After running MVP Nikola Jokic into the ground during a doomed-to-fail attempt to defend their championship, the Nuggets would be crazy to run it all back next season and expect a better result.

In the dark, thin hours of Monday morning, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke sat sick and tired in a London hotel room and watched on his iPad as Denver blew a 20-point lead to Minnesota and got bounced from the NBA playoffs.

“Being by yourself in a hotel room 7,000 miles away was pretty brutal,” Kroenke said. He suffered through a lost weekend of globetrotting in the name of his family’s sports empire, as the Avs were eliminated from the NHL playoffs and Arsenal fell just short of top-ranked Manchester City in the final English Premier League standings.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but unless the Nuggets are bold enough to shake up their starting five and embrace a change in philosophy, the only thing this team is going to repeat next year is playoff frustration.

“We think we still have the best starting five in basketball,” said Kroenke, whistling through the darkness of a team stuck in salary-cap hell. He then suggested all these Nuggets need in order to regain their form as a legit championship contender is a long summer nap. “We aren’t that far off.”

OK, I don’t mind admitting a deep professional respect for Kroenke, whom I’ve watched grow from college athlete to savvy executive over the course of 23 years. And as much as anybody, I want to see Jokic back on parade, with another championship ring to wave in the face of Shaquille O’Neal and all his doubters.

So I say this with love: The Nuggets need to stop with this pollyanna, everything-is-gonna-be-all-right nonsense. With 16 victories required to win the playoffs, simple math tells us a team that exits with seven wins is not even halfway close to claiming the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Oklahoma City is on the rise. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards appears to be the league’s next big thing. And it’s only a matter of time before San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama becomes Jokic’s fiercest MVP rival. The competition in the wild, wild Western Conference will stop at nothing – and in the case of Dallas, that includes blatantly tanking a year ago to upgrade its roster with center Dereck Lively through a draft-day trade – to take down Denver.

The Nuggets need to get real. Reclaim a hunter’s mentality. Get aggressive again. Be unafraid of risk. So where do they begin?

Well, we all love the defense and unselfish nature of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But it’s time we wave a fond goodbye. The 31-year-old guard has got to go.

It’s a near certainty KCP will exercise his right to opt out of the final year of his contract in Denver. And it’s nearly as certain he wouldn’t consider leaving town if his reps didn’t already have solid reasons to believe Caldwell-Pope can find significantly more dough than the $15.44 million salary the Nuggets are scheduled to pay him.

Rather than retain KCP and get shackled worse by salary-cap restrictions that could further hinder Denver from improving its roster through free agency, trade or the draft, the Nuggets would be wise to let him walk and give his job as starting shooting guard to Christian Braun.

As a potential starter, does Braun’s defensive prowess and ability to finish at the rim offset his shaky jump shot? More importantly, would Nuggets coach Michael Malone trust Braun with increased responsibility?

“I love C.B. His toughness, tenacity, aggression,” said Malone, who regards the University of Kansas alum as a winner with one obvious flaw.

“For Christian Braun, it’s all going to come down to one thing. To be a shooting guard in the NBA, you’ve got to be able to make shots. That’s the bottom line.”

Granting young players room to blossom is where Malone can grow as a coach in his 10th season on the Denver bench. During the second half of Game 7 against Minnesota, with the Nuggets dead on their feet, maybe a jolt of energy from Peyton Watson could’ve infused life into the reeling champs.

Malone, however, had already made up his mind to rely on over-the-hill veterans Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday, who each went scoreless in the back-to-back playoff losses that ended the Nuggets’ reign.

In what remains of the best years in Jokic’s basketball life, Denver has a choice: Adapt and evolve. Or stand pat and hope for the best.

There’s already too much money invested in a starting five that Malone loved to death. Somebody’s got to go.

And if it’s not Caldwell-Pope?

Then the Nuggets need to make an even bolder move, by shopping Michael Porter Jr. at a time when his trade value is solid and his health will never be better.