The Nuggets’ second unit looks like the place where the biggest change is taking shape, and the clearest battle right now is for the backup center job behind Nikola Jokic.
That spot was mainly Jonas Valanciunas’ last season, but it opened up when he chose to sign overseas this summer. With the regular season less than two weeks away, Denver has spent its first two preseason games giving Marvin Bagley III the strongest early look to take over.
Bagley arrived on a one-year veteran minimum deal after showing last season with the Washington Wizards and the Dallas Mavericks that he can fill a rotation role. So far, the Nuggets have treated him like a real candidate, not just a body in camp. He has logged 14 minutes in each of Denver’s first two preseason games, and in both outings he was the first center off the bench for Jokic after the opening-quarter substitutions.
That matters. In preseason, everybody is going to get some run, but extended minutes and the way a player is slotted into lineup patterns can tell you plenty. Denver has not only played Bagley; it has used him with the second unit in both games, which points to real trust from the coaching staff.
The other names in the mix are 2024 first-round pick DaRon Holmes and veteran Zeke Nnaji. Holmes does not bring the same proven production or experience as Bagley and Nnaji, while Nnaji has been viewed as a third-string center for the past several years, someone who can step in when needed.
Against that backdrop, Bagley looks like the cleanest fit. He has the most obvious edge in skill set, and the preseason usage suggests the Nuggets are already more comfortable leaning on him for meaningful minutes.
If that holds, Denver could be looking at roughly 15 minutes a night from Bagley, with Nnaji and Holmes landing on the inactive side more often than not. There is still time for things to shift, both in the remaining three preseason games and once the regular season begins, but the early read is hard to miss.
For now, the Nuggets’ second-unit frontcourt of Bagley, Spencer Jones, and DeMar DeRozan appears to be settling into place.
In Other News...
Nuggets Bench Wings Are Making Denvers Rotation Battle Harder To Ignore
The Nuggets second preseason win over Utah offered another look at a bench group that is starting to make the back end of the rotation feel a little less settled. Denver beat the Jazz 117-106, and the wing depth was a major part of why the game had a different feel than a typical exhibition tune-up. Alpha Diallo brought energy on both ends, Cam Whitmore flashed the kind of impact the Nuggets want to see from reserve wings, and the second unit again looked like it can change the tone of a game.
Julian Strawther, meanwhile, kept building on an encouraging start to the preseason after another productive outing. For a team trying to sort out roles before the games count, those performances matter because they are happening in the right places: on the wing, in lineups where defense, spacing and shot-making all carry extra weight. Denver still has more decisions to make, and the bench wings are making those calls harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Bruce Brown's Knicks Deal Says A Lot About Denver's New Reality
Bruce Brown is back in the kind of summer roster squeeze that has become common around the league, this time with the Knicks, who have signed several players to Exhibit 9 training camp deals as they sort through a crowded field for limited openings. New York values Brown for the same reasons many teams once did: versatility, experience and the ability to plug holes in a rotation without needing much time to adjust.
For Denver fans, the more telling part is the backdrop around his market. Brown said the teams interested in him "weren't many," and pointed to the second-apron salary cap rule as a frequent explanation, a reminder of how much the leagues spending limits can shape even familiar names. The Nuggets had room to add a veteran, but Brown never became a serious target there, a quiet sign of how different the roster-building reality is now compared with the one that once made him such a fit in Denver. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Suddenly Have A Guard Battle Fans Didn't See Coming
The Nuggets are using the preseason the way most teams use it this time of year, as a live audition for the bench, and head coach David Adelman has made it clear he wants to sort through the group before the games start counting. Denver has several new pieces in the mix, including DeMar DeRozan, Marvin Bagley III and Alpha Diallo, while the backcourt depth chart is still being sorted out behind the main rotation.
What makes the situation interesting is the squeeze it creates for the players fighting for backup guard minutes. Tyus Jones, Julian Strawther and Spencer Jones are all in the conversation, but every preseason run is carrying more weight than usual as Adelman and his staff try to decide who fits and who may be the odd man out once the roster gets trimmed down over the course of the season. [Read more 🡒]