Ranking Denver Nuggets free agents by likelihood to return next season

No. 1 - Reggie Jackson

At this point, Jackson’s return feels almost inevitable. He’s expected to opt-in to his $5.25 million player option for next season, effectively ending his free agency. Jackson was fine but nothing to write home about for the Nuggets last season. At this point, he’s an 8-9th man on a good NBA team. He had some fine moments in the playoff and you could do worse at the backup point guard position.

But his best days are clearly behind him and if the team could find a better backup that would be great. But their hands are tied as the option lies with Jackson and the ball is in his court. There is a chance he wants to test the market and thinks he can secure a longer-term contract, maybe even for more money somewhere, but that seems unlikely.

Perhaps a more likely outcome would be the Nuggets looking to use Jackson’s $5.25 million salary in a trade. They could use Jackson and other players or picks to cobble together decent matching salaries and could see that as one avenue to upgrading the roster. 

But trades are hard to predict and at the end of the day, Jackson is a veteran who fills an important role and has the trust of Michael Malone. The most likely outcome is that Jackson will be coming off the bench for the Nuggets next season.