The Denver Nuggets are closing in on opening night, and the next month should tell us plenty about what this team really looks like. Their 2026-27 season begins on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 22, a matchup that puts Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the same stage right away.
Training camp is just one week away, and the preseason opener arrives in two weeks, so the Nuggets won’t stay a mystery for long. For now, though, three questions stand out above the rest.
The biggest one might be DeMar DeRozan’s fit. Denver lost Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson this offseason, then answered by bringing in the six-time All-Star. At 37, DeRozan gives the Nuggets a veteran wing who can score, create, and steady a second unit that needed help.
What makes this move especially interesting is the role. DeRozan has not come off the bench in any NBA game since his rookie 2009-10 season, so this would be a major adjustment.
Still, the Nuggets need him to embrace it. Without him, the bench picture looked rough, and Denver is counting on him to bring ball-handling, playmaking, and scoring to a group that needs exactly that.
There’s not much doubt about how DeRozan will play. He has been remarkably steady for 16 years. The real test is whether he can accept being a sixth man in Denver.
Lonnie Walker IV is another name worth watching as camp approaches. This is his second NBA comeback attempt after a stint in the EuroLeague, and the Nuggets gave him a non-guaranteed one-year deal, which means they have until opening night to decide whether he stays. He spent the 2025-26 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Walker, 27, still looks like an NBA player. In his last run with the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of the 2024-25 season, he put up 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists across 20 games. He can score, he can handle the ball, and there’s at least a case that he could give Denver more than both Tyus Jones and Julian Strawther, who project as the backup backcourt.
The question is whether the Nuggets use their final roster spot on him. There’s already some belief around the team that Denver may want to keep that spot open, but Walker could still push for a place if the Nuggets want more guard depth.
Then there’s David Adelman, who is entering his second full year as head coach after taking over for just three games before the 2025 playoff run. The results have not been pretty. Denver fell in the second round in 2025, then followed that with a first-round exit this year.
Adelman now has to sort out a team that was elite on one end and shaky on the other. The Nuggets finished with the league’s top offense last season, but their defense ranked 21st. If they’re going to seriously chase a championship, that balance has to improve, and new top assistant Dave Joerger should help in that effort.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray will always give Denver a high ceiling, but this team ultimately goes only as far as Adelman can take it. So far, he has not shown he can guide them to a title, and this season may be his last chance to prove he can.
In Other News...
DeMar DeRozan Could Change How Nuggets Fans View This Offseason
The Nuggets spent much of the offseason boxed in by salary-cap constraints, a reality that has made every move feel more deliberate than splashy. They brought back Tyus Jones and made a cost-conscious trade involving Peyton Watson, the kind of maneuvering that comes with operating above the leagues harshest financial line and trying to keep the books manageable without losing too much on the floor.
Still, the addition of DeMar DeRozan gives this summer a different kind of feel. He brings a proven scoring touch and veteran steadiness to a roster that has needed more reliable offense around Nikola Jokic, and his presence could make the whole offseason look a lot more purposeful in hindsight. For Nuggets fans who expected a quieter summer, the question now is how much this new look can shift the balance, and whether one more experienced shot-maker changes the way the rest of the roster is viewed. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Camp Could Decide Two Crucial Bench Roles
Training camp is setting up as more than a tune-up for Denver, because the Nuggets already know what their core looks like and now have to sort out who can help beyond it. With the starting group largely intact, the real intrigue is on the second unit, where the team needs more reliable production and a couple of roster battles could shape how much depth it actually has when the season opens.
Lonnie Walker IV enters the mix with a real chance to carve out a place if he stands out over the next few weeks, while DaRon Holmes is trying to turn a secure roster spot into meaningful rotation time after returning from injury. For a Nuggets team that has championship expectations but still has to patch together its bench, camp could determine not just who stays, but who matters. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets May Have Salvaged A Painful Loss As Cap Pressure Looms
Even amid the frustration of losing Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade, Denver may have quietly improved its long-term flexibility in a meaningful way. John Hollinger of The Athletic praised the Nuggets front office for coming away with Clevelands 2031 first-round pick in the deal, a move that gives Denver another valuable asset to work with as it tries to keep balancing a win-now roster with the realities of an aging payroll.
That matters because the cap picture ahead looks increasingly unforgiving. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report ranked the Nuggets as having the worst salary cap situation in 2026-27 and beyond, which makes every movable pick and every bit of roster maneuvering more important. For a team trying to stay in the title mix, the difference between having a tradable future first and not having one can shape how aggressive Denver is allowed to be when the next opportunity arrives. [Read more 🡒]