Ideally, the 2025-26 Denver Nuggets will be both fresh and familiar. This year’s training camp will be David Adelman’s first as their head coach, but his ninth since arriving in Denver as an assistant. Cam Johnson will take the starting small forward spot formerly occupied by Michael Porter Jr., but the other four players will return to the same roles they had when they took the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in a second-round series that felt more like the conference finals. The new front office, led by Ben Tenzer, who is entering his 17th full season with the organization, added depth by signing several free agents, including Bruce Brown, who closed several playoff games for the Nuggets during their 2023 title run.
“The whole point” of adding depth, according to Tenzer, is being able to play their starters fewer minutes throughout the season. With Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valančiūnas in the mix and steadier production from Denver’s young players, the plan is to improve on the margins and be healthy in the playoffs. Rather than bleeding points when Nikola Jokić goes to the bench — the Nuggets were outscored by 9.8 points per 100 possessions in non-garbage-time minutes without Jokić in 2024-25, per Cleaning The Glass — they are hoping the second unit can maintain (or even, get this, build on) leads. There is pressure on Jamal Murray to be in shape and produce like an All-Star from the beginning of the season, and there is an expectation that everybody will do what’s necessary to compete for another championship. Even with a shallow roster last year, they weren’t far off.
The state of play
Last year: There was bad news before the season started, as big man Daron Holmes II, selected No. 22 in the 2024 Draft, tore his Achilles in his summer league debut. After a season-opening loss against OKC, Jokić accurately described the Nuggets as “not a good shooting team,” which didn’t exactly alleviate concerns about the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Because of a rift between Michael Malone and then-GM Calvin Booth, Josh Kroenke considered firing both of them around Thanksgiving and again at the All-Star break, but ended up waiting until there were only three games remaining in the regular season. Denver was 47-32, on a four-game losing streak and in danger of falling into the play-in, but rallied to win three straight, finish fourth in the West and then win a seven-game series against the Clippers. Game 4 in Los Angeles was an absolute classic, but Aaron Gordon’s game-winning dunk was just one of three enormously clutch plays he’d make in the playoffs: Against the Thunder, Gordon made the game-winning 3 in the opener and the 3 that forced overtime in the Nuggets’ Game 3 victory. Adelman installed a zone defense that made OKC uncomfortable, but they couldn’t score enough to close out Game 4 or maintain the early lead they built in Game 7. At the very end, with Gordon playing on a Grade 2 hamstring strain, they had trouble even getting Jokić the ball.
The offseason: They sent Brooklyn their unprotected 2032 first-round pick to swap Porter for Johnson, which gave them the flexibility to trade Dario Šarić to Sacramento for Jonas Valančiūnas. They also added Brown and Hardaway to their wing rotation on minimum contracts. It is unclear what is next for veterans Russell Westbrook and Deandre Jordan, both of whom remain free agents, but Vlatko Čančar signed with Olimpia Milano.
Vegas over/under: 53.5, per BetMGM
The conversation
Nuggets believer: In a just world, Nikola Jokić would have won his fifth consecutive MVP award last season. Aaron Gordon’s stupid injury never would have happened either, and the Nuggets would have beaten the Thunder, then gone on to avenge the previous year’s loss to the Timberwolves and win another championship. I’m trying not to live in the past, though, and that’s much easier now that the front office has plugged every hole on the roster. Cam Johnson was born to play with Jokić, Bruce Brown never should have left in the first place and the second-unit offense is going to be so much better with Jonas Valančiūnas and Tim Hardaway Jr. coming off the bench. Without even seeing them play a single game together, it’s clear to me that this is the best Nuggets team ever.
Nuggets skeptic: The initial wave of excitement about Denver’s offseason was understandable. When you’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a normal backup center on the team, Valančiūnas must seem like Wilt Chamberlain. Now that a few months have passed though, the enthusiasm of early July looks like an overreaction. Johnson fits well with Jokić, sure, but so did Michael Porter Jr. That move was more about finances than the marginal upgrade that Johnson may or may not prove to be. The Brown reunion is a nice story, but there’s a reason he and Hardaway are minimum guys. I remember when Dario Šarić was supposedly “the Joker of the second unit,” and I still have the same questions about the Nuggets that I’ve had for the last few years: Can they put together lineups that can both space the floor and get stops in the playoffs? Can they survive the non-Jokić minutes? Can Jamal Murray be the best version of himself for something close to a full season? Until these are answered in the affirmative, there’s no point of even entertaining the notion that this roster is better than the one that went all the way.
Nuggets believer: A great way to sound smart when you don’t know what you’re talking about is to accuse others of overreacting. Instead of halfheartedly repeating the same tired causes for concern, why don’t you look at all the things that have changed in Denver? There’s a new lead executive, a new coach, a new starting small forward and a new bench! If you think Johnson and MPJ are the same, you’re not paying attention. Johnson, while not a lockdown defender or a rim protector, is a significant upgrade on defense because he has far fewer mental lapses. Offensively, he’s just a much more well-rounded player. Johnson’s screen-setting alone will make a massive difference, and, rather than simply being a play-finisher, he will serve as a connector on offense by maintaining advantages and making sound passing reads. Everyone is going to love playing with him, and, since we’ve already seen proof of concept with Brown on this team, it’s safe to say everyone is going to love having him around, too. I’m not sure you’ve really thought about the sort of looks that Hardaway is going to get, the fact that this team has never had a weapon like Valančiūnas or the internal improvement that is coming.
Nuggets skeptic: I promise you that I’m aware of the changes they’ve made. I don’t even think they’re bad ones — I liked what I saw from Adelman last season, and I think this roster is a bit better than last season’s. In other words, this team should be awesome! But I also think that the Thunder’s internal improvement will be more significant than Denver’s. Murray has been a Nugget for nine years now; I can’t just assume that he is finally going to start a season strong and sustain it. I can’t just assume that Christian Braun is going to turn into a high-volume 3-point shooter either, or that the young guys are all going to turn into two-way players capable of holding their own against OKC. I admit that I’m tired of talking about Julian Strawther’s defensive limitations and Peyton Watson’s offensive limitations, but that doesn’t change the fact that those limitations matter.
Nuggets believer: OK, fine, you’ve decided you must wait for Braun to prove that he’s gotten better, even though he makes a meaningful leap every year. If you’re doing that, though, then you should be just as conservative when it comes to, say, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace potentially improving offensively. And even if you’re right that Denver is only “a bit better” this year, maybe that’s enough! I know the Nuggets got blown out the last time that we saw them play, but that was Game 7 against the eventual champs. Let’s not forget how small the margins are in that situation, and let’s not forget that, a few days earlier, they had a real chance to go up 3-1 in the series. If Aaron Gordon hadn’t strained his hamstring, we might debating his chances of becoming a three-time champ.
Nuggets skeptic: Full credit to Gordon: Nobody who watched him play on one leg in Game 7 is going to forget it. That was an incredible effort. At the same time, I have to think Denver’s lack of depth was a factor in him being on the court that night. If, hypothetically, Lu Dort had suffered that injury at that time, do you think the Thunder would have thrown him out there or simply redistributed his minutes to their other excellent role players? To me, the answer is clearly the latter, and OKC’s superior depth was its biggest advantage in the series. For all of the moves the Nuggets have made, I’m not sure they’re much better equipped to withstand an injury to any of their starters. On paper they are legitimate title contenders, but they still don’t have much margin for error.