Nikola Jokic got these jokers paid, and by way of thanks, his overrated Nuggets teammates got their coach and general manager fired.

Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon should be ashamed of themselves. With prime seats on the three-time MVP’s bandwagon, Jokic drove them all to the promised land of big, shiny rings and big, fat contracts.

While feisty Michael Malone and aloof Calvin Booth took the fall for a team that lost its championship mojo, the most overvalued starting five in the NBA has been the No. 1 problem facing Denver all season long.

No amount of money can turn Murray, Porter or Gordon into legit NBA all-stars.

But which of these guys can really be trusted to do right by Jokic and basketball diehards of the Mile High City when push comes to shove?

Finding out is what these playoffs need to be all about. Chasing a championship is secondary for the Nuggets, who need a fresh approach to roster construction and maximizing Jokic’s prime, no matter how far Denver advances in the postseason.

The Nuggets have fooled themselves into believing they have the strongest starting five in the NBA. On any given night, the offensive metrics can convince us there might be some validity to that arrogant notion.

But does anyone else have the sneaking suspicion the basketball IQ and unicorn skill set of Jokic inflates the efficiency of his teammates, in much the same way quarterback Payton Manning made receivers from Indianapolis to Denver look better than they actually were?

Even more impressive than the 164 triple doubles during the regular season in his career is the Jokic bump he gives to teammates.

Murray can be positively fearless in the clutch. MPJ owns a picture-perfect shooting stroke. Gordon unselfishly does dirty work that contributes to winning. But is it unreasonable to argue all of them would be lesser players without Jokic on their side?

“With Nikola on our team, we’re always going to be one of the teams to beat. We’re always going to be at the top,” young Nuggets guard Christian Braun said. “And you’re always going to have a target on your back, especially since you’ve won (the championship) in the last couple of years.”

As a first-year starter, Braun has earned the trust of Jokic, who calls him a winner. But we also know Jokic needs more support from teammates like Braun, whose current cap hit is $3.1 million.

Thinking chronic discord between Malone and Booth was this team's most troublesome issue would be a delusional mistake. The Nuggets’ payroll has grown unsustainably top heavy.

Let’s examine the salary cap hits of the starting lineup for the top seven seeds in the rugged Western Conference.

No. 1: Oklahoma City, $98.1 million

No. 2: Houston, $92.2 million

No. 3: L.A. Lakers, $124.2 million

No. 4: Denver, $149.2 million

No. 5: L.A. Clippers, $119.0 million

No. 6: Minnesota, $151.9 million

No. 7: Golden State, $138 million

Only the Timberwolves, constructed by our old pal Tim Connelly, get less bang for the buck than Denver. But four of the Minnesota starters have been an all-star at least once.

Although a 68-14 regular-season record earned the Thunder its standing as the prohibitive favorite to win the West, it remains to be seen if 26-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, 24, possess the emotional maturity to skip grades in the playoffs’ school of hard knocks.

The Lakers and Warriors are legit threats to mess with the chalk in this tournament because both teams are led by not one, but two surefire Hall of Famers.

With Kawhi Leonard flashing signs of the otherworldly talent that led San Antonio and Toronto to championships, if he can actually stay healthy, the Nuggets are in for a first-round battle royale. Either Leonard or Clippers teammate James Harden is capable of supplanting Jokic as the most dominant player on the court with a game's outcome in doubt.

“From that championship year (in 2023), some teams have built their teams to compete with us,” Porter said.

The mystery surrounding how the Nuggets might use their playoff experience to stare down those young guns in the OKC corral, whether they could outscore Luka Doncic and LeBron James in a shootout with the Lakers or how Denver might match up defensively with Jimmy Butler as the running mate of Steph Curry in Golden State is what makes the Western Conference bracket so fascinating.

But no team must answer more questions than a team giving David Adelman a trial run as head coach.

The Nuggets are no longer the defending champs or the hot young team on the rise.

Going forward, who are these guys?