DeMar DeRozan Signing Tops Rash of Desperate Swings by the Nuggets. Will Any of Them Work?

The Nuggets put the finishing touches on their offseason by signing DeMar DeRozan on Friday. The addition of the veteran midrange scorer is likely the final of several low-cost additions by Denver made in an attempt to change things around the margins of this Nikola Jokić-centric roster—because that’s all the franchise could do.

Denver has numerous huge contracts on the books and, as such, is the only team currently over the second apron. The Nuggets’ ability to make big changes this offseason was severely limited. Especially when paired with a complete lack of draft assets, the team entered this offseason with zero tradable first-round picks at its disposal. It’s the top reason why Denver traded Peyton Watson despite his defense-first skill set suggesting he’s a perfect role player for a Jokić team. The Nuggets sent him to the Cavaliers because they couldn’t afford to pay him the $88 million contract he got from Cleveland, and they netted a draft pick in return.

Specifics aside, the second apron is designed to hamstring high-payroll teams and limit them to marginal moves if they will not (or cannot) reduce that payroll. Denver is learning that the hard way this summer, perfectly exemplified by the Watson trade on Wednesday followed by the DeRozan signing on Friday. Moving on from a young, up-and-coming player for a veteran on a minimum salary is what those teams have to do.

This reality arrives at a painful time for the Nuggets. Last year’s roster wasn’t good enough to contend for a title, but the severe financial penalties of the luxury tax and second apron forced the front office to focus on managing the cap sheet instead of searching for ways to tangibly improve.

Denver didn’t sit completely still this offseason. The franchise made three bets on inexpensive players who could provide more punch off the bench and more lineup options for coach David Adelman. DeRozan’s name is the most known of the bunch. If he and the other additions don’t work out, the Nuggets have zero flexibility to shuffle things up. They’ll have to enter the playoffs with only the hope that things will turn out differently than the last three seasons, in which Denver fell short of the conference finals.

In fewer words, the Nuggets are banking on one of their bargain-bin signings panning out. Let’s break them down and seek to understand the chances of that happening.

Marvin Bagley III

2025-26 season stats: 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists

Playing on his fifth NBA team in the last four seasons, Bagley has carved out a solid role as a backup power forward in recent years. The Nuggets could dearly use one of those in light of Aaron Gordon’s constant hamstring issues. The former All-Star missed 77 games over the last two regular seasons, and Denver hasn’t really found a stylistically similar backup for him until now.

Bagley still has the bounce that convinced the Kings to pick him over Luka Dončić and as such should prove another lob threat for Jokić to utilize. That bounce also means he’s good to hit the boards regularly and earn his team extra possessions; Bagley averaged 2.5 offensive rebounds per game last year. He’s not nearly the defender or offensive threat Gordon is when healthy. But for 20 minutes off the bench per night, Bagley is a good fit for what Denver needs.

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Will this signing work out? Yes. The Nuggets will be very glad to have Bagley by the end of the year after Gordon misses his now-standard 10-20 games. He probably won’t win Denver a playoff game but the Nuggets had to start 6’7” Spencer Jones when Gordon got hurt last year; this will give them an option with size, at least, if that comes to pass. It’s concerning Denver seems to be expecting Bagley to play some small-ball center without another true five on the roster, which was a disastrous experiment in Bagley’s last stop in Dallas. But his primary duty should be filling in for Gordon, and he is capable of doing that.

Alpha Diallo

2025-26 season stats: 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals (EuroLeague)

The most unknown of this crew, the Diallo signing came out of nowhere for NBA fans (as EuroLeague signings usually do). The main thing to know is that Diallo is a dog of a defender. He won EuroLeague’s Best Defender award after racking up 58 steals in 41 games last year, and his stats in college were similar on that front. Diallo is also a winner—since graduating from Providence and heading overseas in 2020, he’s won the French League, the French Supercup and three LNB Pro A titles with AS Monaco.

But the Nuggets face the same risks anybody does with signing overseas players. Diallo went undrafted the first time around, and it’s rare (but not unheard of) for a player to make it back to the NBA after 30 teams passed on him multiple times. There is a chance his production is tied more to the athletic advantage of being a 6’7” former All-Big East player than any improved skills. We won’t know for sure until Diallo takes the NBA court for the first time, but overseas stars with better résumés have washed out for similar reasons.

Above all, Diallo isn’t a shooter, and that makes his fit tricky for a modern NBA offense. His three-point percentage fluctuated wildly year-over-year for Monaco, and he’s coming off a 31.4% season from deep. Between this and his strong wing defense, Diallo seems to be the Nuggets’ attempt to find a one-to-one replacement for Watson—a defense-first, low-usage offensive question mark wing.

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Will this signing work out? Based on the washout rate of EuroLeague stars coming to the NBA to compete for contending teams, probably not. Nothing against Diallo, really, but EuroLeague and the NBA are just two completely different worlds in terms of ... well, everything.

If he can come in and lock down some of the best wings in the world, then Denver will be thrilled. But don’t be surprised if he struggles. And how his offense will cramp the floor means he won’t have much room for error before Adelman glues him to the bench. He does have a sweet name, though.

DeMar DeRozan

2025-26 season stats: 18.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists

DeRozan was waived by the Kings after the first wave of free agency and waited to see the landscape unfold before opting to sign with the Nuggets. His decision indicates he valued a balance of role and chance to win. In Denver, DeRozan will be relied upon to be the main engine of the bench and will likely be the first choice to enter the starting lineup if anyone other than Jokić gets hurt. It’s a pretty ideal gig for a 37-year-old forward who played for one of the NBA’s worst teams last season.

The question is if it’s as sweet an arrangement for the Nuggets. On the one hand, keeping the offense afloat whenever Jokić is off the floor has long been a struggle for this team, and DeRozan can definitely help that. He can’t space the floor or operate as a hub to create for his teammates anymore, true. But it doesn’t matter who else is on the floor with him—DeRozan will get to his spots and is good to hit about 50% of the shots he takes. Even taking any minutes alongside Jokić or Jamal Murray out of the equation, DeRozan should be able to provide a more steady supply of points than last year’s bench mob combined.

Of course, it’s always about defense with DeRozan. It was his biggest weakness in his prime and hasn’t gotten better now that he’s finished up his 16th NBA season. It’ll be very hard to put him on the floor with both Jokić and Murray given the two stars’ own defensive weaknesses; DeRozan may wind up giving back just as many points as he scores when he’s running the show with his fellow substitutes. That isn’t breaking news, however. Denver decided he was worth bringing aboard anyway and will likely try to surround him with the roster’s better defensive units when possible. A well-coached team can work around one bad defender, so as long as DeRozan doesn’t work against their foundational defensive principles they should be able to manage well enough.

Will it work? Yes and no. The most interesting aspect of all this is that we’ve never seen DeRozan in this sort of role before. It always seemed perfect—he’s a flawed but incredibly productive offensive player, which is exactly the sort of player ripe to win multiple 6MOY awards. He should prove a true bargain deal in terms of value relative to what he’s being paid ... in the regular season.

DeRozan isn’t going to help what plagued the Nuggets in the playoffs. In their six-game elimination by the Timberwolves last spring, their offense was terrible both when Jokić was on the floor and when he was off (per PBP Stats). But the defense got worse when he was off the floor. That can’t happen when the defense is already going to struggle with Jokić at the center of the action most nights. It’s why the Watson trade was so widely panned and why Diallo is so important to their plans.

DeRozan was a great get in terms of being, by far, the most talented free agent remaining this late in the offseason. But he’s not going to be a big factor in chasing a championship.

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