Nuggets linked to six-time All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan

The Denver Nuggets are being linked to six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan as the veteran guard searches for a new home after being waived by the Sacramento Kings on July 6.

The Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Denver Nuggets are among the teams interested in DeRozan, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

“I’m told Miami, Denver and Cleveland are among the teams interested in DeMar DeRozan,” Charania reported during a Monday appearance on NBA Today.

REPORT: The Miami Heat are targeting DeMar DeRozan and Klay Thompson, per @ShamsCharania

“I’m told Miami, Denver, and Cleveland are among the teams interested in DeMar DeRozan… There is a player out west that is overlapping with DeRozan as far as interest from teams. That is… pic.twitter.com/ChLZN7Zdqm

— Heat Central (@TheHeatCentral) July 27, 2026

DeRozan can still play. The two-time All-NBA Second Teamer averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field with the Kings last season. He appeared in 77 of 82 games, continuing a career-long trend of durability. He’s suited up for at least 70 games in each of the past five seasons.

The 36-year-old DeRozan, who turns 37 in August, was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft and has spent 17 seasons in the league. He ranks in the top 25 all-time in career scoring and strung together 12 consecutive seasons averaging at least 20 points before dipping to 18.4 last year.

Sacramento originally acquired DeRozan in a sign-and-trade from Chicago on a three-year, $73.7 million deal in the summer of 2024, but the Kings waived him this month after failing to find a trade partner, due in part to his near $26 million cap hit.

In Denver, DeRozan would fill a sixth-man role, providing a scoring and defensive boost off the bench that could immediately address one of the team’s biggest weaknesses. The Nuggets ranked just 20th in the NBA in bench scoring last season and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, their earliest postseason exit since 2022.

The fit makes sense on paper. DeRozan wouldn’t be expected to lead the charge alongside Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray, but his veteran presence and shot creation would fill a glaring need.

The finances, however, are another story. After matching Oklahoma City’s two-year, $12 million offer sheet for restricted free agent Spencer Jones, the Nuggets find themselves as the only team in the second apron, the league’s most restrictive spending tier.

DeRozan has reportedly indicated a willingness to sign for the veteran’s minimum to play for a contender, which may be Denver’s only path to making a deal work. Whether the Nuggets can land DeRozan over the Heat and Cavaliers remains to be seen. But for a team desperately in need of bench scoring, the pursuit is worth every effort.

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