Not the biggest distrohopper on the planet, but I have been using GNU/Linux since around 2006 so I will throw my hat in the ring with some comments and answers I have seen to similar questions over the years.

* Straight-up Debian is not always recommended as a desktop distro. I use Debian Testing as my desktop distro, though, and have had no problems. I did use Debian Sid, which works like a rolling distro in the sense that it does not need to be reinstalled for major version updates. I managed to mess it up during an update by carelessly pressing 'y' without reading what was written in the terminal.

* I have used Manjaro in the past, and it was fine. Just take it easy with packages from the AUR and everything will be OK. And remember: Manjaro != Arch. I tried Arch and used it for a long time. Not a single issue. Quite seamless, great wiki.

* I tried MX for quite some time. It might be worth looking at because you can access some newer packages through backports and the built-in tools can be helpful setting this up. I found it to be just as fast and seamless as Arch. MX is semi-rolling and Debian-based.

* Right now, I see a lot of people talking about Fedora as a great desktop Linux experience. It is one of the few major distros that I have never tried. Several of the big Linux YouTubers recommend it for Desktop use.

If I were you, I would stick with what works until it doesn't work. If you keep digging around, you'll start spending more time keeping your dotfiles in order than actually enjoying the distro. I stuck with Ubuntu for years until my hardware couldn't keep up with the demands of the DE. I lived in a minimal, tiling window manager for a few years. Like you, I like how Debian and apt work. So, my first pick for you would be MX.

Other options:

Bunsen Labs https://www.bunsenlabs.org/ (very light DE)

Linux Mint https://linuxmint.com/ (good transition from Ubuntu, loved by many)

Pop!_OS https://system76.com/pop

Neon https://neon.kde.org/ (if you want latest KDE)