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Feb 19, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman at press conference at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

David Adelman Gets Honest on Nuggets' Playoff Readiness

Originally posted on Denver Nuggets on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Mar 18, 2026 9:00 AM ET

The Denver Nuggets sit just under a month away from the regular season ending, and this year's playoffs slate finally rolls around to give this group their chance at a trip to the Finals that they've been striving for over the past five months.

However, with that gap between now and the playoffs getting smaller, the Nuggets' time to gel and get this rotation ready to be at a championship level is dwindling as well.

Considering this group really hasn't been able to be at 100% health since November, they'll be facing a pretty significant disadvantage when stacked up against some of the other top teams in the league.

So, when Nuggets head coach David Adelman was asked about just how much time Denver needs to get ready for a deep run, he made it clear that the more time they have, the better things will be. But before thinking too much about that playoff readiness, they have to actually secure their spot in that postseason mix first.

"As much [time] as possible, and also we have to make the playoffs to be in a playoff round," Adelman said before facing the Philadelphia 76ers.

David Adelman Seeing Positive Steps From Nuggets

As to how Adelman feels about the Nuggets' recent track record as a whole, he's pretty pleased with the result altogether, especially when it comes to getting Aaron Gordon back in the fold after over a month without him in the lineup.

"It’s been good, nothing replaces repetition, just having Aaron [Gordon]’s minutes has been good for us. I thought the Laker game was a lot of growth because we played him the two ways he will play in big moments, which is starting and being our four man and then in the second unit we can go there," Adel,man said.

"[Gordon] was really good I thought in the fourth quarter to start that quarter with Jamal [Murray], with him and Spence [Jones] being the fake four and five. So, stuff like that is really important. Tim [Hardaway Jr.] getting a chance to play alongside him, the minutes changed with Cam [Johnson] coming out earlier and coming back in at different times."

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

A lot of the Nuggets' turbulence this season can be drawn up to simple growing pains due to the the inconsistency plaguing their lineup due to multiple injuries to key players in the rotation.

Therefore, the more time this group has to not only get healthy, but to gel on the floor once everyone's at 100%, the better they'll be come time for the playoffs.

"All of that stuff is key to finding a rhythm with your team," Adelman continued. "With Peyton [Watson] it will be the same thing. I do think with the amount of games, as many as we can obviously. When Peyton gets back it will be good for everybody. Not just for Peyt to be playing but to be fair to the other guys."

"Having those conversations, tough conversations, about minutes, rotations, who’s going to play and why. You can’t really do that until it’s real and it’s in your face. There were a lot of positives last week. Some tough moments, but I took a lot from it and there’s a lot I learned from watching our team play."

It's far from an overnight process for the Nuggets to get to a championship-level team. But still, with a month to go before the postseason action gets underway, they have more than enough time at their disposal to get this group refined and ready to go for a deep run in the Western Conference.

This article first appeared on Denver Nuggets on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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