Nuggets Fantasy Basketball Outlook: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and More

The NBA regular season opens later this month, so it’s time to start gearing up for your fantasy drafts. We’ll kick off our preseason coverage by taking a look at the defending champion Denver Nuggets.

There was not a lot of turnover with the Denver roster, with the team mostly deciding to run things back with the same group it used in 2022-23. Let’s dive into the roster and then take a look at where players are being drafted and if that’s a good spot for them to be going.

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Nikola Jokic Fantasy Outlook

Fittingly, the player going first overall in most drafts is part of the defending champions roster. Jokic averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.7 blocks last season while shooting about 63% from the field.

Denver’s center played in 69 games and averaged just under 34 minutes per game. There simply aren't many negatives to Jokic’s game, with just 3.6 turnovers and 2.5 fouls a game.

Jokic’s all-around game makes him a great pick in any type of league. He might not be as big a scorer as some of the players drafted around him, but he’s able to make up for it with his rebounds and assists. 

Last season was the first in Jokic’s career where he didn’t reach 70 games played, so he’s always stayed pretty healthy. With the NBA’s new resting rules for star players, that should quell most concerns about star players playing in enough games.

At the time of this publication, Jokic is the top player in all of our average draft position lists.

Jamal Murray Fantasy Outlook

Murray is the second Nugget being considered in drafts. Murray played 65 games during the 2022-23 season, putting up averages of 20 points, 4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1 steal and 0.2 blocks. He played just under 33 minutes a game.

Any concerns about Murray returning to his old self after an ACL injury kept him out the previous season were put to rest. His shooting percentages were a touch down, but he still shot an efficient 49% overall and just under 40% from 3-point land. His assists mark was the highest total in his career.

Like Jokic, Murray simply does a lot of good things while on the court, while limiting mistakes. He averaged just 2.2 turnovers and 1.6 fouls a game.

Murray is currently ranked between 43-44 on our ADP lists.

Michael Porter Jr. Fantasy Outlook

Porter put together one of his better seasons last year. He averaged 29 minutes played in the 62 games he appeared in. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1 assist, 0.6 steals and 0.5 blocks a contest.

Porter’s shooting percentages dipped a bit, but were still solid at nearly 49% overall and 41% from 3-point land. He averaged just 1.1 turnovers and 1.9 fouls.

Porter is another consistent player for the Nuggets, scoring under 10 points just six times. He doesn’t have the big point potential that Murray and Jokic have, with last year’s season high being 31 points.

Porter has an ADP of anywhere from 73-97 in our ADP lists at this point.

Aaron Gordon Fantasy Outlook

Gordon turned in his best season with the Nuggets last year and was a big reason why the team took the next step and went on to win it all. Gordon averaged 30.2 minutes a game and started all 68 games he played in. 

Gordon capped the year with averages of 16.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks. He shot a career best 56% from the floor and was a respectable 35% from deep. Gordon turned the ball over just 1.4 times a game and was only at 1.9 fouls a contest. 

Gordon scored under 10 points in just eight games. His season high was 37 points and had 17 games over 20 points.

The Denver big has an ADP between 83-99.

Reggie Jackson Fantasy Outlook

Jackson was traded to the Nuggets from the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2022-23 regular season. He played 68 total games and got 40 starts. Jackson played 16 games and started twice for Denver.

With the Nuggets, Jackson averaged 7.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.1 blocks across 19.9 minutes. He shot about 38% from the floor and 28% from behind the 3-point line. 

Jackson is expected to be one of the Nuggets' top reserves this season, spending time at point guard and shooting guard. 

Jackson has an ADP between 197-252.

Other Nuggets to Consider

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the only other Nugget with an ADP, currently at 143rd. He averaged 10.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, 1.1 turnovers and 1.9 fouls across 31.3 minutes and 76 games started in his first season with Denver. He shot 46% overall and 42% from 3-point land. 

Christian Braun could see an expanded role this season after playing in 76 games last season. He averaged 4.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.2 blocks, 0.5 turnovers and 1.3 fouls across 15.5 minutes played. He showed flashes of being a strong scorer, both in the regular season and postseason.

Justin Holiday was signed this offseason to provide some depth at the 2 and 3 spots. He played 46 games and averaged 15.3 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 blocks, 0.5 turnovers and 1.5 fouls a contest last year. 

Who Should You Draft?

Let’s start things off with Jokic and his first overall draft pick slot. If you are lucky enough to have the first pick in your draft, you can confidently pick Jokic and feel safe that he’s going to live up to his lofty expectations and projections. He’s one of the most consistent players in the league and rarely ever will play back-to-back games with poor fantasy showings.

Murray doesn’t fill the stat sheet up like Jokic does, but he is one of the more consistent players you’ll find across the league. Being the second option behind Jokic means he might not often be the top scorer, but when teams try to take Jokic away, Murray is capable of 30+ point nights. For where he’s being drafted, you aren’t going to find much better value and consistency than Murray.

Porter does not offer a whole lot of fantasy upside outside of his scoring and rebounding, but his consistency makes him a solid pick. There are some other players near him that offer a more well-rounded game, so if you aren’t in dire need of scoring, I might wait an extra round to pick Porter and instead choose a guy who can average more assists or steals.

Gordon offers a more well-rounded game than Porter, so his ADP I can get behind more confidently. I actually wouldn’t mind taking Gordon a round earlier than he’s currently going, as he’s capable of filling up the stat sheet and being a more consistent scorer than some of the guys being drafted before him.

Jackson is a pretty solid fantasy player for a guy that’s mostly going to be coming off the bench. I’d expect his numbers to bump up a bit after an offseason with the team, so his current ADP is pretty fair in terms of when I’d consider picking him.

Caldwell-Pope played a big role for the Nuggets last year, but it doesn’t translate to a great fantasy player. I'd wait an extra round or two before considering KCP.

Braun and Holiday are guys that should probably only be drafted in deeper leagues. Both will have their fair share of solid games, but they likely will struggle to put up consistent numbers while playing reserve roles.