More - Nuggets Stats

Injury Report

Peyton Watson G

Out

Hamstring Strain

Return: 2026-10-01

Watson's absence with a right hamstring strain will have now exceeded a month by the time Denver's next contest comes around. If the Nuggets are able to stave off elimination Thursday, Watson's next chance to take the floor would come Saturday in Game 7.

#32

Aaron Gordon F

Out

Return: 2026-10-01

Gordon attempted to warm up ahead of Thursday's clash, but he's not feeling healthy enough to give it a go. Spencer Jones stepped into the starting lineup in Gordon's place in Game 5 and should be considered the favorite to start again in Game 6.

Data last changed: 2026-05-01 05:02 PM MT

Nuggets Roster

Christian Braun

G | 6-6 | 220 lbs

Kansas | 2022 Draft (Rd 1, #21)

📄 Under contract thru 2030 · UFA 2031

Curtis Jones

G | 6-3 | 195 lbs

Iowa State

No standard contract on file

Julian Strawther

G | 6-6 | 205 lbs

Gonzaga | 2023 Draft (Rd 1, #29)

📄 Under contract thru 2026 · RFA 2027 Expiring

Tyus Jones

G | 6-0 | 196 lbs

Duke | 2015 Draft (Rd 1, #24)

No standard contract on file

Peyton Watson Injured

G | 6-8 | 200 lbs

UCLA | 2022 Draft (Rd 1, #30)

No standard contract on file

#10

Tim Hardaway Jr.

G | 6-5 | 205 lbs

Michigan | 2013 Draft (Rd 1, #24)

No standard contract on file

#11

Bruce Brown

G | 6-4 | 202 lbs

Miami | 2018 Draft (Rd 2, #42)

No standard contract on file

#14

DaRon Holmes II

F | 6-9 | 225 lbs

Dayton | 2024 Draft (Rd 1, #22)

📄 Under contract thru 2027 · RFA 2028

#15

Nikola Jokic

C | 6-11 | 284 lbs

Mega Basket | 2014 Draft (Rd 2, #41)

📄 Under contract thru 2027 · UFA 2028

#17

Jonas Valanciunas

C | 6-11 | 265 lbs

Lietuvos rytas Vilnius | 2011 Draft (Rd 1, #5)

📄 Under contract thru 2026 · UFA 2027 Expiring

#21

Spencer Jones

F | 6-7 | 225 lbs

Stanford

No standard contract on file

#22

Zeke Nnaji

F-C | 6-10 | 240 lbs

Arizona | 2020 Draft (Rd 1, #22)

📄 Under contract thru 2027 · UFA 2028

#23

Cameron Johnson

F | 6-8 | 210 lbs

North Carolina | 2019 Draft (Rd 1, #11)

📄 Under contract thru 2026 · UFA 2027 Expiring

#24

Jalen Pickett

G | 6-2 | 202 lbs

Penn State | 2023 Draft (Rd 2, #32)

📄 Under contract thru 2026 · UFA 2027 Expiring

#25

K.J. Simpson

G | 6-2 | 189 lbs

Colorado | 2024 Draft (Rd 2, #42)

No standard contract on file

#27

Jamal Murray

G | 6-4 | 215 lbs

Kentucky | 2016 Draft (Rd 1, #7)

📄 Under contract thru 2028 · UFA 2029

#32

Aaron Gordon Injured

F | 6-8 | 235 lbs

Arizona | 2014 Draft (Rd 1, #4)

📄 Under contract thru 2028 · UFA 2029

#45

David Roddy

F | 6-5 | 255 lbs

Colorado State | 2022 Draft (Rd 1, #23)

No standard contract on file

Team Salary Cap Status

Total Team Cap Hit $187,214,031 15 players

Cap
$155M

Tax
$188M

1st Apron
$196M

2nd Apron
$208M

Nuggets
$187.2M

Salary Cap Over $32,567,031

Luxury Tax Under $680,969

First Apron Under $8,730,969

Second Apron Under $20,609,969

2025-26 thresholds from NBA.com official announcement (retrieved 2026-01-03)

Team Contracts

Player	2025-26 Salary	Total Value	Contract Details
Nikola Jokic #15 C	$55,224,526	$276,122,630 5 years	Designated Veteran Extension Signed via Bird Rights 2023-2027 · Expires after 2026-27 season UFA in 2028
2027-28: Player Option (deadline 6/29/27) 15% Trade Bonus
Jamal Murray #27 G	$46,394,100	$207,845,568 4 years	Maximum Veteran Extension Signed via Bird Rights 2025-2028 · Expires after 2027-28 season UFA in 2029
Aaron Gordon #32 F	$22,841,455	$103,608,840 3 years	Maximum Veteran Extension Signed via Bird Rights 2026-2028 · Expires after 2027-28 season UFA in 2029
2028-29: Player Option (deadline 6/29/25) 3% Trade Bonus Total Incentives: $5,443,200 2026-27: LTBE: $0; ULTBE: $1,680,000 2027-28: LTBE: $0; ULTBE: $1,814,400 2028-29: LTBE: $0; ULTBE: $1,948,800
Cameron Johnson #23 F	$20,543,478	$94,500,000 4 years	Free Agent Signed via Bird Rights 2023-2026 · Expires after 2025-26 season UFA in 2027
Total Incentives: $18,000,000 2023-24: LTBE: $1,222,826, ULTBE: $3,668,478 ($0 earned) 2024-25: LTBE: $0, ULTBE: $4,500,000 ($562,500 earned) 2025-26: LTBE: $0, ULTBE: $4,108,696 2026-27: LTBE: $0, ULTBE: $4,500,000
Jonas Valanciunas #17 C	$10,395,000	$30,295,000 3 years	sign-and-trade Signed via Bird Rights 2024-2026 · Expires after 2025-26 season UFA in 2027
Sign-and-Trade, acquired via Monte Morris TPE 2026-27: non-guaranteed, fully guaranteed 6/29/26 7/8/26
Zeke Nnaji #22 F-C	$8,177,778	$32,000,001 4 years	Rookie Extension Signed via Bird Rights 2024-2027 · Expires after 2026-27 season UFA in 2028
2027-28: Player Option (deadline 6/29/27)
Christian Braun #0 G	$4,921,797	$125,000,000 5 years	Rookie Extension Signed via Bird Rights 2026-2030 · Expires after 2029-30 season UFA in 2031
DaRon Holmes II #14 F	$3,218,760	$15,203,658 4 years	Rookie Signed via rookie-scale-exception 2024-2027 · Expires after 2026-27 season RFA in 2028
2026-27: Club Option (deadline 10/31/25, exercised 10/22/25) 2027-28: Club Option (deadline 10/31/26)
Julian Strawther #3 G	$2,674,200	$12,484,731 4 years	Rookie Signed via rookie-scale-exception 2023-2026 · Expires after 2025-26 season RFA in 2027
2025-26: Club Option (deadline 10/31/24, exercised 10/9/24) 2026-27: Club Option (deadline 10/31/25, exercised 10/22/25)
Jalen Pickett #24 G	$2,221,677	$8,227,882 4 years	Rookie Signed via second-round-exception 2023-2026 · Expires after 2025-26 season UFA in 2027
2026-27: Club Option (deadline 6/29/26)

Contract Terms Glossary

Bird Rights: Named after Larry Bird. Allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own players who have been on the roster for 3+ years. Enables offering larger contracts than other teams can.
UFA (Unrestricted Free Agent): Player can sign with any team without restrictions. Their current team has no special rights to match offers.
RFA (Restricted Free Agent): Player can receive offers from other teams, but their current team has the right to match any offer and retain the player.
Player Option: Player can choose to opt out of the final year(s) of their contract and become a free agent, or stay on the current deal.
Club Option: Team can choose whether to keep the player for an additional year at a set salary, or let them become a free agent.
Designated Veteran Extension: Also called "supermax." Allows teams to offer their best players contracts worth up to 35% of the salary cap. Limited to players meeting MVP/All-NBA criteria.
Rookie Scale Contract: Pre-set salaries for first-round draft picks based on draft position. Teams hold options for years 3 and 4.
LTBE / ULTBE: Likely To Be Earned / Unlikely To Be Earned incentives. Bonuses based on performance benchmarks. "Likely" means player achieved it last season.
TPE (Trade Player Exception): Created when a team trades away a player without taking salary back. Can be used to acquire players within one year.
Sign-and-Trade: Team signs their own free agent then immediately trades them. Allows the player to get a larger contract while moving to a new team.

Salary Cap Terms Glossary

Salary Cap: A soft cap that limits team spending on player salaries. Teams can exceed it using various exceptions (Bird Rights, MLE, etc.) but face increasing penalties. For 2025-26: $154.6M.
Luxury Tax Line: Teams whose payroll exceeds this line must pay a tax to the league. The tax is progressive - the more you go over, the higher the rate. Tax payments are distributed to non-tax-paying teams. For 2025-26: $187.9M.
First Apron: A threshold above the luxury tax ($8M over). Teams above this face roster-building restrictions: cannot use the full mid-level exception, cannot aggregate salaries in trades, cannot acquire players via sign-and-trade. For 2025-26: $195.9M.
Second Apron: The harshest penalty tier ($19.9M above tax line). Teams above this lose their first-round pick if it would convey to another team, cannot take back more salary in trades, and face additional restrictions that make it very hard to improve the roster. For 2025-26: $207.8M.
Hard Cap: An absolute ceiling teams cannot exceed under any circumstances. Triggered by certain transactions like using the full MLE or sign-and-trades. The hard cap is set at the first apron level.
Cap Hit vs Base Salary: Cap hit is what counts against the salary cap (may include prorated bonuses, incentives). Base salary is the guaranteed amount the player receives. They can differ based on incentive structures.
Mid-Level Exception (MLE): Allows teams over the cap to sign players for a set amount. Non-taxpayer MLE ($14.1M for 2025-26) is larger but triggers the hard cap. Taxpayer MLE ($5.7M) is smaller but doesn't trigger it.
Cap Space: Room between a team's current payroll and the salary cap. Teams with cap space can sign free agents outright. Most competitive teams operate over the cap using exceptions instead.