\u201cAlpha\u2019s not young, but he\u2019s a rookie,\u201d Nuggets<\/a> coach David Adelman<\/a> said after Monday\u2019s practice at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-7 wing was in the 2020 draft but went unselected after earning All-Big East honors twice in his career at Providence. The 29-year-old\u2019s professional career started with a productive season with Greek club Lavrio. Then, Diallo headed to France and helped AS Monaco reach unprecedented heights, including a trip to the championship of the EuroLeague last year. This year, he was named the EuroLeague\u2019s best defender before agreeing to a one-year contract with the Nuggets.<\/p>\n Diallo\u2019s NBA career starts Thursday against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited. It\u2019s new to be in this league, but I\u2019ve played pro for a few years,\u201d Diallo said.<\/p>\n \u201cI go with my same approach and live with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n The results, especially on defense, have been promising. He\u2019s a physical one-on-one defender, but he hasn\u2019t seen guys like Gilgeous-Alexander yet in his professional career.<\/p>\n \u201cThe talent level of our best players in the NBA, it brings a totally different idea team (defense) wise. I think in Europe, the responsibility is more about you guard your guy and you get through screens and you maintain what you\u2019re doing,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cOver here, you have to mix that with a lot of team concepts, but so far, Alpha\u2019s been great. His attitude is great.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s left Diallo firmly in the mix for a spot in the rotation. Adelman says the top six is clear with DeMar DeRozan joining the starters. Tyus Jones, Marvin Bagley III and a healthy Spencer Jones makes nine, leaving one, maybe two spots in the opening night rotation. Diallo admittedly has more to learn about Denver\u2019s team defense and what goes into stopping some of the NBA\u2019s elite scorers.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll just continue to be aggressive when I\u2019m in the game, try to force guys to turn the ball over as best I can and help rebound,\u201d Diallo said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still figuring it out. I won\u2019t say I have everything figured out, but that\u2019s what our coaches are here for. They talk to me every day about what I can do to improve on different aspects. I\u2019ve been listening and following.\u201d<\/p>\n The elder rookie is a few days away from showing all he\u2019s learned over the course of a long route to the NBA.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to give people a lot of credit whenever they play to their strengths and they don\u2019t try to go outside of that,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cYou usually succeed, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n What I\u2019m Thinking<\/p>\n If the Thunder decide to use Alex Caruso to physically front Nikola Jokic in the season opener, Denver should use Diallo to do the same on Chet Holmgren.<\/p>\n Holmgren is far from the same offensive player Jokic is, but it\u2019s it gives Adelman the opportunity to highlight the kind of defense Jokic is being subjected to by smaller players. Diallo can play largely without worrying about foul trouble.<\/p>\n If nothing else, it sends a strong message to the officials and the rest of the league early in the season.<\/p>\n What They\u2019re Saying<\/p>\n Lu Dort is no longer in Oklahoma City, but the Thunder still have plenty of players capable of making life difficult for Jamal Murray and Denver\u2019s other ball handlers. The Nuggets coach talked about how he might address that.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaying with Aaron is a lot different,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cIf they choose to play Chet on Aaron Gordon, we feel like Aaron Gordon can orchestrate the offense. That\u2019s something we didn\u2019t have last year outside of 30 games. That helps Jamal Murray a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n Rookie Bryce Hopkins is another guy who could make his NBA debut Thursday against the Thunder. He said the nerves haven\u2019t hit just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m definitely anxious to get out there in OKC and just feel it, see the fans, see everything,\u201d Hopkins said. \u201cWe have a pretty good team, and I know that the guys are going to be ready for it. We\u2019ve been putting in a ton of work this offseason, so we\u2019re ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n What I\u2019m Following<\/p>\n The Nuggets and Julian Strawther failed to reach a contract extension before Monday\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n Dalton Knecht, a former standout at Prairie View High School, Northeastern Junior College, Northern Colorado and Tennessee, was waived by the Lakers Monday before rosters were finalized. The Lakers drafted the 25-year-old forward with the 17th pick of the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n Ben Simmons\u2019 comeback will be significantly delayed. The Kings guard and former No. 1 overall pick tore his Achilles tendon and will undergo season-ending surgery, the team announced Sunday.<\/p>\n Charlotte\u2019s Brandon Miller (five years, $209 million) and Oklahoma City\u2019s Cason Wallace (five years, $139 million) were among the players who signed extensions on their rookie contracts recently.<\/p>\n Memphis\u2019s Walter Clayton Jr., the 18th pick of the 2025 draft, and Dallas center Dwight Powell, who spent 12 years with the Mavericks, were among the other players waived before the start of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room: NBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":888325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[1750,326538,4134,355,1756,99],"class_list":["post-888324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-aaron-gordon","tag-alpha-diallo","tag-david-adelman","tag-nba","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Oklahoma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/AP25130219191166-scaled-1.jpg\")
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, center, drives to the basket as Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, left and guard Russell Westbrook defend in the second half Game 3 in the Western Conference semifinals May 9, 2025, in Denver. (The Associated Press)<\/p>\n