The end of summer is generally a good time for Nuggets fans and basketball fans in general, as that means that the start of the new NBA season is getting closer. For the hoops fans who are also gamers, it means that the release of the newest edition of NBA 2K is just around the corner.

Anyone who has been playing the franchise for a while knows that the quality of the game has gone downhill in recent years as 2K Sports has clearly shown that the company prioritizes every single penny rather than an enjoyable experience for their player base. One of the biggest issues with the game in recent years has been the inconsistency in properly rating players.

For this year’s edition of the game, NBA 2K26, that issue looks like it hasn’t changed. All of the player ratings for the game have officially been released, and there are some puzzling decisions for the Nuggets roster. Nikola Jokic got the respect he deserves, as he is tied for being the highest-rated player along with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it’s the other guys who didn’t get the same respect.

As a team, the Nuggets are in a six-way tie for the second-best rating in the league (84 OVR) behind the Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champs (85 OVR). Here’s the breakdown of how the roster stacks up.

Nuggets 2K26 Ratings

Nikola Jokic – 98 OVR
Jamal Murray – 86 OVR
Cam Johnson – 83 OVR
Aaron Gordon – 82 OVR
Jonas Valanciunas – 81 OVR
Christian Braun – 81 OVR
Time Hardaway Jr. – 80 OVR
Peyton Watson – 77 OVR
Bruce Brown – 76 OVR
Julian Strawther – 76 OVR
Kessler Edwards – 75 OVR
Zeke Nnaji – 75 OVR
Jalen Pickett – 72 OVR
DaRon Holmes II – 71 OVR
Hunter Tyson – 70 OVR
Reece Beekman – 69 OVR
Spencer Jones – 67 OVR

Tamar Bates and Curtis Jones do not have ratings as of Wednesday.

Another important aspect of Denver’s offense is the 3-point shooting around Jokic. The game developers gave seven players a 3-point rating of at least 82 overall, a good sign for those out there who are trying to set some assist records with the Serbian superstar in the game.

Nuggets 3-Point Ratings

Nikola Jokic – 86
Aaron Gordon – 86
Jamal Murray – 85
Tim Hardaway Jr. – 85
Christian Braun – 84
Cam Johnson – 83
Jalen Pickett – 82

Overall, the ratings show that the Nuggets have one of the deepest teams in the league, and most of those numbers seem to be in the right ballpark. However, Aaron Gordon’s rating is the one that should confuse a lot of people.

Mr. Nugget’s rating of an 82 puts him at a tie for the 66th-best mark in the game. Some of the players he’s tied with are Michael Porter Jr., John Collins, R.J. Barrett, Brandon Miller, Jalen Suggs, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Suggs and Cooper Flagg (The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft is going to be a good player in this league, but rating him this high off the bat sure is something). These guys are all solid players, but should not be the same overall as Gordon.

Some of the players rated higher than Gordon are Coby White, Norman Powell, Austin Reaves and Jalen Green. There’s a lot of discussion to be had about who is the better player amongst those two groups.

To be fair to some of those other players, Gordon is a lot better with the Nuggets than he would be on a team like Charlotte because his best traits are perfectly used alongside Nikola Jokic. He doesn’t need to be a No. 1 option like he used to be in Orlando before he was traded to the Mile High City in 2021, while some of these other guys are stuck on poorly constructed teams and have to chuck a lot of bad shots up in order to have a shot at winning.

To play devil’s advocate to that, Gordon showed this past season that he still has what it takes to be the No. 1 for a team when he went into Golden State and dropped 38 points in a win without Jokic or Murray on the court next to him. Whatever this Nuggets team needs from him, he usually does it, and that’s why the fan base calls him Mr. Nugget.

Aaron Gordon STEPPED UP for the Nuggets in the big victory!

😤 38 PTS
😤 6 REB
😤 4 3PM

That’s his highest point total as a member of the @nuggets! pic.twitter.com/2AQKG0k0AV

— NBA (@NBA) March 18, 2025

Nuggets fans know what they have in Gordon, and it’s the same old story that they have key players on the roster that don’t get the respect they deserve. He’s shown in the playoffs that he is one of the steadiest, hardest working players on the roster. Don’t forget, he was the second-best player on the team in the final game of the season despite not being able to run.

At least they gave Gordon a 94 driving dunk rating, the ninth-best mark in the game.

Cleared for takeoff ✈️

Meet the Top 10 high flyers in #NBA2K26 pic.twitter.com/raiDaXvJAz

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) August 14, 2025

Elsewhere in the ratings, Jokic ranks at the top in multiple stat categories. Both his post control (No. 1 overall) and his mid-range shot (T-1, Kyrie Irving) are a 98. His steal rating should be higher, as he’s led the league in steals over the last five seasons, but you can never have everything with 2K Sports.

Money with the middies 🤑

These are the best mid-range bucket getters in #NBA2K26 pic.twitter.com/HOYcTAsGU7

— NBA 2K (@NBA2K) August 11, 2025

There are plenty of other issues with these ratings, like both Los Angeles teams and Dallas being the same overall as Denver, but if you were to fully go through the ratings, you would have a never-ending list of problems. For the Nuggets, most of the ratings — outside of Gordon’s — seem to be somewhat fair for the start of the season.