{"id":834791,"date":"2026-09-14T02:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T02:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/834791\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T02:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T02:00:25","slug":"nuggets-notes-gordon-derozan-jokic-preseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/834791\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets Notes: Gordon, DeRozan, Jokic, Preseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nuggets\u2019 2026 playoff run ended disappointingly quickly, with the team losing in six games to the Timberwolves in the first round. One reason the team struggled to gain traction was the absence of their Swiss Army Knife forward, Aaron Gordon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gordon played just three games in that series and only reached 30 minutes in one of them as he dealt with calf tightness<\/a>. It was a fitting end to an injury-riddled season that saw him play just 33 regular-season games, but after a recent one-day camp, he said that he\u2019s feeling good about next season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a lot of soul-searching [this offseason] and training, so I got my mind right and my body right,\u201d he said, per DNVR Nuggets (Twitter video link<\/a>). \u201cI\u2019m ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also spoke on why it was important for him to get the team out of their comfort zone during the Nuggets\u2019 mini-camp in Puerto Rico, as well as his response to the departure of Peyton Watson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s my dawg, but it\u2019s deeper than basketball with Peyton and I,\u201d he said. \u201cOur families members go to the same church, Peyton\u2019s just like my brother. I\u2019m happy for him, the situation that he\u2019s in. Obviously, we would\u2019ve loved to have him, but it worked out the way it should\u2019ve. That it was supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

We have more notes from around the Nuggets:<\/p>\n

Denver is hoping that newly-signed<\/a> veteran DeMar DeRozan<\/a> still has enough left in the tank to contribute for a contender after several years of playoff-less basketball. The 37-year-old has remained a durable and productive player as he\u2019s gotten older, and will likely still lead the Nuggets in bench scoring, Chris Dempsey writes for Demps and Circumstance<\/a>. The team will need to surround him with multiple high-level shooters to maximize his inside-the-paint scoring prowess, but despite the three-point and defensive concerns, he should be a strong contender to be in closing units, Dempsey writes.
\nNikola Jokic<\/a> has been a superstar in the NBA for many years, and he recently indicated that he was getting fed up with the celebrity that came with it, Randall Barnes writes for Clutch Points<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m getting more and more bothered by popularity,\u201d Jokic said recently. \u201cThis is going to sound corny, but, I\u2019m getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it\u2019s tiring\u2026Some people around me know, I don\u2019t take pictures because it\u2019s my time. I\u2019ll sound rude again, but what can I do? If people can\u2019t understand me, I understand everything, but it\u2019s been 11-12 years and enough is enough. I feel better when someone tells me something, like you come to the zoo and take a picture of something.\u201d Jokic noted that he shouldn\u2019t be looked at as a role model, though the Denver Gazette\u2019s Mark Kiszla<\/a> takes issue with that statement, saying his role and stature make him an ambassador for basketball on the international stage. Kiszla notes that Jokic seemed to become more reticent about dealing with the media and American celebrity culture after a controversy over the accidental use of an anti-gay slur in the 2018\/19 season.
\nThe Nuggets\u2019 preseason will tip off on October 4 against the Jazz. There are three main things to look out for during the run-up to the season, according to Vinny Benedetto of the Gazette<\/a>: how Gordon and Christian Braun<\/a> are moving physically after dealing with injuries last year, who fills the backup point guard spot between Tyus Jones<\/a>, KJ Simpson<\/a>, and DeRozan, and how ready rookies Trevon Brazile<\/a>, Bryce Hopkins<\/a>, and 29-year-old Alpha Diallo<\/a> are to step into minutes when called upon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Nuggets\u2019 2026 playoff run ended disappointingly quickly, with the team losing in six games to the Timberwolves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[877,95261,7,6903,561,3213,11019,6,253,1146,14704,6279],"class_list":["post-834791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-alpha-diallo","tag-basketball","tag-bryce-hopkins","tag-christian-braun","tag-demar-derozan","tag-kj-simpson","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-peyton-watson","tag-trevon-brazile","tag-tyus-jones"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117266928336403911","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=834791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=834791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=834791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=834791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}