{"id":193925,"date":"2026-05-04T07:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=193925"},"modified":"2026-05-04T02:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T06:25:34","slug":"nuggets-offseason-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/05\/04\/nuggets-offseason-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver Nuggets 2026 Offseason To-Do List"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a regular season in which they never looked quite right, the Denver Nuggets were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. To make matters worse, they let a team missing their top player close them out. Instead of Anthony Edwards<\/a> triumphing over the Nuggets, it was Jaden McDaniels<\/a> leading Minnesota’s ragtag crew; the very same McDaniels that insulted Nikola Jokic<\/a> and Co. at various points<\/a> during the series.<\/p>\n

What Should The Denver Nuggets Do In The 2026 Offseason?<\/h2>\n

Following their humiliating defeat, it’s clear that the Nuggets have to look in the mirror. They’re dominant but they’re flawed enough to look like fool’s gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Injuries aside, the primary problem is their personnel. Part of the issue does appear intangible, Denver repeatedly demonstrating a lack of effort. Simply put, they need more miners; players ready to pick up their hard hat. It would certainly help if they exhibited the mental toughness necessary to excel under pressure, as well. To that point, in the 2025-26 regular season, 12 players converted at least 37 percent of their 3-pointers, whereas only three did in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets’ lack of elite two-way players was clear as day. Of the 12 players who were on the court at least 15 minutes in the playoffs, only six of them were considered quality defenders. They didn’t have a single player averaging at least 10 points per game while shooting at least league average<\/a> from the field (47.1%) and 3-point range (36.0%).<\/p>\n

Fortunately, identifying the root of the problem is half the battle for Denver’s front office.<\/p>\n

2026 NBA Draft<\/h3>\n

At this juncture, the Nuggets are projected to have the 26th and 49th overall picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. Neither of those selections is particularly high but scouting is often more important than draft position. With that in mind, Denver’s first round pick would ideally be used on a point guard.<\/p>\n

In short, point guard is their thinnest position depth-wise and their second-weakest link defensively. Furthermore, the Nuggets are still trying to figure out how to generate consistent offense when Jokic is off the court. With point guards typically expected to have the ball in their hands, they’re in an ideal position to be a premier scoring option. If Denver can draft a point guard that holds up better than Jamal Murray<\/a> defensively, that’s legitimately a key player.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Looking at the prospects that are projected to be available in the late first round, the best option for the Nuggets is Tyler Tanner<\/a>. Although he doesn’t have great size at 6-foot-0 and 170 pounds, he’s the most well-rounded point guard in that range. Offensively, he’s a shifty three-level scorer with a soft touch and exceptional passing ability. Defensively, he’s equally agile and aggressive, with a knack for getting his hand in the cookie jar.<\/p>\n

Using their second-round pick, adding a defender that they can trust behind Jokic would be nice. Yet, with multiple wings heading into free agency, they should focus on a 3-and-D prospect like BYU’s Richie Saunders<\/a>. To be clear, Saunders isn’t fleet-flooted on the perimeter to be considered a lockdown defender. However, he’s a heads-up chaos creator with quick hands. At the other end, Saunders is a consistent deep threat, shooting over 36 percent from 3 for three consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n

Free Agency<\/h3>\n

This offseason, the Nuggets will have five players enter free agency, not including two-way signings. It’s more or less imperative that they agree to terms with three of them: Peyton Watson<\/a>, Bruce Brown<\/a>, and Spencer Jones<\/a>. Each member of that trio has shown themselves to be among Denver’s most prized two-way players. Given Aaron Gordon<\/a>‘s problematic injury history, it’s worth noting that they can all step in for Gordon as well. With his skill set and physical tools, Watson has the best chance of replicating what Gordon produces.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for the Nuggets, they have a good chance of re-signing all three of those men. Watson is a restricted free agent. Brown has never been happier than when he’s played for Denver. The Nuggets not only gave Jones a chance out of Stanford as an undrafted free agent, they didn’t hesitate to promote him when he earned the contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Retaining all three of those players could put Denver in a bind financially. Yet, if the Nuggets can convince Gordon and Johnson to restructure their contacts with lower salaries, the dollars can make sense. Of course, players are loathe to leave money on the table. However, Gordon is a textbook team player, on and off the court. He may also recognize that he’s been overpaid in his current contract due to his myriad injuries. Johnson will be on an expiring contract in 2026-27, which should motivate him to go that route as well.<\/p>\n

Additional Moves<\/h3>\n

Following those moves, here’s what the Nuggets’ 2026-27 depth chart could look like:<\/p>\n

Jamal Murray, Tyler Tanner, Jalen Pickett<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Christian Braun, Bruce Brown, Julian Strawther<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Cameron Johnson, Spencer Jones, Richie Saunders<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson, Zeke Nnaji<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic, Jonas Valanciunas, DaRon Holmes II<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The most glaring issue is the defense that they’ll be getting at center. Neither Jokic nor Jonas Valanciunas<\/a> are true rim-protectors. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that neither player is trustworthy when guarding in space, either. Keeping that in perspective, Valanciunas has a non-guaranteed $10 million contract for the 2026-27 season. In a cost-cutting move, Denver could waive Valanciunas (who may make his way to Europe<\/a>). They could then sign a player like Xavier Tillman Sr.<\/a> to a veteran’s minimum contract.<\/p>\n

\n

\u00a9 Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a regular season in which they never looked quite right, the Denver Nuggets were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs. To make matters worse, they let a team missing their top player close them out. Instead of Anthony Edwards triumphing over the Nuggets, it was Jaden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":193980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,2,62,556],"tags":[49942,472,297,4557,48957],"class_list":["post-193925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-featured","category-nba","category-nba-draft","tag-2026-nba-draft","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-peyton-watson"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193983,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193925\/revisions\/193983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}