Nuggets gear up for title defense, guard against complacency as NBA scenery changes with big trades

DENVER: Nikola Jokic couldn’t take his gaze off the NBA championship trophy sitting next to his arm.

The Denver Nuggets big man stared and stared at the list of teams engraved on the shiny gold prize, before something suddenly hit him.

“They didn’t put our name on here,” he said Monday at media day.

Actually, it was — on the very front, where Jokic couldn’t quite see.

What the two-time NBA MVP and the Nuggets can see quite clearly is a path toward repeating, despite losing veteran leader/sixth-man Bruce Brown through free agency.

That’s provided, of course, they can guard against one thing — complacency.

“No one cares what you did last season,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, whose team beat Miami in five games to win the NBA title. “We had success in that moment. But that moment is gone. We have a new opportunity and challenge in front of us.”

The Nuggets certainly enjoyed the summer after winning the franchise’s first NBA crown. There were parades and parties before scattering for the offseason.

Jokic headed back to Sombor, Serbia, where he did a little bit of everything. He was spotted doing flips into a river off a rubber raft, dancing at a party with family and friends, hanging out with Aaron Gordon who paid him a visit and watching his beloved horses race.

Any chance to touch a basketball?

“A couple times,” Jokic said. “Not much.”

“No, he didn’t,” point guard Jamal Murray playfully chided.

The team simply trusts Jokic to be his triple-double self come the season. He averaged 30 points, 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists in the postseason on his way to winning the Finals MVP. It more than made up for the fact he lost out to Philly’s Joel Embiid in his bid to win a third straight NBA MVP.

“I never tell