The Denver Nuggets haven’t exactly made noise this offseason, and that silence is starting to show up in the grades.
After a stretch that included signing Marvin Bagley and Alpha Diallo from the EuroLeague, bringing back Tyus Jones, and parting ways with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas, Denver’s summer has been viewed as one of the least convincing in the league. The biggest unresolved questions are still hanging out there, too, with Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones yet to have their futures settled.
That’s why The Athletic’s Zach Harper handed the Nuggets a “D-” for their offseason work so far, the lowest mark in his set of team evaluations.
“If they end up keeping Peyton Watson, it’ll probably be a C. But this team is replacing Jonas Valančiūnas with Marvin Bagley III, and the Nuggets don’t have a replacement for Tim Hardaway Jr. For now, they’re back to having depth issues,” Harper wrote.
It’s not a hard grade to understand. Denver entered the summer with limited room to maneuver, and that reality has shaped everything about the way this offseason has unfolded. The Nuggets don’t have much in the way of future picks after previous moves, and their current contracts leave them with little flexibility beyond minimum deals unless they make other changes.
Still, there was plenty of speculation about a bigger swing. Rumors floated around a possible blockbuster involving Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon, while other chatter centered on smaller moves with Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun. Instead, Denver has taken the cautious route.
That approach was always on the table. Team president Josh Kroenke had even suggested the Nuggets might simply run it back after their first-round loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. But two weeks into free agency, the results haven’t exactly moved the team closer to a championship.
If anything, the roster looks thinner than it did before. Hardaway Jr.’s departure leaves a clear hole, and the uncertainty around Watson and Jones only adds to the concern. If Watson is moved in a sign-and-trade or Jones walks without a return, Denver would need the incoming pieces to turn into something more meaningful down the line just to justify the shuffle.
There’s still time for the Nuggets to change the conversation. Keeping Watson and Jones, or making a surprise trade that actually upgrades the group, would give this offseason a very different look. But based on what’s happened so far, Denver’s summer has been hard to call anything other than underwhelming.
In Other News...
Nuggets Still Have One Offseason Domino Holding Up The Rest
A busy July around the NBA has left plenty of reported moves sitting in limbo, and Denver is among the teams still waiting for the paperwork to catch up with the headlines. Around the league, trades and free-agent deals have been announced before or during the moratorium, but several of them still need to be finalized, and the Nuggets are part of that broader holding pattern as they sort through the last pieces of their offseason.
For Denver, the delay is tied to the clubs own cap housekeeping, with restricted free agents Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones part of the equation as the front office works through what comes next. The Nuggets have already lined up signings on paper, but the timing matters because the wrong sequence could complicate how cleanly they can complete the rest of the roster, especially if they need to keep enough flexibility for minimum-salary additions. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Face A Real Peyton Watson Standoff This Offseason
Peyton Watsons breakout season gave the Nuggets exactly the kind of offseason leverage teams hope for with a young restricted free agent. After posting career highs across the board and emerging as a real rotation piece in Denver, Watson has become one of the more intriguing names on the market, with rival interest building around the possibility of a sign-and-trade.
The challenge for Denver is that interest only matters if the return matches Watsons value, and that is where the standoff begins. The Nuggets have made it clear they are not looking to move him cheaply, while Watsons camp is pushing for a deal that reflects his rise, leaving Denver to weigh whether to keep a player it likes or find a package that justifies parting with him. [Read more 🡒]