Julian Strawther

Team: Denver Nuggets · Position: SG/SF · Age during season: 24

Reported baseline

Strawther played 57 games in 2025-26 and averaged 7.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 three, 0.4 steals and 0.1 blocks in 15.1 minutes. He shot 46.7% from the field and 81.4% from the line.¹ Hardaway left for Miami, removing one direct source of bench shooting and usage.²

ESPN's July snapshot ranked Strawther 306th standard and 365th roto, consistent with a player whose current base role does not create standard-league category volume.³

Encyclopedia projection

Correction 2026-07-18: minutes cut from 15 to 12 and counting stats rescaled (rates held constant), because the team desk's primary minute model now assumes Peyton Watson is retained. Hoops Rumors reported July 17 that Denver values Watson "significantly" and believes it is positioned well to keep him, with the interested teams all over the cap, so retention is the modal outcome rather than a branch. The prior 15-minute line survives as the Watson-departs contingency. https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2026/07/nuggets-rumors-watson-joerger-roddy-diallo.html

9-cat per-game band: 250-plus. Points: waiver-only outside deep formats. Dynasty: hold only in deep leagues where a future 25-MPG shooting role has value.

Fantasy profile

• Helps: threes and points per minute, with useful FT accuracy when attempts rise.
• Hurts: steals, blocks, assists and rebounds; little category insulation when the shot is not falling.
• Floor: squeezed below 12 MPG if Peyton Watson or Spencer Jones returns and the rookies defend better.
• Ceiling: 23-25 MPG and roughly two threes per game if he becomes Denver's trusted sixth-man shooter.

Role and confidence

The primary rotation, which assumes Watson is retained, gives Strawther 12 minutes; the signed-only contingency gives him 15. Spencer Jones is also an unresolved restricted free agent, so his final competition is not settled. He must also prove he can survive defensively next to Denver's starters. Roster confidence high, minutes medium-low, rate medium, availability medium-high.

Sources

Career record

Pre-NBA: Gonzaga, three seasons (2020-23), rising from 3.4 PPG as a freshman to 15.2 PTS / 6.2 REB on .469 FG / .408 3P as a junior; First Team All-WCC (2023). Draft: 2023, Round 1, Pick 29 (selected by Indiana, draft-night trade to Denver).

Durability: 50 / 65 / 57 games across three seasons — the gaps are mostly rotation decisions and DNPs rather than a chronic injury pattern; no significant injury history flagged on his Wikipedia ledger.

Trajectory: The record shows a shooting specialist whose efficiency has climbed every year (.369 to .467 FG) while his minutes peaked in 2024-25 and then receded when Denver tightened the rotation. Notably, 2025-26 was a step back in role, not in shooting. In 2026-27 he competes for the reserve-wing shooting minutes behind Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun, with Peyton Watson's retention capping him near 12 MPG. He becomes fantasy-relevant only if Watson departs or a starting wing misses extended time and Strawther converts the 15-minute contingency into a 23-25 MPG sixth-man shooting role with roughly two threes a game.

Career sources: ESPN career stats · Wikipedia

Open questions

• Does either Denver RFA return and take the first reserve-wing assignment?
• Can Strawther raise his steal/block rates enough to matter beyond 3PM?
• Does Denver trust him to close when Cameron Johnson or Christian Braun sits?