The Nuggets’ offseason has already changed the shape of their rotation, and the biggest questions now sit around who’s gone, not just who’s arriving. With Denver moving pieces around the bench and making several signings, trades, and tweaks over the past few months, a few departures stand out far more than the rest heading into the 2026-27 season.
Some of the exits feel manageable. Others leave a real hole. And one in particular looks like the kind of loss Denver will be feeling all year.
Jonas Valanciunas may be the easiest one to absorb. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t productive - he put together a strong 2025-26 season in limited minutes - but the Nuggets simply don’t need heavy center depth the way other teams do. Nikola Jokic is one of the best players in the world and handles most of the minutes at the five every night, which makes Valanciunas less essential than he might be elsewhere.
Denver’s decision to cut Valanciunas in order to clear salary cap space, then bring in Marvin Bagley on a minimum deal, fits that reality. It was the right move for the roster and the cap situation, and it shouldn’t leave much of a crack in the center rotation.
Bruce Brown is a little different. There’s still a path for Denver to bring him back before next season, but the fact that no deal has been reached as September approaches isn’t exactly encouraging. Brown played in all 82 games last season, so the Nuggets know exactly what they’d be losing if he walks.
Even with some fit concerns from last year, Brown would still give Denver another layer of backcourt depth it doesn’t currently have signed. The second unit can survive without him, but it would be better with him in the mix.
Tim Hardaway Jr. is where the sting really starts to show. Losing a Sixth Man of the Year candidate is never easy, and for Denver’s bench, it removes a player who fit neatly into what the Nuggets were doing offensively.
Hardaway Jr. was a major part of the group that helped fuel the NBA’s best-rated offense. His ability to space the floor and work off the ball made him a natural fit in the system, and he turned in one of his best seasons in recent memory. Without him, the bench takes a noticeable step back and will have a harder time matching last season’s level.
But the biggest loss of all is Peyton Watson. Denver traded the forward to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a first-round pick, and that move stripped away the player who looked most ready to become a long-term fixture in the rotation.
Watson was the Nuggets’ youngest player on the roster at 23 and was coming off a career season. He gave Denver a combination of athleticism, defense, and offensive upside that made him look like exactly the kind of young piece a team wants to keep developing. Outside of signing DeMar DeRozan - a very different kind of forward - the Nuggets haven’t done much to replace what Watson brought.
For a team trying to keep its rotation steady while reshaping the bench, that’s the departure that stands out most.
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