?), the reptilian and otherworldly beings will soon need to find a new place to hang out.
That’s because DEN airport is planning to repurpose some of its subterranean real estate into pedestrian walkways that can serve as alternatives to, and backups for, the airport’s troubled train system.
At DEN airport, trains connect the main Jeppesen Terminal to concourses A, B and C.
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Passengers may skip the train and instead stroll or ride moving walkways from the main terminal to Concourse A. But the train — officially called the Automated Guideway Transit System — is the only transportation option for getting between concourses A and B and between concourses B and C.
The original circa-1995 train system is currently undergoing a much-needed $75 million upgrade as part of the DEN’s “Vision 100” strategic plan to serve 100 million annual passengers in the next several years.
Improvements include 16 new train cars and the replacement of aging infrastructure that is prone to malfunctions. The glitches sometimes last just a few minutes, but as recently as May 2026, mechanical problems with trains forced the airport to deploy shuttle buses to move passengers between concourses.
Train to the Gates Updates: Crews have repaired the mechanical issue and trains are now fully operational. Shuttle buses from Concourse A to Concourses C are also running to help move passengers while the train operation returns to normal service. https://t.co/BZRJheqi7V
— Denver Int’l Airport (@DENAirport) May 6, 2026
Although DEN’s records show that the airport trains run glitch-free more than 99% of the time, even short outages create stress, platform gridlock and missed flights “simply because we have so many people going through our airport,” Jim Starling, DEN’s chief construction and infrastructure officer, told TPG.
Finding an alternative to DEN’s trains
Installing ziplines between concourses as alternatives to the train sounds fun but is sadly impractical. Connecting all the concourses with bridges was considered but rejected due to time and cost.
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Instead, during planning workshops, airline and DEN officials determined that the best solution was to repurpose portions of the airport’s existing underground baggage tunnels into pedestrian walkways. Those tunnels were originally built for the airport’s ill-fated automated baggage system, whose technical failures delayed DEN’s planned 1993 opening by 16 months and left sections of the tunnel network largely unused for decades.
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In a statement announcing the underground walkway plan, Denver mayor Mike Johnston called it “a big win for Denver’s travelers.” The tunnel transformation also got thumbs up from United Airlines (Denver’s largest airline customer), American Airlines and Southwest Airlines (which counts DEN as its largest operation in terms of flights).
“The addition of pedestrian walkways at DEN is a significant investment and will give our customers more options for their connecting flights,” Jonna McGrath, United’s vice president of airport operations, said.
Lisa Hingson, vice president of customer experience and innovation at Southwest, said the new pedestrian walkways would be “a tremendous addition” to recent enhancements such as TSA PreCheck Touchless ID and Touchless ID self-bag drop. “The addition of pedestrian walkways adds flexibility and reliability for our customers and improves operational resilience,” Amanda Zhang, American Airlines’ vice president of corporate real estate, said.
Making it happen
The tunnels to be converted are wide enough for two-way pedestrian traffic and currently contain some of the equipment from the old, abandoned baggage system. So that will need to come out.
“If you go down there today, what you’ll see is a lot of concrete,” Starling said. “And that’s not the environment we’d want to have for people to walk through.”
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Making pedestrian walkways out of tunnels built to move baggage would entail upgrading the floors, adding walls and appropriate HVAC systems, and possibly installing moving walkways, Starling added.
And then there’s the challenge of what Starling termed “vertical circulation” — the tricky job of getting passengers down to the tunnels from one concourse and then back up at another.
Timeline and budget
DEN airport estimates the cost of creating pedestrian tunnels at DEN to be between $300 and $700 million.
“That’s a wide range,” Starling said, “but it reflects the fact that we are at the concept level.” Once design plans are finalized, construction of the tunnels could begin as early as 2027.
And what about the lizard people?
Over the years, DEN has neither confirmed nor denied rumors of secret Illuminati, outer space aliens and, yes, lizard people making their homes in the airport’s underground tunnels. Instead, the airport has good-naturedly leaned into the mysteries and conspiracy theories with exhibitions such as “Conspiracy Theories Uncovered.”
Johnston is happy to play along. In the announcement of plans for the pedestrian walkways at DEN, he said: “And who knows… maybe along the way, travelers will finally get a closer look at the underground tunnels and decide for themselves what’s fact and what’s fiction.”
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