Nuggets Preseason Minutes Are Telling Us Who David Adelman Actually Trusts

We are now three games into the Denver Nuggets' five-game preseason slate, with the team coming fresh off a nail-biting win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night. For the most part, we have seen the Nuggets' full roster get some work in through these first three preseason games, with Spencer Jones as an exception, so we are getting a good idea of who David Adelman trusts and who still needs to work for it.

Through three games, it feels obvious who has earned Adelman's trust so far. Let's take a look at the game-by-game breakdown of who Adelman has turned to and why it matters for the 2026-27 rotation.

Game 1: Loss vs. Jazz

First of all, special shout-out to Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports for breaking down the rotation for each preseason game so far.

In the Nuggets' preseason opener against the Jazz, the Nuggets were missing Jamal Murray, so they turned to Tyus Jones to fill in as the starting point guard. Besides that, they kept their starting five the same as expected.

DeMar DeRozan was the first to check in off the bench, with Julian Strawther and Trevon Brazile quick to follow. This is the only game of the preseason in which Brazile has earned time with the second unit, as Adelman was likely trying to see if the rookie forward could fill the void left by Spencer Jones' absence.

Then, we got Marvin Bagley III relieving Nikola Jokic as the team's backup center. Immediately, from the first rotation, we get a feel that Adelman has some trust in Tyus Jones, Strawther, and Bagley. That trend continues in each of the next two games.

After the first rotation, though, we see Adelman give some second-quarter minutes to Zeke Nnaji and two-way guard Ryan Nembhard. In the second half, Adelman turned to his bench a lot more, with Nembhard, Alpha Diallo, DaRon Holmes, Cam Whitmore, Bryce Hopkins, and Lonnie Walker IV getting the bulk of the minutes.

This preseason opener was not the best indicator of what the regular season rotation will look like, but it at least gave us three bench players we know Adelman immediately trusts: Tyus Jones, Strawther, and Bagley.

Game 2: Win vs. Jazz

In the second preseason game, Adelman cleaned up the rotation. With Murray back, we got the full starting lineup together, and we got some clarity on the bench unit as well.

Strawther and DeRozan were the first subs for the Nuggets, while Tyus Jones, Diallo, and Bagley rounded out the second unit. After what he showed in the preseason opener and throughout training camp, Diallo has earned a spot in Adelman's inner circle. In game two, we saw how much of an impact Diallo can make when given ample opportunities, and it became clear he will have a much larger role in Denver's regular-season rotation than expected.

We still saw Nnaji, Brazile, Nembhard, Holmes, Whitmore, Hopkins, and Walker IV get their fair share of opportunities in the second half of this game while the starters sat. By this point, we can see Adelman favor Brazile, Nembhard, and Whitmore, but none of them are getting opportunities with the first or second units.

After game two, we get a good idea that Adelman has at least 11 players he wants to see play, including Spencer Jones, who has yet to appear in the preseason.

Game 3: Win vs. Bulls

In the most recent game, Adelman only reinforced what we were feeling after the win over the Utah Jazz. They had the entire starting five available, who had their biggest workload of the preseason so far, and the bench unit went about as expected.

Off the bench, Adelman first turned to Strawther and DeRozan again, with Tyus Jones and Diallo quickly following, giving us a similar rotation to game two. However, the difference was that Bagley was sidelined, so instead, Adelman leaned on Nnaji as the backup center, who had a quick six-minute stint and did not return.

There were some other interesting parts about the Nuggets' bench in this game, though. Two-way rookie Bryce Hopkins played the most minutes of any bench player (17) and even played a short stint with the starters. Could Hopkins be another player competing for minutes at the end of the rotation?

He would join the likes of Holmes, Whitmore, Brazile, and Nembhard as young guys who are fighting for minutes, as we saw each of those four get a bulk of minutes in the fourth quarter.

Another interesting tidbit from game three is that Walker IV did not play. He is on a non-guaranteed training camp contract, and after riding the bench for this game, it could signal that he does not have the future in Denver that some might've expected.

Who does Adelman trust?

After three preseason games, we can pinpoint at least 11 players who Adelman trusts, with a few notable names on the bubble.

Obviously, the starting five of Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic are all on Adelman's good side.

In the bench unit, we can see Adelman leaning toward Tyus Jones, Julian Strawther, DeMar DeRozan, Alpha Diallo, Spencer Jones, and Marvin Bagley III. For a coach who wants to run a 10-man rotation, this 11-player group could get tricky, and we are fortunate that it is not our decision to make.

On the bubble, we can see guys like Cam Whitmore, Trevon Brazile, Ryan Nembhard, and Bryce Hopkins gaining traction, but there is simply not any space in the rotation for them to get the opportunities they might deserve.

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