While the Denver Nuggets roster is still somewhat up in the air due to the ongoing free agency of Peyton Watson, the Nuggets still know the vast majority of their rotation for next season.
As of now, the Nuggets are expected to bring back the same starting unit, and that alone provides context for the most important units the team will employ.
Of course, many like to discuss these units through the prism of entire five-player lineups. There will be plenty of time for that leading up to the season and as the roster gains more clarity.
Instead, let’s focus in on the three-player combinations Denver’s likely to see a lot of, identifying roles, responsibilities, and why these specific trios will provide very valuable information regarding just how good the Nuggets can be.
Combo #1 – Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon
Without a doubt, this trio remains the most important for the Nuggets in 2026-27. It’s perhaps the most important trio of Nuggets in franchise history. Certainly, no trio has reached the heights of this group, and that has been reflected in both the successes and failures of the past five seasons.
Last year, according to DataBallr, the Nuggets played just 492 regular season minutes with Jokic, Murray, and Gordon on the floor, removing low leverage minutes. They had a patently absurd +21.1 Net Rating in those minutes, which shows the context of Denver’s problem. The more minutes those three play together, the better the Nuggets are.
Unfortunately, those three played just the 13th most minutes of any Nuggets regular season trio. They played just 73 total minutes together in the playoffs with Gordon missing three games.
Gordon’s health is the most important swing factor for the Nuggets in 2026-27, because when he’s on the floor and playing well, the Nuggets can genuinely beat anybody. When he’s not out there, the Nuggets play like they’ve had their souls forcibly ripped from their bodies.
Combo #2 – Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Cam Johnson
Full disclosure: this trio likely isn’t all going to be back. The expectation around the NBA is that once the Nuggets make a decision on whether to retain Watson in restricted free agency, that will trigger a secondary move to reduce Denver’s luxury tax bill heading into the season.
Of course, that secondary move could happen during the 2026-27 season. If the Nuggets bring all three wings into training camp and the regular season, the natural question becomes: who starts and who comes off the bench?
Last year, the answer was clear at the outset. Then, Peyton Watson had a remarkable January. If the Nuggets re-sign Watson to a significant contract, there will be pressure to start him going forward, and that could push one of Braun or Johnson into a sixth man role. Johnson is the better player but also potentially more likely to be asked to play a bench role due to his expiring contract.
Whatever the case, this individual members of this trio will be incredibly impactful, even if they never share a second on the floor together. What would be incredibly intriguing is if they did share the floor next season. Those dynamics would be something to behold.
Combo #3 – Julian Strawther, Spencer Jones, Marvin Bagley III
These are the three bench players (outside of a remote possibility where Denver brings back all three of the wings listed in Combo #2) that I expect to play the most minutes during the 2026-27 regular season.
It’s a unique group. Strawther brings the scoring variability that Tim Hardaway Jr. brought last season that got him paid by the Miami Heat. Jones will be an Aaron Gordon replacement and likely slide to small forward more consistently this season if Gordon is healthy. Bagley provides scoring punch in the frontcourt but also the agility to play next to Jokic at times and operate from the dunker spot.
A Murray, Strawther, Jones, Bagley, Jokic lineup will likely see the light of day next season. At least, it should.
Combo #4 – Peyton Watson, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
During the last four seasons, the Watson-Gordon-Jokic trio has played a total of 406 minutes together in the regular season and playoffs. Watson’s reduced role and the Nuggets’ penchant to play him at power forward significantly limited the amount of time he and Gordon have shared the floor, let alone next to Jokic.
Last season alone, the trio played 85 minutes together and had a +36.1 Net Rating. That’s pretty good. It’s extremely unlikely to hold up over more minutes, but if Denver’s going to pay Watson, those 85 minutes might look closer to 1,000 in 2026-27 when it’s all said and done.
The goal for Denver here: figure out how Watson can make Jokic and Gordon’s lives easier by expanding his role, not the other way around.
Combo #5 – Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, Marvin Bagley III
If the Nuggets are serious about maintaining the non-Jokic minutes this season, then they’re going to have to find a rotation that makes sense. Most teams use their second best player to stagger in the minutes when the best player rests, and with Denver’s current backup point guard being Tyus Jones, I would expect Murray to stagger more than the previous season.
Watson should join him though, in an effort to replicate the good moments those two had in January this year when Jokic was sidelined. Murray is the primary creator with Watson being the secondary creator. Bagley gives the Nuggets a pick and roll/pop threat, and two of Julian Strawther, Alpha Diallo, and Spencer Jones should join the above combo to give the above combo the spacing/defense support needed from game to game.
Combo #6 – Julian Strawther, Christian Braun, Nikola Jokic
In order to bridge the gap from the starters to the bench, a lineup often emerges that helps stabilize things while other starters get a brief rest to go back in during the non-Jokic minutes. Last year, that lineup often featured Hardaway, Braun, and Jokic. That trio maintained a +10.6 Net Rating in 471 regular season minutes.
This year, Strawther will be expected to bring the firepower off the bench, and I’m staking my claim to this right now: I think he’s ready for it. Lineups featuring Jokic and Strawther last season that didn’t include Hardaway had a +13.9 Net Rating in the regular season. Strawther shot 38.4% from three-point range with Jokic on the floor. That number has to rise even higher going forward for Strawther, but I think it will in a contract year.
The Nuggets need a great year from Strawther, and the best way to help him get there is to make him one of the first subs in the first and third quarter to share the floor with Jokic.
Combo #7 – Tyus Jones, Alpha Diallo, DaRon Holmes II
It’s very possible that this combo doesn’t play a single meaningful minute this year. Most of the time, I expect this group, sans Tyus Jones, to play garbage time in the regular season.
However, what separates the Nuggets from teams with elite depth is their 10th, 11th, and 12th man. Denver’s top nine matches up with just about anyone when fully healthy, but the expectation of perfect health is a myth unless the 10th, 11th, and 12th man capably stand up and offer some production.
Tyus Jones has an opportunity to surprise everyone as a stable backup point guard. The better he plays in the regular season, the more likely Jamal Murray is to be ready for a long playoff run.
Alpha Diallo has a pretty solid opportunity to carve out a bench role as a defensive specialist. The Nuggets had a pretty poor defensive season last year, but adding perimeter defense could prevent the team from straining too hard in roles they struggle to fill in a regular season capacity.
Finally, DaRon Holmes is in a very pivotal third season. Everyone lamented a lost rookie season due to a torn achilles. During his first full healthy season last year, he wasn’t ready to handle the physical toll of the NBA and played very little. This next season may be his last opportunity to make Denver’s rotation, and the Nuggets may need to see some real progress from him after this summer to guarantee the fourth season of his rookie contract.
If the Nuggets get productive minutes from any of these guys without it being entirely due to injuries ahead of them in the rotation, the team will benefit in the long run. All three are on the edge of the rotation, and any of them being good enough to stay in the mix helps the entire team tremendously.
Special Addition – Lonnie Walker IV
Apparently, the Nuggets will have another scoring guard/wing to factor into the mix for 2026-27. Lonnie Walker IV joins the Nuggets after a year playing for Euroleague’s Maccabi Tel Aviv, getting up a number of shots though not being especially efficient. Walker’s best skill set will be his athleticism and scoring on the move, drawing fouls and hitting pull-up jumpers.
Where does that fit into Denver’s current rotation setup? Unclear. Walker strikes me as more of a depth option behind Julian Strawther in case of injury rather than another wing scorer that plays every night. If Strawther is hurt, or someone ahead of Strawther is hurt thereby elevating Strawther into the starting lineup, then that’s where Walker’s opportunities will likely emerge.
Perhaps roles change after training camp or early on in Denver’s regular season. I’d expect the most common trio for Walker to be part of would be Spencer Jones and Marvin Bagley III on the bench unit. Otherwise, Walker is more likely to get in during garbage time with Denver’s younger players than anything else at the current juncture.
