How DeMar DeRozan Signing Could Hurt These Three Nuggets Players

Amid a quiet 2026 offseason, the Denver Nuggets signed a six-time NBA All-Star. Bringing him in toward the end of his career is not as effective as it would've been a decade ago, but DeMar DeRozan is still an impactful player who will immediately help the Nuggets' offense, despite some questions about his defense.

The 37-year-old wing is expected to come off the bench for the Nuggets and should be a primary ball-handler and scorer in the second unit. While his presence will undoubtedly help the team, a few players could ultimately lose some precious minutes/opportunities to the new veteran.

Christian Braun

While DeRozan is expected to come off the bench, some believe he should take Christian Braun's spot in the starting lineup. Of course, that is certainly not going to happen immediately, but if Braun does not bounce back this season as we expect him to, we could see David Adelman experiment with DeRozan in the starting five.

Braun's five-year, $125 million contract extension is kicking in this season, and the Nuggets need him to improve. In his defense, he was dealing with injuries for most of last season, but he has no more excuses heading into his 2026-27 campaign.

The Nuggets should still lean on Braun over DeRozan, largely due to being more of an off-ball contributor and a much better defender. We can hope the fear of losing his starting job fuels him to get back to what we saw in 2024-25.

Julian Strawther

While Julian Strawther should not necessarily lose minutes to DeRozan, his anticipated breakout season could be impacted. Before the Nuggets signed DeRozan, Strawther was expected to be the team's lead scorer off the bench. However, he will now revert to a more limited role with a much more experienced scorer leading the backup offense.

Strawther should still be able to make a larger impact off the bench than we have seen from him over the past three years, but the second-unit offense is no longer his.

Unless the Nuggets make another signing this offseason, or even convert Lonnie Walker IV from his training camp deal, Strawther's place in the rotation shouldn't be in jeopardy; he just might not get as many opportunities as we initially expected.

Alpha Diallo

It was already hard to project Alpha Diallo's role in Denver, and the DeRozan signing gave us even more questions. Diallo, the reigning EuroLeague Best Defender, is obviously a defensive-minded addition, opposite of DeRozan, but that will not stop the six-time All-Star from stealing his minutes.

Diallo's defense should be enough to help him earn some playing time, but will he crack the rotation ahead of Strawther, DeRozan, or Spencer Jones? Probably not. Of all the Nuggets wings, Diallo is now the odd man out.

Before the DeRozan signing, Diallo could've undoubtedly been Denver's backup small forward. However, there were clear offensive concerns with a DeRozan-less bench lineup. Sure, the Nuggets need much more defensive help than offensive, but DeRozan's value as a scorer outweighs Diallo's value as a defender.

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