The Nuggets have kept things mostly quiet this offseason, but the picture around their roster is still far from finished.
Denver currently has just 13 players signed to the active roster, still hasn’t settled the Peyton Watson situation, and remains without a contract in place for one of its two June draft picks. So while the summer has featured a handful of clear moves, there’s still enough unfinished business to make it hard to call the roster complete.
One of the first additions came in the draft, where the Nuggets used the 35th pick on Trevon Brazile. Denver brought him in as a second-rounder with size and athleticism, a player who can affect both ends of the floor. The fact that he signed a standard contract instead of a two-way deal suggests the team may already have a role in mind for him as a rookie.
The Nuggets followed that by taking Bryce Hopkins at No. 49, giving themselves another frontcourt option late in the second round. Hopkins brings rebounding, a knack for creating steals, and enough shooting to matter, having hit better than 36% from deep over the last two college seasons. He still hasn’t signed his rookie contract.
Denver also made sure to keep one of its key rotation wings in place, bringing back Spencer Jones on a two-year, $12 million deal. Jones even accepted an offer sheet from the OKC Thunder before returning to Denver. The price comes with a steep luxury tax hit, and the Nuggets are above the second apron, but the front office clearly valued what he gave them last season.
The guard room got a boost too, with Tyus Jones returning on a one-year, $2.4 million deal. He arrived late last season through the buyout market, and the Nuggets liked enough of what they saw to keep him around on a veteran minimum contract. Right now, he’s the only backup guard on the roster who can realistically run the point, which could mean a much larger bench job than he had a year ago.
Denver also added Marvin Bagley on a one-year, $2.4 million deal to help cover the frontcourt after moving on from Jonas Valanciunas. Bagley gives the Nuggets another interior scorer and a player who can handle 10 to 15 minutes a night behind Nikola Jokic. That move helped fill a hole the team knew was coming.
Another low-cost swing came with Alpha Diallo, who signed for $1.3 million over one year after coming over from the EuroLeague. He brings defensive toughness on the wing, and for a bench group that could use more edge, the signing has a chance to matter more than the price tag suggests.
Not every headline this offseason has been about additions. The biggest departure was Tim Hardaway Jr., last season’s Sixth Man of the Year candidate, who headed to Miami. Given Denver’s financial situation, keeping him at market value was never going to be simple, but losing him still leaves a noticeable gap.
Jonas Valanciunas is also gone, with the Nuggets opting to clear his $10 million deal and open up $8 million in cap space. He later signed with a Lithuanian club, a move that could close the book on his NBA career.
There are still a couple of unresolved names hanging over the roster. Bruce Brown remains unsigned by Denver and by anyone else, though the Nuggets could still circle back on a veteran minimum deal to help round out the group while also signing Peyton Watson. For now, there hasn’t been any real indication that’s close.
Jalen Pickett is in a different spot after Denver declined his team option earlier this offseason, ending his three-year run with the franchise. His next stop hasn’t surfaced yet, but that may change once training camps get closer later this year.
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