Aaron Gordon’s return to form is one of the biggest swing factors hanging over Denver as the team heads toward the 2026 season.
Gordon’s 2025-26 campaign never really got off the ground. He was limited to 33 regular-season games, then appeared in only three games in the Nuggets’ six-game first-round loss to the Timberwolves.
Even then, he was never fully available for long, reaching 30 minutes just once while dealing with calf tightness. After a one-day camp, though, Gordon said he’s in a much better place physically and mentally.
“ I did a lot of soul-searching [this offseason] and training, so I got my mind right and my body right,” he said, per DNVR Nuggets (Twitter video link). “ I’m ready to go.”
He also explained why the Nuggets’ mini-camp in Puerto Rico mattered to him, saying the point was to push the group outside its usual routine. Gordon was also asked about Peyton Watson’s departure, and he made it clear the relationship went far beyond basketball.
“ That’s my dawg, but it’s deeper than basketball with Peyton and I, ” he said. “ Our families members go to the same church, Peyton’s just like my brother.
I’m happy for him, the situation that he’s in. Obviously, we would’ve loved to have him, but it worked out the way it should’ve.
That it was supposed to.”
Denver is also banking on a veteran addition to help steady the second unit. DeMar DeRozan, now 37, arrives with the kind of scoring résumé that still makes him useful for a contender, even after several seasons without playoff basketball.
Chris Dempsey writes for Demps and Circumstance that DeRozan has stayed durable and productive as he’s aged, and could wind up leading the Nuggets in bench scoring. Dempsey adds that Denver will need enough high-level shooting around him to make the most of his work inside the paint, but DeRozan still has a real chance to close games despite questions about his three-point shooting and defense.
Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, is once again making headlines for something other than basketball. The superstar said he’s growing increasingly worn down by the attention that follows him everywhere.
“ I’m getting more and more bothered by popularity,” Jokic said recently. “ This is going to sound corny, but, I’m getting ruder to people who approach me.
Honestly, it’s tiring…Some people around me know, I don’t take pictures because it’s my time. I’ll sound rude again, but what can I do?
If people can’t understand me, I understand everything, but it’s been 11-12 years and enough is enough. I feel better when someone tells me something, like you come to the zoo and take a picture of something.”
Jokic also said he should not be viewed as a role model, a point Mark Kiszla of the Denver Gazette challenged by arguing that Jokic’s status makes him an ambassador for basketball on the international stage. Kiszla also pointed back to the period after the accidental use of an anti-gay slur in the 2018/19 season, saying Jokic appeared to grow more guarded around the media and American celebrity culture after that controversy.
The preseason gets going October 4 against the Jazz, and Vinny Benedetto of the Gazette says there are three things worth tracking before the games start to count. First, Gordon and Christian Braun’s physical progress after injuries last season.
Second, the battle for the backup point guard job, with Tyus Jones, KJ Simpson and DeRozan among the names in the mix. And third, how quickly rookies Trevon Brazile, Bryce Hopkins and 29-year-old Alpha Diallo can earn minutes when the staff needs them.
In Other News...
Aaron Gordon Just Put Denvers Rotation Crunch In The Spotlight
Aaron Gordon spent part of his basketball camp in Lakewood this week sounding like a veteran who understands the business side of the league as well as the basketball side. He talked about Peyton Watsons sign-and-trade to Cleveland, his own offseason work and recent conversations with Nikola Jokic, all while framing the move as the kind of decision a young player makes when a different situation offers more minutes and a better paycheck.
For the Nuggets, the bigger takeaway was Gordon putting a spotlight on just how crowded the roster picture already looks before training camp really gets going. After an injury-marred season, he said he feels ready to be back on the floor, but the conversation around Denver keeps circling back to who fits, who plays and how the team sorts out its depth in a season where every rotation spot may matter. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Still Face One Big Question After Peyton Watson Exit
Peyton Watsons departure in the 2026 offseason marked another reminder of how carefully the Nuggets have had to balance sentiment with roster construction. Aaron Gordon made clear he was behind Watson, stressing the bond they built and wishing him well in his new spot, even as Denver moved to keep Cameron Johnson in the name of financial flexibility and reshaped the bench by bringing in DeMar DeRozan.
Watsons exit leaves the Nuggets with a familiar kind of question, the sort that comes with any move made for cap reasons: whether the cost-cutting choice will hold up once the season starts and the rotation tightens. Denver did not stand still after the trade, but replacing a player with Watsons role and upside is never just about adding another name, and the answer may not be obvious until the group starts playing meaningful games. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Keep Facing The Same Jokic Question Nobody Can Solve
The chatter around Nikola Joki keeps surfacing because of what he means to Denver and what it would take to even imagine a deal, but the reality remains pretty simple: he has not asked out, and the Nuggets are not trying to move him. Joki has repeatedly made clear he wants to stay in Denver, which is why the trade talk has felt more like a theoretical exercise than something rooted in actual momentum.
Still, the rumor mill has a way of attaching itself to stars this big, especially when it involves a young player like San Antonios Dylan Harper and the kind of package that would have to be enormous to get anyones attention. The Spurs are in no hurry to part with Harper after his recent play, and there have been no official trade discussions reported, leaving this as one of those persistent questions around Joki that keeps hanging in the background without a real answer. [Read more 🡒]