When the Nuggets entered this season, sources told ESPN that there was growing tension between Malone and Booth that grew into a “cold war.” Since the team won the championship, the Nuggets have gone with younger role players such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson around the team’s core of Jokic, Murray and Aaron Gordon. Veterans such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown left in previous summers during free agency to sign bigger deals elsewhere.