Denver added three games to its 1-1 start and is now 3-2 on the season.
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The Nuggets beat the Bulls 133-128 on October 11. Aaron Gordon scored 25 points, and Nikola Jokić had a triple-double: 22 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists. Three days later, on October 14, Denver lost 110-122 at the Clippers. Trevon Brazile scored 22 points and Cam Whitmore scored 17, and the loss dropped the Nuggets to 2-2. Denver answered on October 16, winning 121-106 at the Lakers behind 21 points from Jamal Murray and 17 from Jokić, moving the team to 3-2.
Roster moves clustered around the Clippers trip. Denver waived Lonnie Walker IV on October 12; he signed with Besiktas on October 15. KJ Simpson, who left the team on September 30 when Ryan Nembhard signed his two-way deal, was reported on October 13 as expected to sign with Galatasaray. Pedro Bradshaw joined the Nuggets on October 13 and left again on October 14; an October 17 report grouped that move with the Cavaliers and Pistons also waiving exhibit 10 players.
Injuries also moved through the roster. DeMar DeRozan went day-to-day on October 14 for rest, then was cleared on October 16. Julian Strawther went day-to-day on October 15 with a left knee and leg injury and was sent for an MRI; he was downgraded to out on October 16, and a report that day said he will miss at least six weeks with a knee sprain. Aaron Gordon went day-to-day for rest on October 16 and was cleared the next day, October 17.
Three threads from camp remain exactly where they were. Jokić's September 28 comment that he plans to sign an extension still has no reported terms or timeline. Vlatko Cancar's need for knee surgery, flagged September 12, and Hunter Tyson's move to a club in Italy, set September 19, remain without further update. Spencer Jones' hamstring and leg issue, flagged October 2, has not been updated since.
An October 17 notes report grouped Brazile, DeRozan, Jones, and the offense under one headline without giving specifics, extending a thread that first surfaced October 4 around Jones, Johnson, rotation questions, and Alpha Diallo.
Open storylines
as of Sun, Oct 18He was ruled out October 16 with a knee sprain reported to cost him at least six weeks, with no further update yet.
He went day-to-day with a hamstring/leg issue on October 2 and there has been no update since.
Jokić said September 28 he plans to sign next year, with no terms or timeline reported yet.
Cancar needed knee surgery as of September 12 and Tyson was set to sign in Italy as of September 19, both without further update.
An October 17 notes report again flagged Brazile, DeRozan, Jones, and the offense without giving further detail.
The projection
all 30 teams →The season depends most on Nikola Jokic (18.6 wins without him), Jamal Murray (8.6 wins without him), Cameron Johnson (7.7 wins without him), Christian Braun (6.5 wins without him) and Aaron Gordon (6.1 wins without him): on/off from 2025-26, details under Injuries. Computed Sat, Oct 24; the method is on the methods page.
The race
Western Conference · 81 games leftNext 5: vs Pelicans0%vs Warriors0%at Pelicans0%at Suns0%vs Trail Blazers100%opponents win 20% of their games on average
Standings and games back are from the official table; the pace is the current record carried over 82 games, nothing more.
Day by day
36 days on the recordEarlier on the record32 more days · back to Mon, Sep 7
The franchise
Every season since the start →Public record →Nowupdated 2026-10-19
David Adelman enters his first full season as head coach after taking over on an interim basis once Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth were fired last April 8. The core is Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, with Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon, Spencer Jones and Marvin Bagley III filling out the rotation; Denver added DeMar DeRozan on a one-year, $3.9 million deal signed September 8, 2026. Last season Denver went 54-28, with the league's No. 1 offense and a No. 21 defense, a net rating of 5.2 that ranked 7th in the league. Denver is above the first apron at $221.1 million in payroll against a $165.0 million cap, a $200.4 million tax line, a $209.0 million first apron and a $221.7 million second apron, with Jokić ($59.0 million), Murray ($50.1 million), Gordon ($33.7 million) and Johnson ($23.1 million) as the biggest deals. Future draft capital is mostly protected or owed away, including picks tied to Oklahoma City, Utah, Washington and Charlotte through 2030. Camp carried roster churn: Lonnie Walker IV left and signed with Besiktas, Ryan Nembhard joined on a two-way deal, and Julian Strawther went down with a knee sprain expected to cost him at least six weeks. Denver opened the season 3-2.
Identity and rivalries124 words
Denver's identity runs through Jokić, whose passing anchored last season's No. 1-ranked offense at a pace of 99.49 — basketball built on patience and precision rather than speed. The rivalry with the Lakers carries history: Denver beat them 4-0 in the 2023 Western Conference Finals on the way to the franchise's first title, and opened this season by beating them again, 121-106, on October 16. Oklahoma City is the newer measuring stick, having eliminated Denver in the second round in both 2024-25 and 2023-24. Minnesota still stings too, after Denver blew a 20-point game-seven lead to the Timberwolves in the 2024 second round. Each matchup now carries the same question: can this team's offense-first approach hold up against teams built to slow it down.
Home, owners and numbers80 words
The Nuggets play at Ball Arena, known as Pepsi Center from 1999 to 2020, in Denver. Stan Kroenke has owned the franchise since buying the Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the arena in a 2000 deal, running the team through Kroenke Sports Enterprises. On December 2, 2017, Denver retired Fat Lever's number during a 115-100 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the name fans point to on the wall when the conversation turns to the franchise's history in the building.
What they are chasing93 words
Denver is chasing a second championship since its 2023 title, with a defense that ranked 21st last season as the clearest obstacle standing in the way. Off the floor, Jokić said on September 28 that he plans to sign an extension, though no terms or timeline have been reported, leaving fans to debate when that gets done. The payroll, already above the first apron and approaching the $221.7 million second apron, limits how Denver can address its defense without further complicating a draft-pick cupboard that is mostly protected or sent elsewhere through 2030.
The long view592 words
The franchise dates to 1967, when an ABA charter team awarded to Kansas City businessman James Trindle relocated to Denver on commissioner George Mikan's suggestion. Local resident Vince Boryla became general manager and the club was named the Denver Larks, after the state bird. Undercapitalized and facing a $100,000 performance bond deadline, Trindle sold two-thirds control to trucking magnate Bill Ringsby for $350,000, and Ringsby renamed the team the Rockets after his Ringsby Rocket Truck Lines. On August 7, 1974, ahead of a planned NBA move, the team became the Nuggets, since Houston already held the Rockets name; the new name honored the 1948-1950 NBL-era Denver Nuggets.
In the ABA, Byron Beck, Larry Jones, Ralph Simpson, and Lonnie Wright (who also played for the Denver Broncos) anchored early rosters, and Spencer Haywood's 1969-70 season - about 30 points and 19.5 rebounds a game, ABA MVP, Rookie of the Year, and All-Star Game MVP - stood out before he left for the Seattle SuperSonics. With David Thompson, Marvin Webster, Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, and coach Larry Brown, the Nuggets went 65-19 (40-2 at home) in 1974-75, losing the Western Conference finals to the Indiana Pacers in seven games, then 60-24 in 1975-76, reaching the ABA Finals only to lose to Julius Erving's New York Nets in six games.
The Nuggets entered the NBA in the 1976 merger alongside the Nets, Pacers, and Spurs, paying a $2 million entry fee; Red McCombs bought the team in 1978. Under Doug Moe's motion offense, Denver scored 100 points in 136 straight games, an NBA record streak, and averaged a league-record 126.5 points in 1981-82. Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe each topped 25 points a game alongside Issel; on December 13, 1983, Denver and the Detroit Pistons combined for an NBA-record 370 points, Detroit winning 186-184 in triple overtime. English won the NBA scoring title, and the 1984-85 team lost the West finals to the Lakers in five games. After trading Vandeweghe for Fat Lever, Calvin Natt, and Wayne Cooper, and with defenders Bill Hanzlik and T.R. Dunn, Denver won 54 games in 1987-88 before falling to the Mavericks. Ownership passed to Sidney Shlenker in 1985 and COMSAT in 1989.
Paul Westhead's run-and-gun approach coincided with a collapse from 46-36 to 20-62. Dikembe Mutombo, drafted in 1991, finished runner-up for Rookie of the Year to Larry Johnson. Under coach Dan Issel, with LaPhonso Ellis and Bryant Stith added, Denver adopted navy, metallic gold, and wine colors in 1993-94 and went 42-40 behind Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson), and Ellis - upsetting the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics with a 98-94 overtime win in Game 5, the first 8-seed to beat a 1-seed, before losing to the Utah Jazz in seven. Mutombo left for the Atlanta Hawks in 1995-96, and Jalen Rose and Abdul-Rauf were traded away.
Denver bottomed out at 21-61 in 1996-97, 11 wins with a 23-game losing streak in 1997-98, and 17-65 in 2002-03, tying the Cavaliers for the league's worst record; Issel resigned as coach after an incident with a heckling fan. COMSAT's 1995 purchase of the Quebec Nordiques, moved to Denver as the Colorado Avalanche, added to ownership instability. In 2023, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the Nuggets to their first NBA Finals, where they beat the Miami Heat for the franchise's first championship - the last of four surviving ABA teams to reach the Finals and the second former ABA team, after the Spurs, to win a title. The Nuggets play at Ball Arena, shared with the Avalanche and the Colorado Mammoth.