Overview
- Multiple outlets reported Friday that DeMar DeRozan agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million veteran-minimum contract to join the Nuggets.
- The move follows Denver’s sign-and-trade that sent restricted free agent Peyton Watson to Cleveland and brought back future draft picks and a roster piece.
- DeRozan is expected to serve as a bench scoring and creation option behind Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, a role that could be his first sustained reserve duty in more than a decade.
- The signing raises Denver’s payroll pressure because the team was already operating above the NBA’s second-apron luxury-tax threshold, limiting roster flexibility and likely keeping the roster at 14 guaranteed contracts.
- DeRozan arrives as a durable, experienced scorer who averaged about 18.4 points and 4.1 assists in 77 games last season, but his low 3-point volume and defensive limits make how the Nuggets deploy him next to Jokić a key open question.