Denver's Best Numbers All Belong to a Season That's Over
Every figure that defines this Nuggets team - the record, the ratings, the payroll - was set last season, and carrying it forward is the whole question now.
Denver won 54 games last season with the league's seventh-best net rating and a top lineup that outscored opponents by 20.1 points per hundred possessions. Nothing about the 2026-27 roster, still unbuilt on the court, has proven it can repeat any of that.
The record and the rating it doesn't match
Denver's 54-28 finish last season came with a net rating of 5.2, seventh in the league. That gap between win total and rating rank is the story of a team that won more than its underlying numbers suggested, at a pace of 99.5 possessions, in the middle of the league. None of those figures are guarantees for a team that has not yet played a game this season.
Two lineups, small samples
The best five-player lineup Denver ran last season - Jokic, Murray, Watson, Jones and Cameron Johnson - posted a net rating of plus-20.1 in 171 minutes over 13 games, an offensive rating of 136.7 against a defensive mark of 116.6. A second lineup, built around Valanciunas, Hardaway, Murray, Brown and Watson, ran nearly as hot at plus-17.5 over 96 minutes. Neither sample is large enough to call it a preview of anything now that the roster has turned over since.
The number that makes it all work
Jokic averaged 10.7 assists last season, the number that makes every lineup rating above possible - a center setting up shots more than most point guards. That figure measures distribution, not accuracy or shot selection, and it says nothing about how a retooled bench will finish those possessions this season.
What the payroll buys
Denver carries a payroll of $221.1 million, over the league's first tax apron and above the $200.4 million tax threshold, built around Jokic's $59.0 million, Murray's $50.1 million, Gordon's $33.7 million and Johnson's $23.1 million. That number buys continuity, not certainty - it says who is being paid to repeat last year's numbers, not whether they will.
What was Denver's best lineup last season?
The Jokic, Murray, Watson, Jones and Cameron Johnson group posted a net rating of plus-20.1 over 13 games, the best mark of any lineup with real minutes last season.
How much is Denver's payroll headed into this season?
Denver's payroll sits at $221.1 million, over the league's first tax apron and above the $200.4 million tax threshold, built around the contracts of Jokic, Murray, Gordon and Johnson.
