RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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DeMar DeRozan will play his 18th NBA season with the Denver Nuggets after agreeing to a one-year, minimum deal, per multiple reports. The veteran wing will join Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in Denver to help fill the void at forward after the Nuggets dealt restricted free agent Peyton Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a sign-and-trade earlier this week .
DeRozan, 37, played the last two seasons with the Sacramento Kings , averaging 20.3 points, 4.3 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game on 48.6/32.5/86.2 shooting splits. The Kings waived DeRozan earlier this offseason, making him a free agent.
The Nuggets, coming off a first-round playoff exit, will hope that DeRozan, Cameron Johnson and Aaron Gordon can provide a strong wing rotation between Jokić and Murray.
DeRozan will provide them with another scoring option and on-ball creator on the roster, but the fit with this particular Nuggets core isn't the cleanest on paper.
For one, DeRozan's weakness as an offensive player has always been his 3-point shooting, and Denver's offense has leaned heavily on its wings to provide space on the perimeter for the Jokić-Murray two-man game to thrive. Watson shot 41.1% on 3s last year. DeRozan shot 32.5% from beyond the arc, but the majority of his shots came from the midrange.
From there, Denver's offense is heavily predicated on Jokić's creation abilities and the rest of the offense following his lead. DeRozan did play more off the ball in Sacramento, but still self-created more than 61% of his 2-point baskets with the Kings. Watson, on the other hand, was assisted on 65.2% of his 2-point baskets last season, and how the Nuggets balance the contrasting styles will be fascinating to watch.
The optimistic view is that DeRozan can help helm the bench unit that has long been an Achilles heel of the Nuggets during Jokić's tenure. DeRozan's abilities as a tough shotmaker might not be ideal in Jokić-led lineups, where the Nuggets can create better opportunities than DeRozan's typical shot diet. But when the three-time MVP is off the floor, DeRozan becomes far more valuable.
How coach David Adelman deploys DeRozan in the rotation and how well DeRozan adapts to playing alongside Jokić will determine the level of success Denver can have in 2026-27. Gordon is a prime example of a player who embraced the positives of a smaller creative role alongside Jokić and has thrived, but not everyone is capable of making that adjustment, particularly a player who has had as much individual success as DeRozan.
Nuggets fans are already a bit on edge about how the franchise is handling roster building during Jokić's prime years , with the Watson trade raising concerns about their commitment to fully investing in trying to win another championship with arguably the league's best player.
DeRozan will, fairly or not, bear some of the weight of expectations to help keep Denver in the contender tier in the West with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder , even on a minimum contract.
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