For all that’s changed with the Nuggets — new coach, new personnel, new defensive strategy, to name a few — Julian Strawther finds himself in a familiar spot.

Heading into his third NBA season, Strawther is again on the verge of an every-night role. First-year coach David Adelman was still determining how many guys will play meaningful minutes on a typical night, as the Nuggets prepared for the third of their five preseason games.

“We’d love to start the year with 10 guys, possibly 11, but that has to be proven on the court,” Adelman said Thursday before the Nuggets host the Clippers at Ball Arena on Sunday. “It can’t just be something we put on paper, and it’s going to work.”

If it is 10 or 11, Strawther should be safe. He has joined Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., Peyton Watson and Jonas Valanciunas in Denver’s reshaped second unit to start preseason. That group has featured its fair share of promise and growing pains through two games.

“We can play with a lot of pace, but it has to be controlled pace. I feel like we’ve got a lot of different talent offensively and defensively,” Strawther said. “It’s just a matter of bringing it in as one unit, but that’s what the preseason is for. It’s an opportunity to get out there and work out the kinks.”

If the rotation is reduced to nine, Strawther will be in a competition. Strawther has shown he can stretch the court with his shot and drive to get to his trusted floater at the NBA level. He proved he can do it in the playoffs, scoring 15 points in 20 minutes of playing time in Denver’s Game 6 win over the Thunder at Ball Arena, but he also did not play in five of Denver’s 14 playoff games last season. He played 6 or fewer minutes in four other playoff games against the Clippers and Thunder.

The 23-year-old’s minutes could come down to his defensive impact, the same as it did under former coach Michael Malone.

“Guys like Julian, they’re, you know, offensive players by nature. He’s a wing player that can handle it and score and shoot,” Adelman said. “He’s got to find a way to impact on the other end — if that’s taking charges, using his hands correctly, being more active in any sense he can, you know, that gives him a better chance to play more minutes.”

It hasn’t all been for a lack of effort through his first two seasons. Strawther said being sound defensively was the primary focus of his offseason followed by increasing his comfort on the ball. Previously, he has seen his minutes cut by a struggle to defend without fouling. Denver has stressed a more physical defensive philosophy, something Strawther’s learning to navigate. Having officials at a couple of early practices, including Thursday’s, has helped.

“I feel like it’s a matter of just understanding, especially the rule changes like today, having the refs in here, showing us the videos, understanding what they’re looking for when they’re calling fouls on the defensive end,” Strawther said. “

“Then, it’s also understanding playing to my own strengths on the defensive end. I’m not one of them guys like ‘CB’ (Christian Braun) who’s going to be picking up 94 (feet), like glued to somebody’s jersey. It’s just understanding that I’ve got to be a solid defender.”

There are three preseason games left and a couple weeks worth of practice to Strawther to carve out his biggest role yet. He played in 50 games as a rookie, averaging just under 11 minutes per game. Last season, he made the first four starts of his career and averaged 21.3 minutes per game in 65 appearances, but now there’s a new man in charge of the minutes.

“This is kind of the prove-it time for these guys,” Adelman said of those hoping to crack to the regular rotation. “We have to give them the opportunity to do that.”