DeMar DeRozan is heading into a very different role with the Denver Nuggets.
After years of living in the starting five, the veteran wing is set to come off the bench in Denver, with head coach David Adelman confirming after Friday’s practice that the Nuggets will keep the same starters they used last season. That means Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic remain in the first unit, while DeRozan projects as the sixth man.
Adelman said he expects DeRozan to share the floor with Murray and Jokic, but the exact rotation is still a work in progress.
“Yeah, I think the three of them will play together,” Adelman said, via DNVR Sports. “I think, for me, I got to figure out through feel and a preseason who am I taking out and why.
If it’s Cam, it’s because Cam was really good with the second unit last year. And the other thing is we have to figure out how long I’m going to run DeMar.
“I played Tim [Hardaway Jr.] 12 straight minutes every game when I put him in the game,” Adelman continued. “… I’m not quite sure yet until we get into the preseason.
That’s why those games are important to me. It’s not about winning or losing; it’s about the feel of the rotations.
“With DeMar, he’s an older guy,” Adelman added. “I got to make sure I take care of him, too, but you have to have a defensive presence on the court.
So you got CB, you got Cam, you could have Aaron come out, you go smaller. So we have to talk about that stuff.”
That defensive piece is the whole story here. Denver already finished last season with a 116.0 defensive rating, which ranked 21st, and the summer departure of Peyton Watson only made that side of the ball thinner. DeRozan, who signed a one-year, $3.9 million deal, brings shot-making and experience, but he was never known as a stopper and has only become more vulnerable on that end with age.
The offense, though, still travels with him. DeRozan averaged 18.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Sacramento Kings in 2025-26, continuing the kind of steady scoring production that has defined his 17-year NBA career.
There have been questions about whether the fit makes sense, and former NBA player Patrick Beverley has already praised the move offensively while ripping it defensively. Adelman will be the one tasked with threading that needle once the games start.
Denver’s offseason didn’t bring the kind of overhaul you usually see after a playoff letdown, either. The Nuggets were the third seed in the Western Conference at 54-28, then fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games in the first round. Anthony Edwards missed the final two games with a knee injury, but Denver still went home early.
The front office added DeRozan, Alpha Diallo, and Marvin Bagley III in free agency, with Diallo arriving after being named EuroLeague Best Defender in 2026. That at least gives the Nuggets one more option on the defensive end.
Even so, this doesn’t look like a Denver team carrying the same title pressure it has in recent seasons. The expectations have cooled, and now the question is whether this group can surprise people anyway.
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