For the second consecutive season, the Nuggets made no changes to their active roster at the NBA trade deadline.

Denver canvassed the league looking for an upgrade to its bench this week and was open to a frontcourt or backcourt acquisition, multiple league sources told The Denver Post, but the team was not able to find a suitable deal before the 1 p.m. MT deadline Thursday.

General manager Calvin Booth said the focus was “overall depth and depth at the backup center,” a position that has been occupied by DeAndre Jordan for most of the regular season. Starting power forward Aaron Gordon typically takes on a dual role as the backup five during the playoffs.

“We definitely liked some guys on the market and thought we had some traction in a couple different situations,” Booth said Thursday night. “Whether other teams just beat us out with their offers or we just didn’t feel like it was the right use of our assets, a combination of those things led us to be where we’re at right now.”

The Nuggets looked at a variety of trade options involving reserve big man Zeke Nnaji, whose salary is $8.9 million during the first season of a four-year rookie extension. But Nnaji has been largely out of the rotation despite being Denver’s fifth-highest-paid player. Denver’s trade-eligible draft capital was limited to pick swaps and a 2031 first-rounder, which will remain stashed as an asset for future moves.

“I think the best way to describe it is we either had to go big or do nothing,” Booth said, later clarifying that “a big move in my mind is like adding a significant depth piece.”

The Nuggets briefly discussed the possibility of trading for Zach LaVine in December, sources said, a large-scale move that would have required Michael Porter Jr. to be the centerpiece of an outgoing package. But they moved on from deals involving Porter early, instead targeting back-of-rotation enhancements.

“I think we liked everything that was happening in our rotation, so we weren’t close to doing anything with anybody in our rotation,” Booth said. “It was gonna be some of the guys that are outside of it, like Dario (Saric) and Zeke. And using some of our draft assets to bolster our lineup as opposed to moving a bigger (salary) guy like Mike (Porter Jr.).”

As the deadline passed, Denver was half a game back of third-place Houston in the Western Conference standings, in the midst of a four-game win streak.

“Calvin was updating me, but my focus has been on just our guys, our team,” coach Michael Malone said. “Calvin, the front office, Josh, they can worry about all the trade deadline stuff, and when important conversations and decisions need to be had, we’ll have those. But there was nothing that was imminent. And this is our group. I’m happy that we have the same group, and that we can go out there and continue to battle the way we have been lately.”

When Malone was asked Wednesday night if he thought the team had everything it needed, he said, “I think it’s been so hard to tell this year, because how often have we been fully healthy? How many games has Aaron Gordon missed? And then he gets back, and now Peyton (Watson) is out. And then Russ (Westbrook) is out. … But I like how we’re playing. We’ve shown we can beat and compete with anybody in this league as currently constructed.”

When three-time MVP center Nikola Jokic was asked the same question, he responded with a firm “yes.” The team has not made a significant trade deadline move since acquiring Gordon in 2021. Its most recent mid-season change to the roster was in 2023, when Bones Hyland and Davon Reed were shipped off in a deal that brought Thomas Bryant to Denver. The Nuggets also signed Reggie Jackson off the buyout market that season. They currently don’t have an open roster spot to pursue an addition on the buyout market, and as a first-apron team, they cannot sign a player who’s been bought out if his previous salary exceeds the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which is $12.8 million this season.

“It was an option. Do we go get a guy on the trade market, or do we just get below (the first apron) and try to get one of these guys that’s potentially gonna on the buyout market that made above a certain number?” Booth said.

Booth didn’t rule out the possibility of Denver still pursuing a cheaper buyout candidate, saying “I think ownership is open to any conversation,” but he also acknowledged that “there were some impact guys that moved (in trades) that were way better than guys on the buyout market.”