Jamal Murray's torn ACL is the most heartbreaking news for the Nuggets and NBA fans

It was starting to feel like this might be the year for the Denver Nuggets to make a title run, with Nikola Jokic playing like an MVP who is nearly averaging a triple-double, new addition Aaron Gordon fitting in exactly how he was expected to after a trade from the Orlando Magic and — perhaps most importantly — Jamal Murray breaking through after last year’s amazing playoff run.

Now, not ALL of that has been put to a stop given the team’s depth. But with the news that Murray tore an ACL in his knee — something everyone feared after seeing him go down on Monday night clutching his left knee in the Nuggets’ loss to the Golden State Warriors — it’s a HUGE blow, and not just to this season.

With Gordon on board, the Nuggets lost twice since March 28. They had figured a lot out — Gordon fit in immediately on both ends of the floor, the light went on for Michael Porter Jr., and the two-man game between Jokic and Murray was beautiful:

Murray:

Jamal was a steady force for the Nuggets, dropping 23 on 68 TS% along with 8 dimes. In the 1st half he relied more on his two man game with Jokic and passed out of it often but in the 2nd half he turned it on. Closed out the Blazers almost single handily pic.twitter.com/8iH8RBNngK

— Thrawn (@CubeHoops) April 12, 2021

i also wrote about aaron gordon's fit in denver, which is perfect.

this play is kinda random but the way jamal murray uses his eyebrows to signal when gordon should cut to screen jokic's man (and force a switch) is awesome. love this team: https://t.co/h3yAb3usQp pic.twitter.com/Z01OiLAsQm

— Michael Pina (@MichaelVPina) April 7, 2021

At 24, Jamal Murray has quickly become one of the most versatile and efficient young scorers in the league. Get well soon. pic.twitter.com/kdYPcN0C4e

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) April 13, 2021

The team with Murray at the point was FUN, and they had shot at winning a Western Conference that felt much more wide open than usual — are the Lakers going to contend if they’re not the top seed when LeBron and the Brow come back? Are the Jazz for real? Are the Suns too young? Are the Clips going to fall short in the postseason again? They were, for sure, contenders, and ones fans of non-contending teams could latch on to in the postseason.

Without Murray? I wonder if Monte Morris — he had 21 points against the Spurs last Friday — can pick up a little bit of the slack. But we’re getting close to the postseason and he’d need some time to gel. Could Michael Malone fiddle with a lineup that has Gordon running the point? Whatever the best solution is, it’s all heartbreaking if the Nuggets fall short.

And unfortunately, this could be a bigger problem for the franchise down the road given what could be a cap squeeze soon:

Murray will prob miss next season too, which means the Nuggets will have to deal with the MPJ extension and re-signing Aaron Gordon before he’s back.

Hard to believe they’ll keep Jokic + Murray + MPJ + Gordon at market value. Nuggets best title window may be over https://t.co/VskhBaxRfZ

— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) April 13, 2021

Awful. All around. Get well soon, Jamal.