But frontman Gavin Briggs said the group was not in a position to go it alone in 2009.
The beleaguered franchise lost its battle to stay in the National Basketball League (NBL) when Basketball Otago (BBO) pulled the cash-strapped franchise out of the league yesterday.
The Nuggets had been given an extension until 5pm yesterday to pay the first instalment of the NBL fee. However, BBO chief executive Mark Rogers said it would not be fiscally responsible to enter a team.
"The board and the management wouldn't have made the decision if we didn't think it was the best option," Rogers explained.
"Obviously it is a disappointing result. Everybody was very passionate about having the Nuggets on the floor but there are financial realities which we need to work within. The board and the management wouldn't be doing our jobs if we were fiscally irresponsible with entering a team we couldn't sustain."
Rogers said the board met representatives of the Save The Nuggets group on Thursday night, to discuss "what they were able put together".
In a letter yesterday morning, BBO offered to transfer the franchise to the group, which had secured $95,000 in funding in little over a week.
However, Briggs said the group was unable to take up the option.
"We received a letter saying their decision was the same and gave us an option to take over the Nuggets for the 2009 season. But, basically, we did not have enough time, and common sense says it was never going to be an option.
"We just weren't in a position to do it ourselves. Our goal was to form a partnership with the board to keep the Nuggets on the court and in the community for 2009."
Rogers said BBO would continue to support an elite programme with the a team competing in the second division, and the organisation remained committed to re-entering the league in 2010.
"It is a one-year deal for all of the franchise that are, and are not involved in 2009. So we have to wait and see what the NBL board comes out with over the next few months in terms of what 2010 will be like, before we can say exactly what we need to do."
The Canterbury Rams have survived but the Hawkes Bay Hawks look likely to join the Nuggets on the sidelines.
The Rams were teetering but American-based owner John Watson said he was committed to entering a team in the NBL and had paid the entry fee.
A potential new Canterbury franchise had emerged, run by former Tall Black forward Andrew Gardiner.
The Canterbury Cougars reportedly had corporate backing and commitments from players.
But the survival of the Rams means the Cougars will probably not make it, unless the league decides Christchurch can sustain two teams.
The Hawks, NBL champions just two years ago, were understood to have missed the deadline to pay their entry fee last night.
