Just a few short years ago, the NBA was all about buying immediate talent. We saw the formation of super teams popping up across the league, with teams mortgaging their futures to obtain big-name players and superstars. These organizations were in complete “win now” mode and did not have the patience to deal with any sort of failure. Few franchises gave any thought to the future; one team that did, however, was the soon-to-be NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets.

Instead of turning to free agency or the trade market to acquire established players, Denver decided to build through the draft. Of course, this tactic is not fool-proof as it requires a team to hit big on a few selections. Thankfully for Nuggets fans, their franchise did just that, landing Jamal Murray with the seventh pick in the 2016 draft, taking a chance on Michael Porter Jr. with the 14th pick in 2018, and selecting future MVP Nikola Jokic with their 41st overall pick back in 2014. These players are now three of their top four talents, with Jokic and Murray leading the way in Denver’s most recent championship run.

While the Nuggets were busy drafting their future and developing their players, the rest of the league descended into mayhem. Hall of Fame players bounced around like ping-pong balls trying to form superteams. Front offices were throwing away numerous first rounds of picks in trades just to bring in average-level talent. Coaches were fired if they didn’t deliver a championship, regardless of how well they actually led their squad. It seemed like every team was in a mad dash to the Larry O’Brien trophy, and they didn’t care how much money they had to spend or how dark their future was as long as they had big-name stars with a shot at the NBA Finals. And while this go-for-glory approach sounds great in theory, it didn’t work out for almost every team that tried it.

The Kawhi Leonard and Paul George Clippers have failed to mount a serious title challenge due to constant injuries and changing lineups. The big three Brooklyn Nets disbanded after only a year and a half. The Phoenix Suns, who gave away half of their total assets to trade for Kevin Durant, were just bounced out of the second round in six games (funnily enough, by the Denver Nuggets). James Harden and Joel Embiid have failed to make the conference finals for the second year in a row. Even though these teams all have/had immense talent on paper, none of them have panned out due to various reasons.

And during these years of turmoil and frustration for organizations that were expecting a championship, the Denver Nuggets were slowly but surely building and growing. After a conference final run in the bubble in 2020 that fell short at the hands of the Lakers, Denver could have easily blown the team up and made big changes. When Jamal Murray tore his ACL a year later, the front office could have looked to trade him for a healthy player or two. Despite two MVP seasons from Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets fell short in the 2021 and 2022 playoffs, which could have been cause for massive roster retooling around their star player. Certainly, many other front offices would have shaken things up in a big way during this time.

But the Nuggets didn’t panic and instead showed great patience, poise, and trust in their personnel. They kept Michael Malone as their head coach year after year. They waited calmly for Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to get healthy again. Instead of trading for a big name, they brought in the sneaky-good Aaron Gordon. They signed role players Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown to team-friendly deals. And all of a sudden, Denver became the frontrunners in the west, a position they would not relinquish all season long on their way to their first-ever NBA championship.

So what’s the lesson in all this? What should other GMs and front offices take away from the legendary run they just witnessed the Denver Nuggets achieve? Well, after this season, teams should realize that building a winner in the NBA doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years upon years of steady progression, adjustments, and most importantly, patience. When things don’t go your way, which happens all the time in the game of basketball, you can’t overreact and set your franchise back even further. What you should do is take your time, evaluate the situation, and make smart moves accordingly. The Denver Nuggets didn’t win a championship by chasing stars, making flashy signings, or hanging their heads when a season didn’t end how they wanted it to. The Nuggets are the perfect example of how to build a team of players who complement each other, play team basketball, and are willing to do whatever it takes to win a game. Their success has been a long time in the making, even though it may not look like that from the outside. And unless other teams learn their lesson and take a page out of Denver’s playbook, the Nuggets are sure to keep finding success for years to come.