The Washington Wizards had lost 16 in a row and had the worst record in the NBA, and Nikola Jokic scored 56 points with 16 rebounds – and the Nuggets still lost. Denver trailed almost the entire game.

This is just the latest for Denver, which has lost 4 of 6 and is now 11-10 on the season. If the playoffs began today, the 2023 NBA champions would have to win two games to get out of the play-in and into the field of eight – even though Jokic is playing at an MVP level. After the loss to the Wizards, Jokic was asked what this team needs to get back on track.

Nobody cuts salary on guaranteed contracts (that was a joke), and benching a player suggests you have someone better behind him who can step up, and the Nuggets’ strength is already the problem (they have seven rotation players at the NBA level).

Michael Malone throws a lot of stuff against the wall to see what sticks, but that’s the reality of the roster that Calvin Booth has put together (and the limitations he faces when building the roster from the owners). Denver has a little room under the second frontcourt, but its moves are limited – it can’t take back more money in a trade, it can’t sign a player on the buyout market who has made more than the middle exception – the biggest So part of the improvement has to come from the locker room. There are game impressions from people like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. that are reminiscent of the championship run, but they are completely inconsistent. That’s exactly what the Nuggets are right now.

And even Jokic is looking for answers.