Season’s over, and the Nuggets’ offseason priorities are pretty obvious now: upgrade the roster while keeping the cap sheet under control. The #1 mission is clearly re-signing PWat without crossing the 2nd apron. So let’s first look at where Denver currently stands (via Spotrac):

	Age	2026-27	2027-28	2028-29
Jokic	31	59.0M	62.8M PO	63.7M
Murray	29	50.1M	53.8M	57.5M
AG	31	32.0M	34.5M	37.1M PO
Cam	30	23.1M
CB	25	21.5M	23.3M	25.0M
Jonas	34	10.0M	UFA
Nnaji	26	7.5M	7.5M PO	UFA
Strawther	24	4.8M	RFA
Holems	24	3.4M	5.5M TO	RFA
Pickett	27	2.4M TO	UFA
PWat	24	RFA
Spencer	25	RFA
BB	30	UFA
THJ	34	UFA
Tyus	30	UFA
Roddy	25	RFA
Curtis	25	RFA
Rosters	-	10	6	4
Total	-	213.8M	187.5M	183.3M
Incentives	add to Apron	-	-	-
AG	-	1.7M	1.8M	1.9M
Cam	-	3.9M
CAP	-	165.0M	173.3M	181.9M
Tax line	-	201.0M	210.5M	221.0M
1st Apron	-	209.0M	219.5M	230.4M
2nd Apron	-	222.0M	233.1M	244.8M
Under 2nd	-	2.5M	43.8M	59.6M

Notes:

1. Jonas’ guarantee date was pushed back last November from 6/29/2026 to 7/8/2026. That gives Denver more flexibility once free agency opens, but the tradeoff is his $2M partial guarantee. So waiving him only saves about $8M.
2. The 2026-27 cap is projected to rise 6.7% (preseason estimates were 7.3%, around $166M). Spotrac uses 5% annual growth after that.
3. I projected a 5-year Jokic extension at 35% max. I didn’t restructure starting in 2027-28 because his $62.8M PO is actually higher than that year’s 35% max ($60.6M), so I just assumed he opts in and signs the new deal in 2028-29.

Draft picks:

2026: #26 + #49
2027: 1st to OKC (top-5 protected)
2028: 1st to OKC if 2027 doesn’t convey (top-5 protected)
   2nd to WAS (31-33 protected)
2029: 1st to OKC if 2028/2027 doesn’t convey (top-5 protected)
2030: 1st to OKC if 2029 and 2028 don’t convey (top-5 protected)
2031: own 1st
2033: own 1st + 2nd

Trade exceptions:

$6.9M (MPJ, expires 2026/7/8)
$5.4M (Saric, expires 2026/7/13)
$2.2M (Tyson, expires 2027/2/5)

Front office moves under Ben Tenzer (finance) + Jon Wallace (personnel)

2025

• Traded MPJ + 2032 unprotected 1st for Cam + TPE
• Traded Saric for Jonas + TPE
• Signed BB, THJ, Spencer (two-way → standard in midseason), Curtis (two-way), Bates (two-way, and waived)
• Added JJ Barea, R. Billups, J. Dudley to coaching staff
• Extended CB for $125M/5y

2026

• Traded Tyson + 2032 2nd for this year’s #49 + TPE
• Signed Tyus, Simpson (two-way), Roddy (two-way)

DA coaching staff performance

2024-25 (Took over after Malone)

• Regular season: 3W0L
• Playoffs: lost to OKC in Game 7 of Round 2

2025-26

• Regular season: 54W28L, 3rd in West, 5th in NBA
• Regular season team stats: 1st in Score and 3PT%; 4th in assists; 3rd most turnovers; 1st ORTG; 21st DRTG; 7th NRTG
• Playoffs: lost 2-4 to Minnesota in Round 1
• Playoff team stats: 3rd most turnovers; 10th ORTG; 11th DRTG; 12th NRTG

Awards

• Jokic — All-Star, projected All-NBA 1st Team, assist leader, rebound leader, back-to-back seasons averaging a triple-double, back-to-back 34 triple-doubles in single season.
• Jamal Murray — All-Star, projected All-NBA 2nd/3rd Team.

Full season recap

Last summer, most people felt the roster was more complete. Cam looked like a better defensive version of MPJ with a little shot creation. Jonas looked like the perfect backup. Getting THJ on a MIN looked solid too. The cap sheet also breathed a little.

Then during the season, the starters kept dropping one by one — often two at a time. We probably only had a fully healthy rotation for around 3X games.

That forced DA to play the Booth kids heavy minutes, somehow Strawther and Pickett were at least playable. During that stretch the sub was hyped as hell: people praising DA for trusting young guys, locker room vibes looked good, and suddenly it felt like the team actually had depth. Once Jokic came back healthy, expectations got high.

Then playoffs happened.

AG’s injury was huge. Jokic, Murray, and CB played unstable. PWat missed time too. Denver basically ran an 8-man rotation the whole series. Even with Wolves missing AE and DiVi, they still overwhelmed us, and suddenly everyone started clowning DA for “turning back into Malone.”

My thoughts

Honestly, I think the new FO has been close to perfect so far. The preseason trades were good, and even the Tyson-for-#49 + Spencer converted to standard move midseason made sense.

DA definitely has flaws, but overall I’d call him decent. Developing the Booth kids was partly out of necessity, but at least he committed to giving them real minutes. Shrinking the rotation in the playoffs is something literally every team does, so I think people blaming only that are being unfair. The bigger issue was his rigid game plans and poor in-game adjustments.

That said, if Denver is replacing him, it better be for a proven championship-level coach. Otherwise I’d rather wait. Jokic has already publicly backed DA. My preference would be adding stronger assistants focused on defense and in-game counters.

If they do want a new HC though, I’d strongly look at Spurs head assistant coach Sweeney — Spurs’ team defense made a clear jump this year and he deserves a lot of credit.

The real cap problem: keeping PWat

Denver is only about $2.5M below the 2nd apron with just 10 players.
PWat has been developed for four years — obviously the plan is to keep him.

But to do that, a major contract has to go.

Because of salary matching rules, Denver needs a team with either cap space or a large TPE to absorb big contract. Otherwise you’re barely lowering payroll and still attaching picks.

The only realistic trade assets Denver can currently move are:

• #26 first
• #49 second
• 2028 protected second
• 2033 second (not available until offseason)

So realistically, we only have enough ammo to dump one major contract.

I checked around the league, and Memphis Grizzlies make the most sense. They have room and a huge TPE.

• Trading Murray or AG doesn’t reduce enough salary via TPE.
• Trading CB also doesn’t move the needle enough.

The only clean path is trading Cam into Memphis’ $28.9M TPE and taking back only Vet MIN.

That would reduce:

• $20.8M salary + $3.9M incentives counted toward apron.

And ideally the returning player is Gibson because his deal is non-guaranteed through 1/10/2027. Waive him after the trade and Denver saves up to $23.1M + $3.9M.

Of course, this costs Denver the #26 pick. Then waive Jonas and save another $8M. Now Denver sits with 8 players and roughly $37.5M below the 2nd apron.

Re-signing PWat = still tight as hell

Other teams, especially Los Angeles Lakers, could realistically throw $25M+ at PWat. Let’s assume Denver matches at $25M. That leaves only $12.5M to sign 5 more players.

Roster would then be:

• Jokic, Murray, AG, PWat, CB, Stawther, Pickett, Nnaji, Holems

And based on this season, everyone wants to keep Spencer and THJ too. Problem is, we probablely can't keep they with Vet Min anymore.

• 2026 2nd round rookie exception = $1.36M
• 2026 Vet MIN (2+ years) = $2.57M

To reach the required 14-man roster under the 2nd apron, these are basically the only paths:

1. #49 + two vet mins = $6.5M → leaves ~$6M for Spencer + THJ
2. #49 + two vet mins = $6.5M → if THJ somehow returns on Vet MIN, ~$3.3M for Spencer
3. #49 + two UDFAs = $4.08M → leaves ~$8.4M for Spencer + THJ
4. #49 + two UDFAs = $4.08M → if THJ on Vet MIN, ~$5.8M for Spencer
5. #49 + three UDFAs = $5.44M → let THJ walk, ~$7M all for Spencer

As you can see, just filling a legal 14-man roster is already a struggle.
So forget MLE, forget BAE, forget any flashy FA dreams.

Best realistic path

Path #2 is probably the cleanest. Then use vet mins mostly on young defense-first players, especially perimeter defenders. At minimum we need legs that can survive rotations and transition.

Bring back Roddy on a two-way. Use the other two-way on a center.

Bottom line: this roster has to get younger.
Look around the league — all the rising teams are younger, faster, and deeper. Right now Denver gets run into the ground just by pace and rotation pressure.

My preferred targets at #49

C: Tomislav Ivisic, Malachi Moreno
PF/C: JT Toppin, Joseph Tugler
SG/SF: Pryce Sandfort, Neoklis Avdalas
SF/PF: Baba Miller, Milan Momcilovic

Roster after these moves

Roster	C	PF	SF	SG	PG
1st	Jokic	AG	PWat	CB	Murray
2nd	Holems	PWat	Spencer	THJ	Pickett
3rd	Nnaji	Spencer	Strawther	Strawther	Vet Min1
4th	#49	Nnaji/#49	#49	Vet Min2	Vet Min2

THOGHTS?