Mile High Tape · By the numbers

Denver's Numbers Say Contender. Its Cap Sheet Says Pay Up.

Five figures from last season frame tonight's rematch with Utah: a roster built to win now, and a payroll built to make winning now the only option.

By the Nuggets Nightly Desk · Tuesday, October 6

Denver's regular-season opener is still more than two weeks out, on Oct. 22 against Oklahoma City, but tonight's preseason rematch with Utah is the only game on the board this week. The numbers below define the roster walking into that opener: a 54-28 team from last season with the league's best offense, already carrying a payroll past the luxury tax line.

Nuggets Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

27.7, 12.9, 10.7

Jokic's per-game marks from last season — 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, 10.7 assists — are why Denver's offense finished first in the NBA. That line is the floor the rest of the roster builds from, not a current total; the Nuggets are still 0-0, with tonight's preseason game against Utah the only basketball on the board so far.

$221.1 million, $200.4 million

Denver's payroll sits at $221.1 million, already past the $200.4 million luxury tax line. That gap is why this summer's roster moves landed on two-way deals — Ryan Nembhard in, KJ Simpson out — rather than anything bigger. It says nothing about whether Jokic signs the extension he flagged in September; it only says there is little room left underneath it.

54-28, net rating 5.2

Last season's record and net rating explain why Denver opens again as a contender: a top-flight mark built on the NBA's best offense and a defense that finished 21st. It says nothing about tonight. A preseason scoreline does not move a net rating, and nothing from last season's ledger carries into October.

22-60, 97-109

Utah won 22 games last season with a net rating of -8.2, the kind of number that makes tonight's rematch look lopsided on paper. Denver still lost the first meeting, 97-109, on Oct. 4 — the one result that says preseason scores measure effort and rotations, not the real gap between these two rosters.

Is Denver over the luxury tax this season?

Yes. The roster's $221.1 million payroll sits above the $200.4 million luxury tax line.

What were Nikola Jokic's stats last season?

Jokic averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game in 2025-26, shooting 38.0 percent from three.

By the Nuggets Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.