As the Denver Nuggets look to retool and reshape their roster to improve heading into next season, there’s an order of operations that occurs from top to bottom.
When KSE Vice Chairman Josh Kroenke decided to fire Michael Malone and Calvin Booth a little over two months ago, he made the determination that the core championship players were good enough to make another run and simply needed some prodding. That decision appears to be a good one two months later. The Nuggets got back to where they were last season and lost Game 7 in the second round of the playoffs, but they lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder who are positioned to win a championship in the coming days.
Denver can justify that decision that their core players are good enough by running it back, but that mostly applies to the core players. Because there were only seven players that crossed 100 total minutes played in the postseason, and the eighth was Julian Strawther who played 88 total minutes and had a huge moment in Game 6 of the OKC series. Teams don’t often play more than eight players in the playoffs, but having options to pick and choose which eight players play extended minutes would be extremely valuable.
With that in mind, let’s turn to the rest of Denver’s roster. There were seven players under contract that were either a small factor in the playoffs or didn’t play at all. There were also three two-way players that weren’t eligible for playoff basketball. Let’s talk about all of them:
DeAndre Jordan
Jordan played the ninth most minutes in the regular season at 691. On a team with Nikola Jokic, that seems incredible. In the two previous seasons, Jordan played 396 minutes in 2023-24 and 586 minutes in 2022-23.
For the third straight season, Jordan will be an unrestricted free agent that the Nuggets will have to decide whether to retain. Jordan shared that he wasn’t retiring via social media a couple weeks ago. Almost certainly, if there was an open roster spot in Denver, he would want to fill it.
Still, the Nuggets must be conscious of the limited roster spots in free agency. Jordan may help them get through the regular season in a pinch like he did this year, but he’s not going to be a factor on the playoffs, nor should he have to be. If the Nuggets bring him back, it will be because they have another plan at backup center for the postseason.
Jalen Pickett
Pickett played 666 minutes in his second season with the Nuggets, the 10th most on the team. He spent time playing backup point guard at times, sliding over to backup shooting guard in lineups with Russell Westbrook, and had a solid sophomore campaign. Pickett shot nearly 40% from three, put up a 4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and played solid team defense throughout the year. His minutes were reduced in the playoffs, but he didn’t look entirely overwhelmed while out there either.
The Nuggets should expect some development from Pickett heading into his third season. Point guard is a difficult position to figure out, and Pickett’s development under the Nuggets coaching staff the last two seasons was…eventful. Perhaps slowing down and having a summer with less pressure allows Pickett to figure some things out. For a third point guard behind Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook, the Nuggets could do way worse. Even if Westbrook departed, there’s a world where Pickett steps in and does a solid job organizing things a la Monte Morris back in the 2018-19 season.
Expected much more scoring and dynamism from Pickett probably isn’t fair though. There’s a ceiling here, and he may not end up being a playoff player for Denver. Still, if he’s AN option, not THE option, that’s a good situation to be in.
Zeke Nnaji
Nnaji played 608 minutes last season, playing a larger percentage of his minutes at power forward than in previous years. That helped marginally, especially when playing next to Nikola Jokic. There were some great defensive moments for Nnaji this year, from guarding Zion Williamson to accumulating seven steals + blocks against the Portland Trail Blazers in the final game before the All-Star break. The offense is still very far away, but he improved year over year from a bad 2023-24 season.
The question is whether he can ever step into a playoff rotation in Denver. It’s difficult to foresee a scenario where it happens, and that’s why he’s always going to be a trade candidate for Denver after signing a four-year, $32 million extension. If there’s a player among Denver’s reserves that could use a fresh start, it’s Nnaji.
Hunter Tyson
Tyson played 400 minutes in 2024-25 after playing just 48 in his rookie season. The Nuggets trusted him to hustle and hit shots off the bench, and it was hit-or-miss. According to PBP Stats, Tyson shot just 7-of-32 on threes (21.9%) during medium, high, and very high leverage situations. He shot 16-of-42 from three (38.1%) in what PBO Stats classifies as low leverage situations when the game wasn’t hanging in the balance. Almost every time the Nuggets threw Tyson out there in a regular rotation capacity, he struggled shooting, on top of various other struggles with turnovers, defensive execution, and more.
Can Denver expect Tyson to improve? Yes. The degree of his improvement is up for debate though, and whether he’s the right fit for Denver’s reserve unit is a fair question. The Nuggets need shooting off their bench, but they also need athleticism, playmaking, defense, and more. Tyson hustled harder than anyone on the team last year, but it didn’t make up for certain issues. He’s under contract for another year, but the Nuggets should consider an upgrade if applicable.
Dario Saric
Pretty simply, this was the biggest disaster of last offseason’s decisions. Saric played just 210 minutes across just 16 games. The Nuggets effectively gave up on Saric playing consistently after Game 15 of the season, deciding to go with DeAndre Jordan and occasionally Zeke Nnaji at backup center instead. Saric couldn’t hold up athletically, didn’t shoot well enough, and appeared overwhelmed most of the time trying to match Westbrook’s pace on the second unit.
Saric has a player option this offseason that he’s expected to pick up, but expecting him to be a factor on the 2025-26 Nuggets seems extremely unlikely with DaRon Holmes II set to return from injury. The Nuggets have to upgrade here, possibly adding a different backup big man option or improving on the perimeter.
Vlatko Čančar
With just 13 games played and 136 total minutes in each of the last two seasons, I would expect 2024-25 to be the last season of Čančar as a member of the Nuggets. Injuries have impacted his career negatively, and as one of the only expiring contracts on the roster, Denver will likely look to turn over this spot on their depth chart for another option that can help Denver in the playoffs.
Čančar has been a Nugget since the 2019-20 season when he arrived from Slovenia, only playing 143 games in the last six seasons. He’s been a good end of bench player for a while, especially in the locker room, but the Nuggets will have to make some tough choices in the coming weeks.
DaRon Holmes II
Holmes was Denver’s 2024 first round selection before suffering a ruptured achilles at the end of his very first summer league game in Las Vegas a couple weeks later. It was heartbreaking for everyone involved. The Nuggets expected him to play a role this past season but ultimately got zero minutes. They’re hoping to change that in 2025-26.
How much Holmes will be able to handle in his first season back is anyone’s guess. He will almost certainly be a factor in the regular season, and the Nuggets will give him every opportunity to earn some playoff minutes. He’s one of the big bright spots for improvement in the Nuggets rotation.
Spencer Jones (Two-Way)
Jones played 125 minutes across 20 games, his most notable performance coming against the Golden State Warriors in a surprise win. He has great size on the wing and good defensive instincts, but after shooting just 1-of-17 from three, the Nuggets probably can’t make a roster spot commitment to Jones going forward unless they see some tangible improvement in his jump shot behind the scenes.
Trey Alexander (Two-Way)
Alexander also played over 100 minutes and also shot poorly from the field, just 37.4% True Shooting. Alexander’s jump shot looks good, and the way he carries himself seems like a perimeter scorer should be able to emerge. Unfortunately, the Nuggets may not be able to make a commitment to him either unless he shows he can handle immediate responsibility as a ball handler or spacer. It will be interesting to see whether Alexander gets an invite for Summer League.
PJ Hall (Two-Way)
Denver’s last Two-Way player might be a sneaky roster spot option next year. PJ Hall played just 66 minutes but shot efficiently in his minutes, grabbed a bunch of rebounds, and did what the Nuggets asked him to do in garbage time. He has some pick-and-pop capability as a shorter center, and while he’s not going to win many battles with guys like Andre Drummond and Boban Marjanovic, he might be able to hold up in different circumstances. Like Jones and Alexander, I’m not sure I expect him back, but I could at least see it with Hall.
Can Denver Nuggets salvage the end of their bench? Mile High Sports.
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