The Nuggets are showing strong interest in Alpha Diallo before his July 15 NBA opt-out deadline, putting the 29-year-old forward at the center of a late-summer roster chase. Diallo is still poised to join Dubai Basketball for the 2026/27 season, but Denver’s push gives him a second route that has to be sorted now.
This matters because Diallo’s window is short. His new agreement with Dubai includes an NBA opt-out clause until July 15, so the decision is not open-ended, and that is why the Nuggets are moving with urgency. He also just finished a season that explains the appeal: in 42 EuroLeague outings for AS Monaco in 2025/26, he averaged 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per game, won the EuroLeague Best Defender award and led the league with 57 steals.
Diallo’s profile makes the interest easier to understand. The 6-foot-7 forward spent the past five years with AS Monaco, finished third in voting for the EuroLeague Best Defender award a year ago and then took the trophy this season after also placing first among forwards in points allowed per possession at 0.844. He was a former Providence standout, made the All-Big East second team twice and went undrafted in 2020 before building into one of the league’s most reliable two-way wings.
The friction for Denver is roster math. The Nuggets currently have only eight players on standard contracts, have reportedly reached minimum-salary deals with Tyus Jones and Marvin Bagley III, and are still negotiating with restricted free agents Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones. That creates a narrow lane for another addition, and there is positional overlap between Watson, Jones and Diallo. In practical terms, that means Denver may not be able to go beyond a minimum-salary offer even if its interest is real.
Diallo’s next step is now the story’s hinge. If he uses the NBA opt-out, Denver can try to turn interest into a deal before July 15; if he does not, he is still lined up for Dubai Basketball and the Nuggets lose their cleanest opening. For a player who has already won domestic championships with Monaco in 2023, 2024 and 2026 and helped carry the team to the EuroLeague final four in 2025, the choice comes down to whether this is the moment to leave Europe or stay with the path already set.
