Nick was at least...semi-interested in third party shows through the early 2000s. They gave Butt Ugly Martians and Super Duper Sumos a big push, for some reason. But of course those shows were in some ways a response to the popularity of Pokémon and other action cartoons of the time. It definitely would have been interesting to see how things would be different if Nick had gotten into anime back then, but they were already wildly successful at that time and Kids’ WB probably “needed” it more.
I do recall Nick showing a few more third party shows during the early 2000s, but it was pretty minimal compared to Cartoon Network at the time. Getting Pokemon could have led Nick to rely a bit more on other third party titles, but I forgot that they also had Rugrats during this time, so that could have made them more eager to find more hits from their own properties regardless of having Pokemon airing on their channel. It still could have had an interesting impact on the channel.
It's a moot point when your only source is from well over a year ago. Even if it isn't a rumor, it's hardly confirmed with having no other updates like new cast and production crew members being announced for such a long stretch of time.Well, yes but still.