Marvin Bagley III
Bagley signed with Denver on a veteran minimum deal this offseason and has been running as the backup center behind Nikola Jokic through the first week of training camp and the preseason opener.
Role
Not part of the starting five, which returns Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Cameron Johnson, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic unchanged from last season. At training camp (second day, September 30, 2026) coach David Adelman described Bagley as "a traditional 5," and a camp scrimmage video posted October 1, 2026 showed Denver's second unit as DeRozan, Strawther, Diallo, Jones and Bagley. In the preseason opener on October 4, 2026, a 109-97 loss to Utah, Bagley played as the backup center once the Nuggets' starters sat, appearing with a bench group of Tyus Jones, Julian Strawther, Cam Whitmore and Trevon Brazile. He is competing with DaRon Holmes, Zeke Nnaji and Trevon Brazile for frontcourt bench minutes, with Tyus Jones projected as the backup power forward rather than center.
He arrives on a cheap deal after a strong stretch across Washington and Dallas last season, and camp usage so far has him as coach Adelman's named backup center ahead of a crowded group of other bigs, giving him a clear path to rotation minutes behind an iron-man starter in Jokic.
This is one preseason game and a few camp practices, Bagley is on a minimum contract in a backup frontcourt that also includes DaRon Holmes, Zeke Nnaji and Trevon Brazile, and Jokic's heavy minutes at center naturally cap how much playing time is available behind him.
Where analysts split
Whether Adelman's "traditional 5" framing from camp (September 30, 2026) locks Bagley in as the clear first big off the bench, or whether DaRon Holmes and Zeke Nnaji still cut into that role once real preseason minutes and the regular season arrive; outlets have not settled this.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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