NBA legend Charles Barkley believes Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets have had one of the best offseasons in the league. He's put their work in the same echelon as the Houston Rockets and Atlanta Hawks. After falling short in the conference semis for the second consecutive season, the Nuggets swapped Michael Porter Jr. for Nets' Cam Johnson and a first-round pick.They re-signed their sixth man from the 2023 championship run, Bruce Brown, and acquired Tim Hardaway Jr., who had an excellent season with the Pistons last year. Denver also traded Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas to fill the backup center spot. The Nuggets' moves were financially beneficial, too. They cut their payroll significantly by moving Porter Jr.'s $38.3 million for four rotation players, who will make a combined $35.6 million next year. Here's what Barkley said about their offseason (via The Denver Post):"I think (the Nuggets) and the Houston Rockets have probably had the best summers (in the NBA). And (the Nuggets), they’ve got the best player in the world (in Nikola Jokic). "They just needed some more depth. They kind of broke the team up after they won the first championship (2023), and that’s really unfortunate. (They’ve) still got the best player. You want to give them as many opportunities as possible. But I thought they had a great summer."He also said that Denver had the best chance of beating the eventual champions, the OKC Thunder. Barkley believes the Nuggets also got athletic and can play better defense next season. He added that it was much-needed to match up with the Western Conference's best teams:"First of all, (the Nuggets) got terrific (additions). I think they got more athletic, which they really needed to do."The Denver Nuggets' starting lineup led by three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was rock solid, but the lack of talent on the bench was one of the major reasons why they couldn't get over the hump against OKC. Nevertheless, that could change with this year's additions.Lu Dort says Nikola Jokic and Nuggets had them worried The OKC Thunder had a near-flawless run except the conference semis, where even they weren't sure about the outcome. The Nuggets took them to seven games against the odds. In an interview with ESPN on July 2, Thunder's defensive stopper Lu Dort admitted that Nikola Jokic and Co. had them worried:"Denver Nuggets was the one that had us shaking a little bit," Dort said. "They won before and had been in that type of position."The Thunder were counted out by many as contenders because of their inexperience. However, OKC played with poise to overcome that, especially against Denver and Minnesota, who had been to the playoffs multiple times over the past four years.