1 move Nuggets still must make to fill out roster after 2026 NBA trade deadline

The 2025-26 season was supposed to be a crowning moment of sorts for the Denver Nuggets, as they added a few new pieces around their core four of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun, and this newfound depth was supposed to make them invulnerable, especially come postseason time.

However, this campaign has been especially unforgiving for the Nuggets on the injury front, with players such as Jokic, Gordon, Braun, new addition Cam Johnson, and now breakout star Peyton Watson missing significant time with significant knocks. The goal, of course, for the Nuggets is to simply get through the regular season slog in one piece, and even that isn’t certain considering their situation at present.

Be that as it may, the Nuggets have called upon a few unlikely contributors to step up, and to their credit they have. But the Nuggets front office knows that time is ticking on them. Their salary cap obligations are about to balloon significantly, as Watson is set for a new big contract. To keep Watson, the Nuggets will have to dive into the luxury tax if they choose to keep their current roster together for the next few seasons.

This prompted them to pull off a salary dump trade prior to the deadline, shipping off former second-round pick Hunter Tyson along with a 2032 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets just to duck the luxury tax. They were $1.8 million under the luxury tax in the aftermath of the Tyson trade before they made the move they had to to comply with the 14-roster size requirement.

Spencer Jones’ Nuggets future is safe… for now

In an ideal world, the Nuggets would have unlimited resources, and they can keep their core together without having to be overly cautious of the punitive nature of the luxury tax under the current CBA. Alas, the Nuggets are not living in an ideal world.

The luxury tax payments aren’t exactly the problem when one ducks the apron. Of course, that plays a factor, as owners are very adamant about at least not hemorrhaging money, but the roster move restrictions that being in the first or even second apron entail makes roster building that much more difficult.

The Nuggets at least wanted to get underneath the tax this season to reset their timer, as their hand will be forced very soon. Nonetheless, they finalized the easy transaction of converting Spencer Jones’ contract to a standard one, making him eligible for the postseason.

Jones is one of the players the Nuggets have relied on to help fill for their injured starters. In fact, the 24-year-old sophomore has made 34 starts for the Nuggets this season, which is nothing short of a huge developmental win for a team that’s in need of some cost-effective yet productive players to fill the roster.

Jones plays unselfishly and he shoots efficiently, and it was a no-brainer for the Nuggets to convert his deal to a standard one considering how important he’s been this season. His impact doesn’t jump off the stat sheet, but as a 6’7″ wing who can shoot and defend multiple positions, he’s very much invaluable for a team with contending aspirations.

However, the problem is that the Nuggets were only able to convert his contract to a prorated minimum deal for the rest of the season instead of inking him to a multi-year contract which would keep him in the Mile High City on an affordable arrangement for the next few seasons.

With this agreement in place, Jones will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer, and if he ends up making seven more starts for the Nuggets, he’ll be eligible for a qualifying offer worth $5.9 million — reducing the Nuggets flexibility even further amid their present troubles navigating the salary cap.

At the very least, the Nuggets now have Johnson and Braun healthy, and they have been riding Julian Strawther’s hot hand as of late, reducing their need to rely on Jones to fill in as a starter. It was going to be hard for the Nuggets to keep Jones out of the starting lineup had things not improved on their end on the injury front, but now, they have a valid reason to bring him off the bench.

But it looks like the hard part is only beginning for the Nuggets.

The bill is coming due for Denver

The Nuggets were thoroughly impressed by the 2024-25 campaign Braun had, as he stepped up in the aftermath of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s departure in free agency. Braun signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension — a significant commitment for the Nuggets knowing their cap obligations at the time.

Braun has proceeded to struggle this season to the tune of 36 missed games and a steep decline from last season. And the Nuggets has since then seen Watson take the next step in his development, blossoming as a legitimate shot creator on the wing and a much more well-rounded two-way threat than Braun.

Watson is set to enter restricted free agency come summer time, and the Nuggets will have to pay upwards of $20 million per season to keep Watson. Denver has some difficult decisions to make moving forward, and that’s without factoring in what it would take to keep Jones on a long-term contract.

Dumping Zeke Nnaji’s salary is one way for the Nuggets to create room, and so is jettisoning Johnson. The Nuggets, however, scarcely have any assets left to sweeten salary-dump trades, and losing Johnson would be costly, as he’s shooting over 43 percent from deep this season and he’s on an affordable contract anyway.

Will the Nuggets let go of Braun to make room for Watson? That seems to be a potential route Denver could take. But the best bet for them to sustain their status as a title-contender during Jokic’s prime is to bite the tax bullet at least for a year before making changes if they truly have to.

Winning cures everything. And for a Nuggets team that’s about to bleed financially, all the blood they shed will be worth it if they hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy come June.

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