The Denver Nuggets are winding down their free agency acquisitions and don’t appear to be in any hurry to fill a final roster spot.
After a whirlwind of a first 48 hours of free agency that included trading for Cameron Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas, as well as signing Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr., the Nuggets have yet to make an official move since. All of those transactions have been subsequently completed, and the Nuggets now appear to be in a holding pattern with 14 players on their roster.
Of course, it’s a really great group of 14 players (plus two-ways), perhaps their best in franchise history.
Let’s take a closer look at the depth chart for each position:
Point Guard
Jamal Murray is the starter and has been the starting point guard for the Nuggets, when healthy, since the 2017-18 season. It’s been over seven years, and Nuggets fans are familiar with the incredible peaks and frustrating valleys. Murray will be entering his Age-28 season with high expectations. An All-Star appearance should always be the initial goal, followed by the preparation necessary to be the best possible playoff player he can be.
Behind Murray on the depth chart is a bit more hazy. Bruce Brown was of course brought in to reprise his role as an important Nuggets rotation player. That 2022-23 season, Brown played about 32.5% of his minutes (~743 out of 2,280 possible minutes) at point guard. That percentage should be expected to jump this upcoming season, and how Brown handles the increased playmaking burden will be very interesting to monitor.
Third on the depth chart is Jalen Pickett, who will likely reprise last season’s role as injury replacement for either the starter (Murray) or backup (Brown). He’s well suited for that role and should help Denver’s floor remain high in a regular season context.
Shooting Guard
Christian Braun took a leap in his third season in the NBA, the first as a true starter. It’s possible that he regresses in his fourth season but seems unlikely. Expecting similar production, efficiency, and impact from Braun as last season seems fair.
Where the position gets interesting is behind Braun, there are two very capable backup options. Julian Strawther is the incumbent young player the Nuggets are expecting to develop in his third season. Tim Hardaway Jr. puts a wrinkle in that dynamic. Perhaps he doesn’t play every night and is more of an occasional option like Justin Holiday previously was for Denver.
That seems farfetched though. Hardaway probably wouldn’t have signed in Denver for the minimum unless he expected a certain level of opportunity for playing time. Yes, the free agent market can be unforgiving, but Hardaway is better than the minimum he received. He should play. He’s good enough to maybe be Denver’s sixth best player.
Tamar Bates fills one of the two-way spots. Don’t expect him to get significant action at a suddenly deep shooting guard spot in Denver.
Small Forward
Entering Denver’s starting lineup for the first time this year will be Cameron Johnson. He will play a similar role to Michael Porter Jr. as a floor spacing and tertiary playmaking small forward. The most regular season minutes he’s ever played in his career are 1,800 though. There will be at least 3,936 small forward minutes (82 games * 48 minutes) so the Nuggets will need to have optionality behind him.
Peyton Watson will likely be the first small forward off the bench, utilizing a versatile defensive skill set to impact the game throughout the year. Entering his fourth season, the Nuggets are hoping for big steps forward for Watson. If Johnson misses time though, expect the Nuggets to play one of Strawther or Hardaway at small forward as well to get them both on the court.
Among Denver’s depth at the position are third-year Hunter Tyson and second-year two-way player Spencer Jones. This will likely mean little for Denver’s season, but if there are injury absences, one or both will be expected to step up.
Power Forward
Per usual, Aaron Gordon will be the starter at power forward heading into the season. Gordon exercised his player option for this year in order to sign a three year extension after that. Though Gordon dealt with extensive nagging injuries last season, he’s an integral piece of Denver’s starting lineup and team culture and will be around for the foreseeable future.
Behind Gordon, Watson will occasionally slot in at the backup power forward spot as he has for much of his career. If the Nuggets go with a bigger second unit though, there will be an open competition between sixth-year big man Zeke Nnaji and 2024 first round pick DaRon Holmes II, who has yet to play a minute in the NBA. Neither is expected to play an extensive role, but there’s potential to fill in at backup power forward and as a spot starter for Gordon, who’s entering his 12th season.
Center
This might come as a surprise, but Nikola Jokic is expected to fill the starting center role for Denver in his 11th season in the NBA. I know, shocker.
Jokic has played in between 2,323 and 2,737 minutes in each of the eight seasons he’s been the full-time starter. He’s been the most consistent player in the NBA for nearly a decade. There will be a time when that streak breaks though, and it might be this season with the best backup center he’s ever had.
Unequivocally, Jonas Valanciunas is the most impactful backup center of the Nikola Jokic era. There have been some good ones on occasion, but none come in with the expected stability that Valanciunas should provide. He played 81 games last season, and he will start the occasional game for Jokic throughout the year. Perhaps Jokic and Valanciunas play together at times in an NBA that suddenly loves two big lineups again.
Currently, there is no 15th man. There’s also a two-way spot waiting to be filled. We will see when and how those spots are utilized, but the Nuggets could use a third center behind Jokic and Valanciunas, as well as either a depth point guard or depth forward.
But there’s no doubt in my mind: this is the best Nuggets roster I’ve covered in both talent and expected fit. That can of course change, but for the time being, excitement should be high in Denver.