The Denver Nuggets needed to add to the bench after they traded Peyton Watson away to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They turned to 17-year veteran DeMar DeRozan, a wing who's played shooting guard for most of his Hall-of-Fame-worthy career, to carry the scoring load for the second unit. DeRozan will move into the sixth-man role off the bench for the Nuggets after the departure of Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Miami Heat, and that pushes Julian Strawther further down the depth chart for the second year in a row.
Strawther, the 29th pick of the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, was in position for an uptick in playing time after Hardaway's departure. But once again, he'll likely be the third-string shooting guard and small forward, like he was in 2025-26.
Strawther has been down this path before
In the year prior to Hardaway's arrival, Strawther averaged 21.3 minutes per game over 65 games played, and he was a contributing member of the Nuggets' rotation. He averaged 9.0 points and hit a respectable 34.9% of his threes. But Hardaway ate into Strawther's minutes, and the third-year guard out of Gonzaga saw a reduction to only 15.1 minutes per game.
Despite the reduction in playing time, Strawther shot better, at 38.7% from three and 46.7% from the floor for 7.2 points. Strawther only saw extended minutes when someone ahead of him on the depth chart was out with an injury. Which happened a lot last year, and he made a career-high 14 starts.
Strawther showed in those 14 starts that his offensive upside is strong. He averaged 26.5 minutes, scoring 14.8 points on 48.4% shooting and 38.5% from three.
But his weakness is on defense. So is DeRozan's. But DeRozan's a six-time former All-Star, and his offense is leaps and bounds better than Strawther's. For the second year in a row, a veteran will come in and push Strawther down the depth chart.
The Nuggets should look to trade Strawther rather than extend him
Strawther is up for a contract extension before the offseason ends, but the Nuggets shouldn't offer him the extension. Instead, they should look to trade Strawther as a salary dump to help them get back under the second apron penalty threshold. The Nuggets are currently the only team over the mark, and you can bet they won't finish the season as the only violator of the luxury tax top penalty zone.
If the Nuggets don't trade Strawther, he'll likely just be a depth piece because, for the second season in a row, a veteran took his backup shooting-guard spot.
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