The Denver Nuggets are unlikely to firmly re-open their championship contention window unless a couple of their young players take a step forward. Julian Strawther falls under that category, but his development might be put on hold. The fourth-year wing suffered a knee sprain in a preseason matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers and will now miss a considerable chunk of the 2026-27 NBA campaign, per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.
Strawther will be reevaluated in six weeks and is expected to return at some point in December. Although this may not seem like a big loss on paper — he averaged only 15.1 minutes per contest last season — the Nuggets could always use more help on the bench. This year's roster is especially mired in uncertainty following the departures of Peyton Watson and Tim Hardaway Jr, among others.
Article Continues BelowDeMar DeRozan's arrival should provide a scoring burst, but Denver will still need guys like Spencer Jones, Zeke Nnaji and Strawther to provide meaningful contributions.