Examining Nuggets' Salary Cap, Decisions for 2023 NBA Free Agency After Finals Win

After Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals to win the franchise's first championship, the team will spend the summer looking to put itself in position to defend its title.

Jokić is starting his five-year, $272 million supermax extension, and basically all of the Nuggets' other key players are under contract as well. Bruce Brown could be the biggest name hitting free agency if he turns down his $6.8 million player option.

Per Spotrac, Denver is projected to be $36.7 million over the salary cap.

General manager Calvin Booth will have the taxpayer mid-level ($5 million) or bi-annual ($4.4 million) exception available to help fill out the roster. He also has $13.6 million in trade exceptions, which could be helpful in facilitating a swap.

You would assume the Nuggets will want to keep Brown, who averaged 11.5 points and 3.4 assists in 28.5 minutes per game in the regular season, if he opts out. He was a strong contributor in the playoffs as well, putting up 12 points off the bench over 20 appearances.

The 6'4" guard dropped 25 points and five rebounds in a pivotal Game 5 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the conference semifinals.

Denver doesn't have the 26-year-old's Bird rights, which could make it tough to retain him. The team will be capped at offering him 120 percent of his current salary, which would equal $7.8 million. He'd probably be able to earn more than that elsewhere.

Brown aside, the Nuggets may not look much different this fall.

A major trade can't be ruled out entirely. Maybe Booth believes a star like the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard or Washington Wizards' Bradley Beal is the missing piece alongside Jokić.

The two-time MVP is under contract for at least four more seasons, though, so there isn't a pressing need to go all in right now. A heightened level of urgency would have been more understandable if Denver failed to advance past the second round.

With Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back healthy, the Nuggets won 53 games and the championship. Success is never guaranteed, but they seem to have the pieces necessary to attain their lofty goals.