Denver Nuggets 2026-27 Season Preview: DeRozan's New Role and Adelman's Challenge

The Denver Nuggets are a month away from finding out who they really are.

On October 22, they walk into Oklahoma City to open the 2026-27 season against the Thunder, with Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlining what already feels like a measuring-stick game. Before that, training camp opens in a week, preseason in two. The talking is almost over.

Now the questions start.

DeRozan, the bench, and a role he hasn’t played in 16 years

DeMar DeRozan has seen just about everything in the NBA. All-Star Games. Deep playoff runs. Trade rumors every February. What he hasn’t seen since his rookie year in 2009-10 is his name announced with the reserves.

That’s the new reality in Denver.

The Nuggets lost Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson this summer, stripping away depth and shot creation from a second unit that already lived on a knife’s edge. Their answer was bold and simple: bring in a six-time All-Star and potential future Hall of Famer and ask him to steady the entire bench group.

On paper, it’s exactly what they needed. DeRozan still handles the ball with composure, still manipulates defenses from the mid-range, still creates for others at a high level. Denver’s second unit badly needed someone who can dribble into a set, calm things down, and get a good look without Jokic on the floor. He does all of that as naturally as breathing.

But the fit isn’t about talent. It’s about ego, rhythm, and role.

DeRozan hasn’t come off the bench in any NBA game since his first season in the league. For 16 years, teams have been built around his presence in the starting lineup, his usage, his touches. Now he walks into a locker room that already has a clear hierarchy: Jokic, Jamal Murray, and a system that hums when the ball moves quickly and relentlessly.

Can he accept being the sixth man? Can he embrace nights where he plays 24 minutes, not 36, and his job is to carry a bench unit, not dominate an offense from start to finish?

The Nuggets need the answer to be yes. Without him, their second unit was bordering on unplayable. With him, they have a veteran who can organize the offense, get to his spots, and give Denver something they’ve lacked in recent years: a reliable scorer when Jokic sits.

His consistency over 16 seasons leaves little doubt he’ll produce. The intrigue lies in how he adapts to a role he hasn’t touched since he was a rookie trying to stick in the league, not a star trying to extend his prime.

Lonnie Walker IV and the last seat on the plane

At the other end of the roster, another story is brewing. Lonnie Walker IV is fighting for his NBA life again.

This is his second attempt to claw his way back from the EuroLeague, where he spent last season with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Denver has him on a non-guaranteed one-year deal, and the clock is already ticking: the Nuggets have until opening night to decide if he’s worth their final roster spot.

The talent has never really been the question. Walker is 27, still in his physical prime, and he’s shown, repeatedly, that he can score at this level. In his last NBA stretch with the Philadelphia 76ers at the end of the 2024-25 season, he put up 12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists over 20 games. Those aren’t empty numbers. They’re the profile of a guard who can come in, handle the ball, and get buckets.

The debate in Denver is more strategic than emotional. There’s an expectation within the organization that the Nuggets might want to keep that final roster spot open—flexibility for trades, buyouts, or midseason needs. But their current guard depth behind Murray isn’t exactly overflowing with certainty.

Walker offers something tangible: instant offense and on-ball creation. He has a credible case to be more useful, right now, than Tyus Jones and Julian Strawther, the projected backup backcourt. Jones brings steadiness, Strawther brings shooting potential, but Walker brings a blend of scoring and shot creation that could swing a few regular-season games.

So it becomes a choice: protect future flexibility or lock in present firepower.

For Walker, it’s simpler. He just needs to show in camp that the version of him that flashed in Philadelphia is the real one, not a late-season mirage. If he does, the Nuggets will have a hard time justifying sending that kind of talent back overseas.

Adelman under the spotlight

If there’s one person in Denver feeling the heat more than anyone else, it’s David Adelman.

He steps into his second full season as Nuggets head coach with a resume that looks solid in the regular season and shaky when it matters most. He took over just three games before the 2025 playoff run. That year ended in a second-round exit. Last season ended even earlier, with a first-round collapse that stung far more than the standings could show.

The numbers tell the story of a team that knows exactly how to score and not nearly enough about how to stop anyone. Last season, Denver finished with the league’s top offense and the 21st-ranked defense. That kind of imbalance is thrilling in January and fatal in May.

Adelman has to change that.

This isn’t a young team learning on the fly. Jokic is in his prime. Murray is in his prime. The window is open right now, and everyone in the building knows it doesn’t stay open forever. Denver brought in Dave Joerger as the new top assistant, a coach with a reputation for building strong, disciplined defenses. The message is clear: the Nuggets can’t just try to outscore everyone anymore.

Adelman’s job is to turn a beautiful offensive machine into a complete basketball team.

So far, he hasn’t shown he can steer this group all the way to a title. That’s the harsh reality. The regular-season fireworks haven’t translated into deep runs under his watch, and in a league that moves quickly on coaches, this season feels heavy with consequence.

As great as Jokic and Murray are, as talented as DeRozan and the rest of the supporting cast might be, the ceiling of this team now sits squarely on Adelman’s shoulders.

One month from now, the Nuggets walk into Oklahoma City to start another journey. By the time this season ends, we’ll know if Adelman is the coach to lead them where they believe they belong—or if Denver starts looking for someone else to finish the job.