Denver's Flexibility Is Gone Before the Season Starts
A payroll pinned above the first apron and draft picks mortgaged into 2030 mean this Nuggets core has no real room left to change.
Denver's payroll sits at $221.1 million, above the $209.0 million first apron and within striking distance of the $221.7 million second. Curtis Jones and David Roddy both exited the roster on September 21, but that trims the margins only; the money that matters is locked into five players through at least 2027-28.
A Number With No Room
The Nuggets carry a $221.1 million payroll into training camp, above the $200.4 million luxury tax line and the $209.0 million first apron, and only $0.6 million shy of the $221.7 million second apron. That gap is the story: Denver is not choosing to spend at this level so much as living at the ceiling its own core contracts set.
Trimming At The Edges
On September 21, Curtis Jones and David Roddy both left the Nuggets. Neither was among the contracts driving the number; the real weight sits with Nikola Jokić at $59.0 million, Jamal Murray at $50.1 million, Aaron Gordon at $33.7 million, Cameron Johnson at $23.1 million, and Christian Braun at $21.6 million. Cutting from the roster's edges changes the count this week, not the math that keeps Denver above the tax line.
What 2027-28 Looks Like
Jokić can opt into $62.8 million and Gordon into $36.4 million for 2027-28, while Murray is already guaranteed $53.8 million and Braun $23.3 million. Those four decisions, not the trade market, will decide how much room the roster actually has next summer.
The Picks Are Already Spent
Denver's own 2027 first-round pick, protected, is the only one still fully in the team's hands. The rest is owed out: a 2027 second to Utah, a 2028 first to Oklahoma City, a 2028 second to Washington, a 2029 first to Oklahoma City, a 2029 second to Charlotte, and more of the same in 2030. A team this far over the apron with this little draft capital left has one lever: the roster already on the floor.
Are the Nuggets over the luxury tax for 2026-27?
Yes. Denver's $221.1 million payroll is above the $200.4 million tax line and the $209.0 million first apron, and within $0.6 million of the second apron.
Do the Nuggets have draft picks available to trade?
Only a protected 2027 first-round pick remains fully theirs; the rest through 2030 are owed to Oklahoma City, Utah, Washington, or Charlotte.
