The Denver Nuggets will begin their 2025-26 NBA regular season on Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors. While Nikola Jokic will lead the charge once again, Jamal Murray may be on track for one of his best seasons yet. The guard is fresh off a tremendous preseason and certainly looks ready for the 2025-26 campaign.
The 28-year-old is arguably the best current player in the NBA to never have made an All-Star team. He's had respectable regular seasons and memorable postseasons, but Murray has never been an All-Star. That could change this year.
Through four preseason contests, Murray averaged a preseason career-high 16.5 points on 48.8 percent field goal shooting. His 10.8 field goal attempts per outing was his highest mark since 2016-17. Not only was Murray extremely efficient from the field, but he displayed an additional willingness to be aggressive.
With Jokic and Murray now joined by Cameron Johnson -- while Aaron Gordon also remains on the team -- defenses will have to adjust their strategy against the Nuggets. Michael Porter Jr. was known as a long-range shooting option, but Johnson can score in a variety of ways. This could lead to more scoring opportunities for Murray -- like we saw in the preseason.
It still is only the preseason...
Before Murray starts planning to head to Los Angeles in February for the NBA All-Star Game, though, it is worth remembering that it was only four contests. The preseason does not always properly project how the season will end up going. This specific preseason was encouraging, however, as there is a realistic opportunity that Murray will indeed have more opportunities to score during the upcoming campaign.
In the end, Jokic will still lead the way. He still is arguably the best player in the entire league. With Jokic, Johnson and Gordon as his teammates, though, Murray will have plenty of scoring and play-making chances this year. The 2025-26 season could prove to be memorable for Jamal Murray.
Overall, the Nuggets expect to contend. They feature a quality combination of star-power and depth on the roster. Denver needs to play up to its full potential in order to compete in the talented Western Conference, but the ceiling is quite high for this Nuggets squad.
Jamal Murray and the Nuggets will begin their regular season at 10:00 PM EST on Thursday night in San Francisco against the Warriors.