The Nuggets are planning to sign former CU Buffs star KJ Simpson to a two-way contract, filling the spot they opened up by converting Spencer Jones to a standard NBA deal on Wednesday, league sources told The Denver Post.
Simpson, 23, was waived by Charlotte after the trade deadline this month. Drafted 42nd overall by the Hornets in 2024, he played in 50 games over the last two seasons and started 17 of them, averaging 7.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
The 6-foot-2 guard represents additional ball-handling depth for the Nuggets as they prepare for the last third of the regular season. They returned from the All-Star break sitting in third place in the Western Conference, but their cushion on seventh was only three games as they resumed play Thursday at the Clippers. Simpson won’t be eligible to appear in NBA playoff games while he’s on a two-way contract.
Denver now has three guards occupying its two-way spots, with Simpson joining rookies Curtis Jones and Tamar Bates.
Simpson played 98 games during a three-year college career at Colorado. He earned First Team All-Pac-12 honors as a junior and stamped his place in program history during the 2024 NCAA Tournament, when he buried a game-winning shot against Florida to send CU to the second round. That Colorado team broke a program record with 26 wins. Simpson, Tristan da Silva and Cody Williams were each drafted in 2024.
Players on two-way contracts split their time between the NBA and G League, depending on where they’re needed. Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, has been without key players such as Jones, Bates and big man DaRon Holmes II for most of the last two months, with Jones and Holmes assigned to Denver and Bates injured.
The Nuggets have used Jalen Pickett and Julian Strawther as complementary guards in the starting lineup recently while navigating injuries. They prefer to use Tim Hardaway Jr. off the bench to generate an extra scoring jolt when they go to their substitutions, though Hardaway has also closed several games this season.
Spencer Jones free agency detail
When Jones goes to restricted free agency this summer, his price tag might be more expensive than the Nuggets can afford while also absorbing other pay increases.
Jones started 34 games for Denver before the All-Star break. If he starts seven more and gets to 41, he’ll become the first player to qualify for a CBA provision called the “starter criteria,” sources told The Post. Basically, it would increase his qualifying offer to more than $5 million.
For the Nuggets to retain their matching rights as the incumbent team in restricted free agency, they’re required to first extend a one-year guaranteed qualifying offer to the player between the last game of the NBA Finals and June 29. Peyton Watson is also set to be a restricted free agent.Between Watson’s contract situation and the raises owed to Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon on their respective extensions, the Nuggets’ payroll is currently projected to skyrocket back into the luxury tax in July.
Whether they choose the tax, the first apron or the second apron as the threshold they want to stay under, they’ll likely end up in a pinch. And that means they’ll have very little room for salaries above the minimum on the bottom half of their roster. Jones could feasibly become another casualty of Denver’s depth if he starts enough games before the end of the season.
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