For the Nuggets, a lot has changed in six weeks. On Dec. 8, they woke up in Atlanta after suffering an inexcusable defeat the night before in Washington, where their last lead of the game was 4-2. The Wizards snapped a 16-game losing streak. Denver was 11-10 and exhausted, with a road back-to-back to finish against the high-flying Hawks. Nikola Jokic in particular had a million miles on him at the one-quarter mark of the season. He was averaging 37.7 minutes, and a career-high 56 points had gone to waste against the Wizards, adding insult to injury. Trade season couldn’t arrive soon enough, but was there any one trade that could fix the Nuggets? On Jan. 24, as they embarked on another long road trip to the east, they were 28-16, including a 17-6 stretch since that nadir in Washington. Jokic has averaged a more reasonable 34 minutes in January. Denver possessed the seventh-best record in the NBA as of Friday, sitting 1.5 games back from the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Trade winds have calmed, as the front office hoped they would in December. Questions about the roster can be more ambitious now, like in past seasons. The Nuggets are clearly a contender to make a deep playoff run, but are they good enough to hang with the league’s best, such as Oklahoma City, Cleveland and Boston, in a seven-game series? And if they do try to pull off a deal before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, what type of player should general manager Calvin Booth target with his limited options? With the halfway point of the season in the rearview mirror, here’s an updated evaluation of the Nuggets’ potential needs. Star-caliber scoring Ever since Denver’s interest in Zach LaVine became a talking point, Jamal Murray has provided a firm reminder that he already operates in that role for the Nuggets, averaging 21 points and six assists on 47/41/92% shooting splits since the start of December. Jimmy Butler is the biggest name and certainly the loudest personality on the market this season, but while his saga has reached a stalemate in Miami, LaVine has quietly emerged as the best basketball player up for grabs. Even with the Nuggets rolling, he’s talented and versatile enough as a scorer to warrant consideration, especially if Chicago is agreeable to the idea of taking on Zeke Nnaji’s contract as salary-filler alongside Michael Porter Jr. But that seems unlikely as LaVine becomes an increasingly popular trade target, while back in Denver, Murray’s recent efficiency should render big-game hunting less of a priority. Playoff-worthy frontcourt depth Dario Saric has faded into the bench after signing with the Nuggets for the taxpayer mid-level exception, but the team’s persistent backup center conundrum somehow feels mercifully less urgent than it was a month ago. DeAndre Jordan is to thank. That loss to the Wizards ironically marked the beginning of his sustained presence in the lineup, slowly stabilizing Jokic’s rest minutes. Jordan had been in and out of the rotation up until then, not appearing in the previous three games. But after Washington, he continued to play every night, and the Nuggets won or tied his minutes 11 times in the next 22 games. Their net rating with Jokic off the floor during that stretch was minus-2.2. If that sounds bad, it’s not. In the first 21 games this season, they were minus-18.5 without Jokic. Jordan is not the All-NBA center he once was, but he has shown that he can still suffice as a patchwork backup big during the regular season. In the playoffs, he’s generally Michael Malone’s “break glass in case of emergency” card, while the Nuggets have entrusted Aaron Gordon with the unenviable task of playing the five in bench lineups. There is a robust market of big men worth examining this trade season, with cap figures that fit the Nuggets’ price range for a Nnaji trade. (They would have to sweeten the deal with their 2031 first-round pick, or other players, or both.) Chicago’s Jalen Smith has an $8.6 million salary. Portland’s Robert Williams III makes $12.4 million. Atlanta’s Larry Nance Jr. makes $11.2 million. Jonas Valanciunas signed a contract with Washington last summer that seemed designed to be traded ($9.9 million). But will the Nuggets want to spend their dwindling draft capital to acquire a form of depth that they might be able to survive without? Reminder, they’ll also have first-round pick DaRon Holmes back from injury next season. Floor-spacing off the bench On the surface, all is well. The Nuggets continue to make the most of their league-low 31.1 outside shots per game. They rank third in 3-point efficiency at 38.5%. But it’s worth wondering whether that figure is built on a house of cards. It might even be worth anticipating some degree of regression. As encouraging as it is that Gordon (40.7%), Russell Westbrook (34%, 48.3% from the corners) and Peyton Watson (34.1%, 44.9% from the corners) have exceeded expectations from the 3-point line, opponents might count on them to backslide in high-leverage playoff situations. The same might even be said for Jokic (47.1%), who shot 26.4% on 4.4 attempts per game last postseason. If the Nuggets can add another established shooter to the rotation without sacrificing Michael Porter Jr. — or if they can turn Porter into two — it would bolster their ability to space the floor and punish defenses that shrink on them. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. It might be difficult for Booth to find options in the price range that don’t require Porter to be involved. Atlanta has compelling candidates in De’Andre Hunter and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but they make $21.7 million and $17.3 million, respectively. Could the Hawks be convinced to combine them in a deal for MPJ, an elite volume shooter and longtime friend of Trae Young? Chris Boucher could make sense. The 6-foot-9 forward is shooting 36% and getting paid $10.8 million in Toronto this season. With positional size and some defensive versatility, the 32-year-old fits more than one category on this list. Perimeter defense The Nuggets finished the 2023-24 regular season with the fifth-best offensive rating and eighth-best defensive rating in the NBA. They were one of only three teams to rank top eight on both ends of the floor. That’s why it was so shocking when they went out in the second round. So far this season, Denver is fourth in offense but 16th in defense. 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If the Raptors buy him out — a possibility, according to a report by Jake Fischer — perhaps he could be open to a reunion. But for the Nuggets to even be allowed to sign him, they would have to get their payroll under the first apron, requiring a salary-dump trade of Nnaji’s contract. His cap hit is $8.9 million. Denver is $5.6 million above the threshold. There are other, more direct trade avenues for players without as much recent injury baggage. But the bottom line is Denver is relying heavily on young players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. If there’s one area where the Nuggets could use reinforcements, it’s at the defensive end of the floor. Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.