Report: Denver Nuggets looking to add EuroLeague DPOY

The last time the Nuggets went shopping in the EuroLeague, they inked Facundo Campazzo, a 5-foot-11 magician from Real Madrid whose highlight-reel dimes made Ball Arena roar — right up until his size and lack of shooting were exposed.

Campazzo was a smart, creative gamble that didn’t quite hit. But Denver’s new front office is thinking about going back to the international market. And this time, the target is a very different kind of player.

Per Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews, the Nuggets are showing strong interest in Alpha Diallo, the 2025-26 EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year.

The 29-year-old forward currently sits under contract with Dubai Basketball, but an exit clause allowing him to leave for the NBA expires Tuesday — July 15.

The Nuggets might have a leg up in convincing Diallo to come back stateside, because he isn’t some stranger to the Mile High City.

Born in New York, Diallo moved to Denver with his mother as a teenager and played at Denver West High School, where he led the Cowboys to the Sweet 16 in the Class 4A state tournament as a sophomore — the program’s first postseason run in years. He was a 4-star recruit who played AAU ball with the Colorado Hawks and listed the Denver Broncos as his favorite NFL team on his Providence bio.

He left Colorado before his junior year after a messy transfer-eligibility ruling by CHSAA forced him to Brewster Academy in New Hampshire and, eventually, to Providence.

There, Diallo was a four-year starter who earned two All-Big East selections and piled up 1,591 career points, 833 rebounds and 165 steals.

He went undrafted in 2020 and took the overseas route, grinding through a season in Greece with Lavrio before landing at AS Monaco, where he spent five EuroLeague seasons and turned himself into one of the best two-way forwards in European basketball.

Diallo averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 28 minutes a game for Monaco. Synergy Sports graded him “excellent” in overall defensive possessions, man-to-man coverage and pressing situations. He led all EuroLeague forwards in points allowed per possession at 0.844 and clamped ball-handlers in the pick-and-roll at 0.706 points per possession — top 20 in the entire league. Monaco forced the fourth-most turnovers in the EuroLeague.

He was voted Best Defender by the league’s head coaches.

On offense, Diallo isn’t going to be confused as a sharpshooter but he’s serviceable. His EuroLeague shooting splits at 51%/37%/74% over 312 pro games. Not a liability, not a weapon. He can make the open one. That’s enough for the Nuggets.

So why does this make sense for Denver?

Because this team’s championship window is propped open by Nikola Jokic’s generational brilliance, and the Nuggets may have just watched it slam shut in a first-round exit against Minnesota. The offense was nuclear — best rating in the NBA at 122.6. The defense? Twenty-first. A 117.4 defensive rating. That gap is chief on the list of things that ended the Nuggets season.

Christian Braun and Peyton Watson don’t get enough credit for what they do on the perimeter. Both are strong defenders when engaged, and Braun’s toughness has played out in the postseason before. But the Nuggets need more. They need bodies. They need guys who can get over a screen, who can press, who can make life miserable for a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or an Anthony Edwards in a half-court set. Diallo might be an option at 6-foot-7, 210 pounds.

While not proven in the NBA, he’s a creative solution and possibly a cheap one — which is key right now.

Denver’s finances are not in a good spot. With Watson looking at a deal similar to draft classmate Braun of around $25 million annually in restricted free agency and negotiations with Klutch Sports remain far apart; Denver is now listening to sign-and-trade offers. Spencer Jones, the other RFA, wants to test the market too.

If the Nuggets re-sign Watson and Jones on fair deals, ownership might force the front office to move one of Braun or Cam Johnson just to avoid a luxury-tax bill that could top $200 million.

Finances and a slow moving summer thus far are why a EuroLeague DPOY on a minimum deal isn’t some cute depth add — it could be a big part of the Nuggets roster construction given they have to fill nearly half their roster on a shoestring budget.

Diallo has NBA size. He’s spent five years becoming the most feared perimeter defender in Europe’s top league. He once called Denver home. And his price tag shouldn’t break a franchise that’s already sweating every dollar. There could be an opportune fit here for both sides.

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