John Hollinger came away impressed with how Denver handled a tricky offseason, even if the headline result was losing Peyton Watson in free agency.
The Nuggets couldn’t realistically keep Watson without dragging themselves into a massive luxury tax hit, but Hollinger praised the way the front office salvaged value from the situation. In the sign-and-trade that sent the restricted free agent wing to Cleveland, Denver picked up the Cavaliers’ 2031 first-rounder. That matters because it gives the Nuggets a more useful “most favorable” 2031 pick to move later on, while their own 2031 first had been off limits under the Stepien rule.
Hollinger also flagged a few other low-key offseason moves he liked, including the Pistons’ roster changes and the Rockets’ additions in the backcourt.
Elsewhere around the league and beyond, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report took a look at the NBA’s most difficult salary cap situations for 2026/27 and beyond. He put Denver first on that list, with the Magic, Clippers, Lakers, and Cavaliers rounding out his top five. His rankings factored in draft capital as well, since teams short on picks have fewer ways to unload bad money.
On the international side, EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno told Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that the league still had not received a formal NBA proposal for a possible collaboration or merger as of late last week. Bueno said the EuroLeague and its team owners would welcome a real offer and “evaluate it carefully,” adding, “(EuroLeague and NBA officials) have both publicly stated that we believe collaboration is the best way to grow basketball in Europe,” Bueno said, “and I think there is a shared understanding that the European basketball ecosystem can create more value by working together rather than fragmenting the market.”
There’s also movement involving the Buss family. According to Aris Barkas of Eurohoops, Joey Buss and Jesse Buss have an exclusive negotiating window through the end of November to buy ASVEL, the French club owned by former NBA star Tony Parker. Reporting in August said the brothers were already discussing an investment in the team, which has been dealing with financial difficulties this year.
And in The Houston Chronicle, Varun Shankar examined a different kind of pipeline: the G League as a training ground for NBA executives. His piece highlighted several young front-office figures who have climbed into general manager roles at the NBAGL level.
In Other News...
Cam Whitmore Could Change How Nuggets Fans View The Peyton Watson Trade
The Peyton Watson trade left plenty of Nuggets fans uneasy, since Watson still looked like the kind of young, homegrown piece Denver could have built around for years. But the story has taken an unexpected turn with Cam Whitmore, another former first-round pick who was part of the larger deal and now gives the Nuggets a fresh developmental swing. Whitmore arrives on a two-way contract, which keeps the risk low while giving Denver a chance to see whether his talent can translate into real help down the line.
For a team that has had to balance contending right now with keeping an eye on the future, that matters. Whitmore is still more projection than certainty, and no one is pretending his presence makes up for what fans felt they lost when Watson moved on. Still, if he develops into a useful rotation player, the trade will look a lot less painful in hindsight, and Nuggets supporters may end up viewing the whole sequence a little differently. [Read more 🡒]
DeMar DeRozan Could Change How Nuggets Fans View This Offseason
The Nuggets spent most of the offseason boxed in by salary cap realities, which made every move feel more about survival than splash. They brought back Tyus Jones, dealt Peyton Watson to help manage luxury tax costs, and generally had little wiggle room to reshape the roster in a meaningful way.
Then came DeMar DeRozan, a veteran scorer whose game gives Denver another layer it had been missing. His arrival should make the offense more versatile and add the sort of seasoned presence the Nuggets have been trying to preserve, which is why this summer may look a lot different if his fit proves as useful as it appears on paper. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Camp Could Decide Two Crucial Bench Roles
Denver enters training camp with the same basic shape that carried it into contention, but the real intrigue is on the second unit. The starting group is mostly set, which only makes the bench competition more important for a team that knows it needs more reliable depth to keep its title hopes on track.
Lonnie Walker IV is part of that fight after signing a non-guaranteed deal, while DaRon Holmes is trying to turn a secure roster place into a meaningful rotation role after returning from injury. Both have a clear path to matter if camp goes well, and for Denver, those battles could end up shaping not just the final roster, but how workable the bench looks when the season begins. [Read more 🡒]