The Denver Nuggets signing of Alpha Diallo may have given us the look at what the club’s roster will be this coming season.
The addition of Diallo in combination with the expected full-time contract given to rookie Trevon Brazile puts the Nuggets 15-man roster at 12 players already. Add in restricted free agents Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones, if they come back to Denver, and that’s already 14 men — a number the Nuggets rolled out for a majority of the 2025-26 season. Meaning the roster we already see, if the Nuggets take care of business with their restricted free agents, could be the roster we get.
Now, it’s quite possible Diallo is a replacement for Jones which would mean another player is coming to Denver, as talked about on Monday’s Shapiro and Piro. Or that the Nuggets simply fill out their roster to the full 15 — which seems unlikely due to a heavy tax bill it would carry even on a minimum contract player. There’s also still a chance the Nuggets trade a big piece like Cameron Johnson, let Watson walk — or both. And the team will add a third two-way player, which could make an impact like Jones or be somebody fans never find out about. No matter what’s next, it’s worth pointing out where we’re already at in the Nuggets offseason.
Arrivals:
- Alpha Diallo
- Trevon Brazile
- Marvin Bagley III
- Bryce Hopkins (two-way)
Departures:
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
- Bruce Brown (for now)
- Jonas Valanciunas
- Jalen Pickett
In the raw, the Nuggets lost about 5,000 minutes worth of action and some valuable production, especially in Hardaway. The team needed ball handling, size, athleticism and defense — with executives noting some of these skillsets as desires at the end of the year.
What the Nuggets have done thus far is have their third-string guards in Jones and Julian Strawther become their second-stringers, as those two players (Hardaway and Pickett) are no longer with the team. They replaced their backup center (Valanciunas) with a more versatile big (Bagley). The Nuggets also added some youth via draft picks, targeting athleticism and defense there. But the long known issue of ball handling seems to still be here.
Is that a good enough offseason for a Nuggets franchise whose star player hasn’t yet agreed to a long-term extension? And that’s assuming Denver is able to get it done with Watson.
