The Nuggets need to do the right thing and cut ties with Isaiah Thomas, until a proud athlete’s fall from legit MVP candidate to being a sad prop at the end of Denver’s bench becomes any more painfully awkward to watch.

Yes, this really is a bummer deal. The Nuggets were hoping for a miracle, backed by a $2 million investment, in the opinion Thomas could recover from a serious hip injury that wrecked his once-brilliant career.

But all the shine in his game is gone, Denver coach Michael Malone has no place for Thomas in the playing rotation and $2 million isn’t nearly enough money to warrant keeping him around as a reluctant team mascot. This is embarrassing for all concerned.

The Nuggets have decreased Thomas to a trivia question, a little cheesy, amusement to keep the audience distracted during a break in the action. With Denver beating Minnesota on the night I.T. was advised to have a seat on the end of the bench, a kid was plucked from the stands during a timeout to play with a “Who am I? ” competition. Clues were revealed, Jeopardy-style, on the jumbo scoreboard display suspended over midcourt.

The hints started with a reminder of what point guard was chosen with the final pick of the 2011 NBA draft and ended with the titles of I.T.’s three children. As the trivia contestant scanned his mind in the hope of winning a prize, Thomas sat on the bench and craned his neck at his personal history, recorded in large, block letters on the scoreboard.

For those keeping score at home, the kid won. And that trivia answer was close to getting in the game as Thomas got.

Although he stands just 5 feet, 9 inches tall, Thomas is too large for the Nuggets to hide in plain sight, because on a national level, the broken-down point guard remains a bigger brand name than any of his teammates, such as rising star Nikola Jokic.

But after grading I.T.’s functionality in just nine games since his return from injury, the Nuggets have determined the minuses of Thomas outweigh the plusses, the exact sad conclusion reached by the Cavaliers and Lakers during the past 14 months.

Now there’s no need to ride the stationary bike near the court to warm up, as has been I.T.’s habit because he’s banished to the seat ’s final seat. Resigned to his fate, Thomas even removed his trademark headband as he watched Denver rout Minnesota.

Yes, this stinks. We all love a sweet comeback story. All that’s left for Thomas, however, is to put on a fantastic face as well as a $2 million cheerleader.

It’s a charade that would be absurd to keep for the long haul, particularly if the Nuggets advance deep in the playoffs, dragging around I.T. like 185 pounds of excess baggage, full of scrapbooks of fading photographs snapped before Thomas got hurt, like the time he scored 53 points to lead Boston to victory against Washington during the 2017 playoffs.

While the veteran point guard bobs his head to the beat of songs in the Pepsi Center, Thomas has gone with the press, declining interviews, because he doesn’t want to disclose what’s on his troubled mind.

Could it be insensitive to imply that if I.T. was tough enough to average 28.9 points per game for the Celtics two decades ago, he ought to be professional enough now to face the music and answer a few questions during the challenging times?

However, I get it. At this point, the Book of Isaiah makes for sad reading. And Thomas wants to prevent reading anything which makes him more miserable.

I know this is true. How? Although I.T. has dropped his burst off the dribble and is a liability on defense, he still has enough skills to obstruct me, a slow old scribe.

After this headline appeared last week in The Post: “Is it time the Nuggets finish the Isaiah Thomas experiment? ” with my name attached, I was blocked from Thomas’ Twitter account, no longer worthy of being among his followers.

That is no big deal, other than to reveal just how much I.T. truly cares about the sorry current state of his basketball affairs.

Thomas slipped out of the locker room Thursday morning, in active avoidance of the TV cameras’ warmth, trying to be as imperceptible as the ghost of the elite player whose body betrayed him.

Hey, didn’t you was I.T., the NBA’s feisty little lion king?

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Now, as Thomas headed for the exit on match day, he was just an athlete on the wrong side of age 30, hurting both physically and emotionally, hiding his pain beneath a black hoodie, which had these words emblazoned on one sleeve: Respect the match.

Thomas has earned too much respect on the court to be a silly $2 million prop on the end of Denver’s bench.

Shake his hand, offer sincere thanks for trying to beat the odds and cut ties with him.

Then let Thomas walk away with what’s left of his dignity.

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