The Nuggets made a clear call on Cam Johnson this offseason, and the early signs suggest they were right to stand firm.
Denver had to create room if it wanted to keep Peyton Watson and stay out of the second tax apron, and that meant someone had to go. Johnson was the obvious candidate on paper, especially with the 30-year-old forward set to make $23 million in the final year of his contract. But the front office wasn’t eager to move him.
Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reported in early September that the Nuggets “rebuffed” teams trying to get Denver to “give up draft picks along with Johnson.” That matters, because it would have been a steep price to dump a player they just brought in a year earlier, when the Nuggets sent Michael Porter Jr. and an unprotected first-round pick to Brooklyn for Johnson. Instead, Denver sent Watson to the Cavaliers and got a first-round pick back.
So far, the preseason has offered a pretty simple reminder of why Denver held on: Johnson still looks like a player who can give them exactly what they need.
In his first unofficial 2026-27 action, Johnson put up eight points on 3-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-6 from three, plus two rebounds, one steal and one block in 15 minutes. He also finished as the beneficiary of what was described as arguably Nikola Jokić's most impressive pass of his career. Two nights later, he followed that up with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from deep, in another 15-minute stint.
That kind of line won’t define his regular season - he averaged 30.5 minutes last year - but Denver doesn’t need fireworks from Johnson every night. It needs dependable production when he’s on the floor.
His first season in Denver wasn’t seamless. He started slowly while adjusting to a new team, and even as he settled in over time, there were still moments when he looked like he was still figuring things out. But he ended the year at 12.2 points per game while shooting 43% from three, a finish that showed his arrival in Denver was far from a wasted move.
What’s most noticeable now is how settled he looks. Johnson has opened his second season with the Nuggets looking more confident, more decisive and much more comfortable.
He isn’t pausing or overthinking. He’s attacking, letting the shot go, and playing like a player who knows exactly where he fits.
He doesn’t look like the new guy anymore. And in a small preseason sample, that confidence has been impossible to miss. You can’t fake that, and part of it may come from the fact that Denver turned away offers for him this summer because it still wants him in the mix.
In Other News...
Christian Braun Is Suddenly Carrying Bigger Nuggets Expectations
Christian Braun came into Nuggets training camp with a straightforward goal: get back to the version of himself that could bend the floor with his burst and make life easier for everyone around him. After dealing with an ankle issue last season, Braun spent the offseason working to regain that explosiveness while also tightening up his ball-handling, and the early signs in camp and preseason have been encouraging for Denver.
The timing matters because Braun is now entering the first season of his five-year contract, which naturally raises the bar for what the Nuggets expect from him. If he stays healthy, he is no longer just another energetic rotation piece on a contender. He is the kind of young wing Denver needs to keep growing into a bigger role, and the next step is less about effort than whether his game can keep expanding with the opportunity in front of him. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets May Finally Have An Answer For Their Non-Jokic Minutes
Denvers second preseason game against Utah offered a welcome glimpse of depth, and it came from a group the Nuggets badly need to stabilize. The second unit looked far more organized under David Adelman, with Marvin Bagley III, Alpha Diallo and Julian Strawther all making a visible impact as the bench gave the team real minutes of production beyond the starters.
Bagley was especially active, scoring 10 points and posting a team-best plus-minus, while Diallo added 8 points with a pair of threes. Strawther also stood out with 15 points and three made triples, and the encouraging part for Denver is how cleanly that work fit into a bench rotation that has been searching for a better answer when Nikola Jokic sits. [Read more 🡒]
Nikola Jokic Just Got Another Massive All-Time Center Endorsement
DeMarcus Cousins gave Nikola Jokic another strong nod in the ongoing all-time center debate, putting the Nuggets star in the top seven or eight centers in NBA history while making clear just how high he already views him. Cousins praised Jokics complete skill set and called him the greatest offensive center the game has seen, a compliment that fits the way Denvers big man has continued to stack historic seasons on top of a championship run.
Jokic already has the 2023 title and three MVPs on his rsum, and his recent numbers have only strengthened the case that he belongs in any serious discussion about the positions legends. Cousins left the conversation with one notable wrinkle, though, and it adds another layer to where Jokic might land when the full history of the center spot is judged. [Read more 🡒]