With the preseason in the books and the Denver Nuggets’ Oct. 22 opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder getting closer by the day, the biggest takeaway from camp is pretty clear: a lot of the noise around this team has already been answered.
Over five tune-up games, the Nuggets found more good than bad. Some players helped their cause, some got buried on the depth chart, and a few of the offseason moves that drew heat are looking a lot smarter now than they did in September.
Start with the names that didn’t exactly cash in on their opportunities.
DaRon Holmes II, the 22nd pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, never really forced his way into the picture. The preseason didn’t give him much of a path, and he was passed on the front-court pecking order by Denver’s new additions. He ended up playing the second-fewest minutes of any Nugget on a standard or two-way contract, and his role appears headed toward garbage time and emergency duty unless something changes.
Zeke Nnaji didn’t help himself either. Seven years into his Nuggets run - only a few months shy of Aaron Gordon’s time in Denver, oddly enough - he had one chance to make a case with the second unit and didn’t make the most of it. Unless injuries force the issue later, he looks stuck at the bottom of the bench.
The preseason also didn’t do much for the people who were skeptical about Denver’s offseason strategy. The chorus of complaints about the Nuggets not spending enough around Nikola Jokic is already getting pushback.
Peyton Watson, the player some of those critics pointed to, has opened with 7.7 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the preseason and is shooting 16.7% from three. The margins mattered here, too: Denver picked up a tradeable first-round pick and avoided tying itself to a contract that could have become a problem.
That same theme applies to the wider criticism of the Nuggets’ offseason additions. The front office took heat for a supposedly weak summer, but the early returns suggest the roster has more usable depth than it did a year ago. A couple of those additions have already forced their way onto the positive side of the ledger.
One of them is Aaron Gordon, who looked lively in the four games he played. He averaged 14.8 points in just 14.9 minutes per game to lead the Nuggets in preseason scoring. He was finishing at the rim, knocking down threes at a 53.8% clip, and looking like a player ready to move past two injury-filled seasons.
Another rookie-sized surprise is Trevon Brazile. The 35th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft was supposed to be a quiet end-of-bench presence, the kind of rookie who spends most of his time collecting dust.
Instead, he was one of Denver’s most impressive players across all five preseason games and did enough to earn a real shot at a rotation role to start the year. The Nuggets locked him in early on a four-year, $9.3 million deal, and that already looks like a strong move.
Alpha Diallo has joined that group as well. At 29, and on a $1.36 million contract, he has given Denver real defensive juice in the backcourt and on the perimeter. He led the team with 8 steals in the preseason and figures to get plenty of work with the second unit.
And then there’s the bench as a whole, which may have been the biggest preseason winner of all. Before camp, it was one of the biggest question marks on the roster.
Now, it looks much sturdier. DeMar DeRozan on a veteran’s minimum contract gave the second unit a legitimate scoring threat, while Marvin Bagley III brought athleticism and a real backup option for the non-Jokic minutes.
That growth has created a different kind of problem for head coach David Adelman: figuring out who actually fits in the rotation. It’s only five games, sure, but the Nuggets’ depth looks better than it did last season. If the second unit can hold up when Jokic sits, Denver will have a much better chance of going deeper than plenty of people expected.
In Other News...
Marvin Bagley May Have Given Nuggets An Answer Behind Jokic
Marvin Bagley III had a preseason finale that gave Denver plenty to think about behind Nikola Jokic. In the matchup with the Lakers, the veteran big man looked comfortable off the bench, providing a mix of scoring and activity that stood out in a reserve role the Nuggets have been trying to shore up.
Bagley showed he can finish inside, stretch the floor a bit and bring real juice on the defensive end, where his athleticism showed up in the paint and in the passing lanes. For a Denver team that needs a dependable backup center, that kind of all-around burst is exactly the sort of answer it has been searching for, even if the true test still has to come when the games count. [Read more 🡒]
Ex-Nuggets Champ Bruce Brown Still Has A Knicks Twist Ahead
Bruce Browns latest stop with the Knicks turned into a short stay, even after New York brought the veteran in for training camp with a chance to earn a roster spot. The only hurdle was procedural but significant: the team needed to move a player already on the books in order to keep him, and that deal never came together before the season began.
For now, Brown is on the outside looking in, but the door is not completely closed. Once contracts become prorated later in the season, New York could circle back and revisit the fit, leaving open the possibility of a reunion if the roster and finances line up in December. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Get A Needed Spencer Jones Update Before The Opener
Spencer Jones appears to be trending in the right direction just in time for the Nuggets season to begin, a welcome development for a team trying to get through the final stretch of camp with as few health concerns as possible. The forward had been dealing with a hamstring strain, and the latest word is that he is expected to be available when Denver opens the regular season.
Jones situation fits into a wider run of early injury news around the league, with several teams sorting through their own concerns before opening night. The Wizards have AJ Dybantsa day-to-day with an ankle sprain, the Suns are waiting on Luke Kennard after a knee tendon strain, and the Heat expect Bam Adebayo and Pelle Larsson to be ready for their opener, while the Magic are managing injuries for Franz Wagner and Noah Penda as they head toward theirs. For Denver, getting Jones back on track matters because every healthy body counts as the rotation starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]