The Denver Nuggets are moving closer to one of the most anticipated seasons in franchise history.
Let’s continue our three-week series in advance of Media Day on September 29th. With 14 players on the roster and a new mix of players to discuss, it’s important to remember who the Nuggets have, who they don’t have, and what to expect heading into October.
Up next, a check-in on Hunter Tyson.
The pressure is always so high for teams like the Nuggets with championship expectations, and that pressure often cascades into the outer edges of the roster.
Hunter Tyson, who has played just 69 games and 448 minutes across two seasons, is a perfect example of that pressure. With rookie DaRon Holmes II missing the entire 2024-25 season, Vlatko Čančar sustaining several injuries, Dario Sarič disappointing in a severe way, and Zeke Nnaji generally unreliable, that pressure builds and builds for everyone involved. It puts young players like Tyson in a difficult position to have to be good right away.
Tyson, to this point, hasn’t been good. He’s worked incredibly hard and is about the right things, but that didn’t translate to success last year. The shooting efficiency (50.6 True Shooting %) was underwhelming for the second straight year, and the defense was a significant struggle despite the hustle traits.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Nuggets had a -2.8 point differential in the 238 possessions Tyson shared the floor with superstar Nikola Jokic, a rare negative number for Jokic. With Tyson off the floor, Jokic’s point differential rose to +12.2 in over 5,000 possessions. When Tyson was on the floor without the superstar, that point differential dropped to -14.2 in 407 possessions, an indication of just how much the Nuggets struggled whenever they went to their bench as a whole last year.
Tyson was a part of that bench until he wasn’t, and once the Nuggets got healthy enough, Tyson didn’t see the floor until garbage time. There was hope that Tyson could show some progression at Summer League in Las Vegas last July, but Tyson’s overall level of scoring, defense, and control didn’t appear to improve significantly. For a player entering his third season, that’s a potential problem.
So, where are the expectations for Tyson heading into 2025-26? They’re low, perhaps lower than 2024-25 when there was a clear path to playing time.
On top of the Cam Johnson addition to replace Michael Porter Jr., the Nuggets added Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. to shore up their backcourt. That pushes Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson into frontcourt minutes. They will be joined by Jonas Valanciunas every night at backup center.
In addition to the “every night” options, the Nuggets will try to find ways to incorporate the aforementioned Holmes. They invested a first round pick into Holmes back in 2024 and will give him opportunities to develop. If he struggles, sixth year power forward/center Zeke Nnaji may soak up some of those extra minutes next to Valanciunas. Even Jalen Pickett has a clear path to playing time if one of Jamal Murray or Bruce Brown misses time due to injury.
Tyson is perhaps the only player on the roster where a path to consistent playing time doesn’t exist. That’s a lot of pressure heading into the final guaranteed season of his rookie contract.
So, can anything be done to change that?
The easiest way for Tyson to earn some credit is to show he can hit outside shots in games and that he’s made some strides defensively. That’s the role of a forward in Denver: make consistent rotations on the weak side of the defense and hit open shots generated by other playmakers. It’s not a difficult role, and Tyson must deliver right out of the gate.
If there was a player on the hot seat in Denver’s roster though, it should be Tyson. It’s time for him to impact winning in a positive way. He turned 25 earlier this year and will be expected to battle for his spot. Let’s see if he can turn around the momentum and make winning plays going into 2025-26.
