In a span of 10 minutes, Julian Strawther pushed the Nuggets across the finish line of a do-or-die Game 6 in the Western Conference semifinals last spring.
He was a stab in the dark for then-interim coach David Adelman, who spent the 2025 playoffs cycling through Denver’s bench in search of viable depth. Strawther scored 14 combined points in the first five games against Oklahoma City. But in a series the Nuggets ultimately lost, he cemented himself as an unlikely hero in front of a nervous, then ecstatic Ball Arena crowd with a 15-point explosion.
For a fleeting 10 minutes on a massive stage, he saved Denver’s season.
Those 10 minutes are no longer readily available to Strawther six months later. He is experiencing the side effects of an impressive Nuggets summer more than anyone else on the roster. He’s been mostly out of the everyday rotation early this season since the team got deeper.
“(I’m) just continuing to work, continuing to trust the process,” he told The Denver Post. “Knowing that everything will happen on my own time, and understanding that there are great players on this team.”
Two of those players took Saturday off to nurse minor injuries as the Nuggets hosted Indiana in the second game of a back-to-back. Strawther seized the ensuing opportunity. In his third game playing rotation minutes (out of nine so far), he was a plus-20. Denver won 117-100.
“Your depth has to really show out, and the minutes were really good tonight for everybody,” Adelman said. “So, really proud of the bench guys. They were impactful. Loved Julian tonight. Just the fact that he hasn’t played a lot. His focus.”
Strawther recorded 12 points, six rebounds and two assists off the bench despite an 0-for-3 night from 3-point range, where he usually makes his money. His defensive energy was palpable as well, even if it resulted in three fouls.
“Knowing that it’s an extra opportunity on the table, and knowing that I haven’t had the opportunity to play much, (I wanted) to go out there and play and have fun with it,” Strawther said, acknowledging that it’s not easy mentally to grapple with a decline in playing time.
“I feel like that’s one of them things you kind of just deal with yourself. At least for me. It’s one of them things, just put my head down, work and be a great teammate.”
“He stays ready,” Nikola Jokic said. “He’s aggressive when he comes in the game, and that’s a good thing. He’s trying on defense. And I think that’s the mindset that he should have.”
Strawther played 65 games last season, his second in the NBA. He averaged 21.3 minutes. He attempted 4.1 shots outside the arc per game with a second unit that often didn’t know where to turn for a scoring jolt. He was a rotation player for a contender, a trial by fire at 22 years old. It exposed inconsistencies in his offense and deficiencies in his defense. It also revealed heart and a heat-check gene. He scored 18 or more points eight times in the regular season.
Then there was that Game 6, which felt like a watershed moment for one of Denver’s developmental projects. Strawther proved he could contribute meaningfully to winning, in a high-stakes situation, against a seemingly impenetrable defense.
But the Nuggets made tangible improvements to their roster in the offseason. They signed Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown to bolster the second unit. Part of the appeal with Hardaway was his ability to score in bursts, like Strawther — only Hardaway has been doing it for more than a decade. He started for a playoff team as recently as last season.
To compare the two might be unfair to Strawther, who was drafted 29th overall and is just entering the second half of his rookie-scale contract. Hardaway hasn’t just filled the role that was once Strawther’s; he has emerged as Denver’s sixth man in the first fraction of the season, shooting 46% from 3. He and Strawther are actually shooting partners on the practice court, where Strawther is trying to learn from him. “His mechanics are the same every single time,” the young guard said.
For the Nuggets, an overflowing depth chart is the best problem to have. And the subsequent selflessness required of their players has been a prevailing theme of Adelman’s messaging ever since he took over.
There are only so many minutes to go around.
“I can encourage them, but it really is the person. The person has to decide they’re going to stay ready,” he said. “Human beings, on anything in life, if you don’t get your opportunity right away and you’re full of excuses, you fail. If you don’t want to fail, you stay ready. And you have confidence in yourself that when you get your opportunity, you’ll be ready to play. And that’s what Julian has done.
“It’s going to be ups and downs for these guys. It’s a rotation of players that are going to play nightly, and those other guys are going to get bit opportunities, and when they get those opportunities, they’ve gotta take advantage of it.”
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