DeMar DeRozan Signs With Unexpected Team in Free Agency
The Nuggets are signing 6x NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan, league sources told @ClutchPoints.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) August 21, 2026
After sending Peyton Watson to the Cavs in a sign-and-trade, Denver bolsters their secondary scoring depth next to Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic by signing DeRozan.
For the Nuggets, it's a nice recovery after losing restricted free agent Peyton Watson in a sign-and-trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But DeRozan's hands were seemingly tied, as his other serious suitors have all fallen off the board. Cleveland getting Watson, and then the Miami Heat signing Klay Thompson, left DeRozan not much choice. He gets a one-year, $3.9 million deal.
The six-time All-Star did not want to sign for the league minimum and was hoping for a chunk of, or all of, a team's mid-level exception (up $15M for non-taxpaying teams), but the Nuggets are not able to offer anything of that sort, being hard-capped at the second apron.
But according to insider Chris Haynes, DeRozan was excited to have a chance to make a run for a title with the Nuggets, and had been in talks with Denver's Big 3 leading up to the signing.
DeMar DeRozan has been in conversations with Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray and is anxious for the opportunity to play for a contending team, sources say. Denver adds another veteran clutch bucket-getter. https://t.co/ONqDT9xqxl
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 21, 2026
DeRozan has been in conversations with Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray, says Haynes, and he is being welcomed with open arms to the team that just lost a key player in Watson.
DD will not provide the perimeter defense that Watson did, but his offensive game is at a far more advanced level, and will make it even tougher for defenses to stop Denver from scoring.