Point guard

���ٲ����ٱ��:��Jamal Murray

��������ܱ�:��Tyus Jones

�ճ󾱰���-���ٰ����Բ�:��KJ Simpson (two-way)

Straining to bring the ball up the court has been a common theme in this team’s lowest moments of the last few years. Against physically imposing playoff defenses, the Nuggets have struggled to get into their sets and establish the methodical, read-and-react game they prefer to play. Murray is a masterfully skilled ball-handler who can dance with the best of them, not to mention a high-IQ passer — but beating a 90-foot press up the floor with pure quickness isn’t his forte. When that responsibility rests entirely on his shoulders, he tends to get worn down over the course of a series, becoming less effective at what he does best in the halfcourt. David Adelman’s offense often functions best when Murray can start off the ball and use a pin-down to catch in the flow of action around him.

That’s all to say that Denver’s front office seems to be entrusting Tyus Jones with a pretty vital role. Acquired from the NBA’s island of misfit toys (the buyout market) in March, Jones spent two months out of the rotation. Then he emerged with two quietly impactful performances in Games 5 and 6 of Denver’s ill-fated playoff series against Minnesota, providing a glimpse of why he’s stuck around in the league into his 30s. The Nuggets clearly liked what they saw from the all-time leader in assist-to-turnover ratio. Can he reliably initiate their bench offense across a much larger sample size now?

If Adelman needs additional help, he has a few cheat codes to help survive the regular season at least. It helps when your starting power forward and starting center can bring the ball up as confidently as a point guard. Small forward DeMar DeRozan could also factor into the by-committee approach.

Murray will be trying to build on the best regular season of his career, which earned him All-Star and All-NBA honors after he averaged 25 points and seven assists on 43.5% from beyond the arc. Defensively, he’ll be hunted by opposing stars, as will Jones when he’s on the court. But Murray compensates by remaining one of the most versatile offensive guards in the league, capable of functioning as the playmaker or screener in the pick-and-roll. His surge in 3-point volume last season was an important variable in taking the next step, though his efficiency plummeted in the playoffs. Now that he has proven his bona fides as an 82-game player, every season from now on will be evaluated based on playoff performance. Can Murray turn back the clock to 2023 next spring?

Shooting guard

���ٲ����ٱ��:��Christian Braun

��������ܱ�:��Julian Strawther

�ճ󾱰���-���ٰ����Բ�:��Lonnie Walker IV (Exhibit 9)

On paper, this is easily the most tenuous position group on Denver’s roster. There’s a starter trying to shake off his worst season, recover from multiple injuries and beat the widespread allegations that he was overpaid on his new contract. There’s a backup who was pushed out of the rotation last year for Tim Hardaway Jr., leaving him still in pursuit of a foothold in the NBA three seasons into his career. And there’s a third-stringer who — well, there is no third-string yet. The 27-year-old Walker signed a training camp invite from the Nuggets last month, but he’ll be reporting to Denver with no guarantee of a roster spot. If he makes the team, he’ll provide one more low-end option as a driver and shot creator, but it’s been 17 months since he last checked into an NBA game.

The Nuggets have continued to peruse the free agency market for guards this month, just in case another enticing candidate emerges for their vacant 15th spot. Most recently, they’ve registered interest in Cam Whitmore, according to a report by Marc Stein. Drafted 20th overall in 2023, Whitmore has bounced around quite a bit this year and would be a gamble on scoring talent. He was ironically part of the Peyton Watson sign-and-trade, which sent him from Washington to Cleveland for book-keeping reasons. The Cavaliers subsequently waived him.

Braun is entering his third year as Denver’s lead defensive guard, this time with a $21.6 million price tag instead of $4.9 million. He won’t have much help from Murray, Jones or Strawther when it comes to 1-on-1 perimeter containment — most of that will be coming from the forward group, Denver hopes. So Braun’s top priority should be to regain the athleticism and stamina that characterized his game before last season. A deceptively severe ankle injury stripped him of his greatest strengths in late 2025. If the Nuggets are going to escape the NBA’s bottom 10 in defensive rating, where they’ve resided for the last two years, it’ll have to start with Braun not just returning to form but transcending it.

He’ll also start the season as a floor-spacing liability on offense: Teams will be emboldened to leave him open more than ever after watching his 3-point clip drop from 39.7% to 30.1%. Braun made his money by playing off Jokic marvelously as a cutter and transition threat. But he needs his corner 3s to fall as well, especially without Hardaway or Watson around to occupy those spots. Between the two of them, Denver is losing 305 made 3s at a 40.8% clip.

Strawther might be able to help. The rub has always been that he’s not consistent enough on offense to offset his defensive flaws. He’s 34.6% from deep in his career, a constant heat-check threat with an equal propensity for droughts. If ever there was a time for the lanky 24-year-old to prove he’s developed into a consistent scorer, it’s now. This will be the last season of his rookie scale contract, and there’s been no indication so far that he’ll have an extension with Denver before the October deadline. Perhaps the looming specter of restricted free agency can spark Strawther as much as it did Watson.

Aside from his jump shot, Strawther is a particularly important piece on this roster because his floater game might be one of the Nuggets’ best sources of paint penetration off the dribble. They’re well equipped with shot creators who lean on 3s (Murray) or the midrange (DeRozan). When Strawther puts the ball on the floor, his aim will be to get downhill almost every time.

The Nuggets and the University of Colorado announced Tuesday that the NBA franchise will play an exhibition game at the CU Events Center during the preseason next month, with Denver set to host the Utah Jazz on Oct. 4.

The matchup will bring Simpson back to the Events Center. One of the stars of CU’s 2024 NCAA Tournament team, Simpson averaged 19.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists with a .434 3-point percentage for the Buffs during the 2023-24 season, earning first team All-Pac-12 honors.

Simpson was selected in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2024 draft by Charlotte, where he averaged 7.8 points in 36 games as a rookie. Simpson played 14 games with the Hornets last season before getting released, later signing a two-way contract with the Nuggets in February. Simpson appeared in six games with the Nuggets, averaging 1.2 points in limited minutes.

In 56 career NBA games, Simpson has averaged 6.7 points and 2.7 assists with a .265 3-point percentage. The matchup between the Nuggets and Jazz nearly was a reunion-homecoming for Simpson and former CU teammate Cody Williams, Utah’s first pick in the 2024 draft, but Williams was traded to Minnesota on Aug. 29.

The game will mark the Nuggets’ fourth exhibition game at the Events Center, and the first since a 2015 matchup against the Chicago Bulls.

But a recent under-the-radar move brought them one step closer. Denver decided late last week to stretch the guaranteed portion of Jonas Valanciunas’ salary across three seasons, a league source told The Post, confirming a report by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Valanciunas signed a two-year contract with the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas after Denver waived him in July, releasing the backup center from the last year of his NBA deal. It left the Nuggets with a $2 million dead cap hit on their 2026-27 payroll — his full salary next season would’ve been $10 million if they had kept him — as Valanciunas was able to return to his home country.

The NBA’s waive-and-stretch provision allows teams to spread a waived player’s remaining salary across multiple seasons, sacrificing future cap space in exchange for immediate relief. In this case, Denver is choosing to incur a dead cap hit of $666,666 for each of the next three years, instead of signing a one-time-only $2 million check.

That means $1.3 million in direct savings against the salary cap. But it also dramatically reduces Denver’s projected luxury tax bill. As a “repeater tax” team, the Nuggets essentially will owe interest on every dollar spent above the luxury tax threshold next season. Stretching Valanciunas whittles about $9 million off their projected tax total.

Still, , the NBA’s most expensive roster remains about $800,000 above the second apron after the Valanciunas move. The Nuggets have until the mid-season trade deadline next February to shed other salary if they want to avoid that threshold, which results in not only an additional tax penalty but also roster-building restrictions. After re-signing Spencer Jones for two years and $12 million this summer, they became the only team in the league with a payroll exceeding the second apron.

By trading Peyton Watson in August and now by lowering the immediate cap hit on Valanciunas, they’ve continued to signal that getting out of second-apron territory is a priority. Currently, their five least expensive cap hits on the active roster all belong to players signed this offseason: DeMar DeRozan, Marvin Bagley III, Tyus Jones, Alpha Diallo and rookie Trevon Brazile.

The next-cheapest players Denver could theoretically trade sometime between now and February are DaRon Holmes II ($3.4 million) and Julian Strawther ($4.8 million). But as of now, any such salary-shedding transaction would require an accompanying move to satisfy NBA roster rules. The Nuggets have 14 out of 15 spots tentatively filled as the calendar flips to September. They cannot carry any fewer than 14 players for more than two consecutive weeks during the season.

Two-way contract maneuvers

Outside of that active 15-man roster, Denver has made a few valuable discoveries using two-way contracts in recent years, from Jones to Collin Gillespie (now in Phoenix).

Every team gets three two-way spots per season. Those spots are filled by players who can be assigned back and forth between the NBA and G League; their salaries don’t count against the cap, but they can play regular-season NBA minutes as if they’re part of the active roster.

The Nuggets acquired Julian Reese’s two-way contract from Washington in the Watson sign-and-trade, but they waived him last Friday, according to the NBA’s transaction log. They proceeded to sign recent draft pick Bryce Hopkins to a two-way deal instead, leaving them with two spots filled and one vacant. Hopkins was taken with the 49th overall pick in June. Former CU guard KJ Simpson currently occupies the other spot.

Veteran guard Lonnie Walker IV, who will try to make the team on a training camp invite, is no longer eligible to sign a two-way contract due to his NBA service time. If Denver keeps him around, it will have to be via a standard contract.

Whether or not they eventually trade a starter, they have unfinished business. Three roster spots remain open, and Denver needs to fill at least two of them via free agency or trade to meet the NBA’s requirement. Teams must carry a minimum of 14 players on the 15-man roster.

Two of Denver’s spots might be reserved for a pair of incumbent restricted free agents, both of whom remain in unresolved contract negotiations with the team. There’s also LeBron James, who has the entire league on the edge of its seat.

And then there are other unsigned players in the ether, still looking for a home. Who could the Nuggets acquire or retain? It’s time for a free agency reset, starting with a look at Denver’s roster as it currently stands.

Nuggets projected depth chart

�ʳ�:��Jamal Murray, Tyus Jones

����:��Christian Braun, Julian Strawther

����:��Cam Johnson, Alpha Diallo

�ʹ�:��Aaron Gordon, Zeke Nnaji, Trevon Brazile

��:��Nikola Jokic, Marvin Bagley III, DaRon Holmes II

Keep in mind that players without standard contracts, such as KJ Simpson (point guard) and Bryce Hopkins (small forward), are not included here, but they do have a path to regular-season playing time in Denver.

Until further notice, the Nuggets have the same starting lineup that registered a superb 13.5 net rating last season (when everyone was healthy, which wasn’t often).

Their weak spots are predictably on the bench. Despite David Adelman and Jon Wallace’s cries for more ball-handling and creativity, the backcourt looks especially shallow for now. Bringing back assist-to-turnover demon Tyus Jones for the veteran minimum was a sensible move if it’s accompanied by others, but he cannot be the team’s only backup point guard. He seems better suited as a third-string at this stage of his career.

Between him, Murray and Strawther, three of Denver’s four guards are weak defenders. The front office’s attempt to address defense so far has been limited to forward acquisitions (Diallo, Brazile, Hopkins). This roster still needs a perimeter defender who’s proven that he can navigate screens at the NBA level and keep quicker star guards in front.

Strawther has floated in and out of the rotation throughout his first three years in the league. He’s shown flashes of being an excellent scorer at the backup two-guard position, but he needs to establish more consistency if he wants to seize the Tim Hardaway Jr. role next season. This will be a crucial season in his development. He’s extension-eligible until the start of the season. Otherwise, he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

As much as ball-handling has been a focus, the Nuggets also appear short on shooting depth. Strawther is currently the most reliable 3-point threat of the seven bench players under contract (36.3% over the last two years). Jones’ efficiency took a massive hit last season. Diallo is more of a slasher than a spacer offensively. Holmes is a promising stretch big on paper, but he’s more likely to do his damage via pick-and-pop than by standing in the corner.

The Nuggets have certainly improved their frontcourt athleticism this summer. But even with those moves, they’re taking fliers on rookies out of the EuroLeague and the second round of the draft. At small forward, power forward and center, Denver’s current bench has 138 combined minutes of career playoff experience.

LeBron James hope?

The Nuggets might not be officially out of the running yet, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reported early this week that Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia seem to be getting the most attention as feasible destinations for the best free agent on the market. The Nuggets were always going to be an outsider in these sweepstakes, even after Klutch Sports superagent Rich Paul publicly confirmed mutual interest between his client and Denver.

James, on a cheap contract, would obviously plug a lot of holes in Denver. The 21-time All-NBA forward could slot into lineups with Jokic or run the show with certain bench units. But until he indicates otherwise, it’s best to assume LeBron won’t finish his career as a Nugget at this point.

Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones

If the Nuggets re-sign both of their restricted free agents and keep everyone else, they’ll suddenly look a lot more dangerous on paper (like they did last season). They would also be carrying 10 frontcourt players and four guards on their roster — a clear imbalance that would require subsequent moves.

Jones has been working out at the Nuggets’ practice gym during his contract negotiations, he said in a recent social media post, suggesting that any day could be his last at Ball Arena. His qualifying offer was the minimum salary. Denver’s preference would be to keep his average annual value as close to that as possible, likely in exchange for more guaranteed years.

Watson, meanwhile, has remained at an impasse with the team on salary, cracking the door open for potential sign-and-trades out of Denver. But if he and the Nuggets can reach an agreement, his role within the rotation will become one of the most fascinating storylines of training camp in late September. Will Watson move into the everyday starting lineup for the first time in his career? Will Adelman hand him the keys to the non-Jokic offense and see what he can do as a shot creator, now that Murray has been burdened with those thankless minutes for so many years?

Other top remaining NBA free agents

At the buyout deadline last season, the Nuggets were monitoring DeMar DeRozan’s situation in Sacramento and were ready to show interest if he became available, a league source told The Post. He didn’t.

Now that he’s been released from his contract, teams like Denver are lining up to pursue the former Raptors star wing. DeRozan turns 37 next month, but he remains durable and efficient as a scorer. He could chase his first ring as a super-sixth man in Colorado, but other teams closer to home (he’s from Los Angeles) could also be sniffing around. There’s a chance the Nuggets miss out on him, as they already did with Khris Middleton for the second time when he chose Washington earlier this month.

Staying in the semi-washed-up star department, Bradley Beal is available after declining his player option with the Clippers. So is Russell Westbrook, though Denver already burned that bridge last offseason — “the truth is that they didn’t want me back,” as he later told The Post. Gabe Vincent, Brandon Williams and Aaron Holiday are among the other guard options in a thin market.

The Nuggets have already shown their willingness to think outside the box this summer with the signing of Diallo.

Then there’s Bruce Brown, the fan favorite who had an up-and-down reunion with the Nuggets last season. Their trust in him as a secondary ball-handler has noticeably declined since 2023, when he was the championship team’s backup point guard. But he did grow into his smaller role under Adelman, shooting 43.2% from 3-point range in the second half of the season. The fact that the Nuggets haven’t already re-signed him at the minimum is a clear sign that he’s not at the top of their wish list, but they could do a lot worse than Brown if they run out of options and need to fill a roster spot.

Will all 15 spots be used?

The Nuggets went through most of last season with their 15th and final roster spot vacant. By the time they signed Spencer Jones and Tyus Jones to prorated minimum salaries for the rest of the year, they were safe from the luxury tax.

Watch for them to consider a similar strategy in 2026-27 if they’re up against the tax or either of the aprons. They could enter the season with a payroll slightly above one of those thresholds but with only 14 players rostered. It would give them a chance to dump more salary at the trade deadline and replace one or two roster spots with another buyout signing.

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

For the next week, dozens of young hoopers will fight for their careers in two adjoining UNLV gymnasiums, packed to the brim with coaches, scouts, executives and even some current NBA players. Some of the competitors in Las Vegas are newly drafted. Others are fresh out of college but without an NBA home yet. Still others are under contract but are trying to develop their game and prove something before their second or third pro season.

Everyone wants to stand out. Most won’t. Summer League often yields an intense, sloppy, frantic brand of basketball. Into that pandemonium steps Denver on Friday (4:30 p.m. MT), when recent second-round picks Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins will make their Summer League debuts for the Nuggets against Houston.

“The two picks, they’re smart,” coach JJ Barea said. “They learn. You tell them one thing, (and) the next time, they’re gonna do it. So I’m really excited about coaching them.”

With Brazile and Hopkins as the headliners, the Nuggets are especially light on what’s generally considered high-end talent this year. They haven’t used a first-round pick in either of the last two drafts, and their 2024 first-rounder, DaRon Holmes II, practiced with the team this week but has graduated from the Summer League roster. (It was the team’s decision that he didn’t need to play in Vegas this year, not his.)

But for the diehard fans who plan to tune in, here are three key players to watch — at least in Denver’s first weekend of action. Be warned if you’re planning your next Tuesday or Thursday night around the Nuggets: The top players on guaranteed or two-way contracts often get shut down before the end of Summer League, sitting out the later games for health reasons.

KJ Simpson, G

A Colorado Buffs March Madness hero is keeping his two-way status in Denver (and Grand Rapids, Michigan) for now. He signed with the Nuggets in February, arriving with a chip on his shoulder after Charlotte waived him midseason. The Hornets had drafted him 42nd overall in 2024. This will be his third Summer League.

“Just trying to prove myself,” Simpson said. “I just feel like this past season, the other team I was on, I didn’t really get a fair opportunity to showcase my summer, the work I put in. I was ready to kind of make that leap. But obviously, I’m here with Denver, and they’ve given me an unbelievable opportunity. Even though I came late (last season), I felt welcomed from the team, the organization, obviously the fans because of what I did at CU. So I really want to go out there and just prove myself, show I’m somebody who can be on this team.

“I’ve devoted my summer here. Since the playoffs, I’ve been right here. I started my summer workouts. I didn’t go back home. I just stayed.”

Simpson, 23, has appeared in six regular-season games for the Nuggets since signing with them. He’ll be one of their most experienced players in Vegas and should have the ball in his hands a lot. At the NBA level, he hopes he can fill the shortage of quick guards on Denver’s roster.

“I feel so much better (knowing) that KJ is here and is gonna be the point guard for this team,” Barea said. “… He’s the one that’s gonna have to control when we get a little crazy or when the tempo is crazy, he’s gonna have to be the one to slow it down and control the tempo. But I’m just happy I’ve got a good, experienced point guard.”

Trevon Brazile, F

The premier athlete on this roster, Brazile will be trying to locate the balance between showcasing his overall game and developing a feel for the smaller roles Denver would want him to play in a real NBA game.

“The Summer league team is obviously going to be different from the team in the (NBA) season,” he said this week. “So I’m gonna go out there and try to show my game a little bit, for sure. But also do the things I excel at. It’ll be different from my role in the season.”

Those areas where he excels? “High-flying plays,” he said. “Highlights. Playing above the rim. Blocking shots. Catching lobs. Making my open 3s.”

The Nuggets drafted him 35th overall out of Arkansas last month. One of the unknowns about his game will be how much of a spacing threat he is. Barea believes the power forward can pick-and-pop for 3-point opportunities in the next week, not just roll to the rim.

“They were practicing zone,” Barea said before the team flew to Vegas on Wednesday afternoon. “I told him, ‘Any time you see a zone, get to the middle.’ He got to the middle, turned around — easy jump shot.”

Bryce Hopkins

Drafted 49th overall, Hopkins is another prospect who represents the front office’s bet on wing athleticism this offseason. He threw down a vicious dunk on Monday that turned out to be one of the highlights of the week at the Nuggets’ mini-camp.

The coaching staff’s message to Hopkins has been to focus on defensive intensity and offensive rebounding at Summer League. Throughout college, he was an above-average rebounder for a small forward, averaging 8.5 per game over three years at Providence and 6.2 per game last season at St. John’s.

“He knows the game,” Barea said. “And I know he’s athletic, he’s fast, he defends. But he’s always under control, too, for a rookie.”

Hopkins was drafted in the second round, a stage that usually results in a two-way contract, but the specifics of his contract have not yet been decided. That makes this a big week for him. He says he’s trying to ignore the stakes.

“I know the defensive end is gonna be key,” he said.

Nuggets Summer League roster

Efe Abogidi, 6-9 C, 228 pounds, rookie (Washington State)

EJ Anosike, 6-7 F, 236 pounds, rookie (Cal State Fullerton)

TJ Bamba, 6-5 F, 220 pounds, rookie (Oregon)

Trevon Brazile, 6-10 F, 220 pounds, rookie (Arkansas)

Giovanni Emejuru, 6-10 C, 265 pounds, rookie (East Carolina)

Rylan Griffen, 6-5 G, 180 pounds, rookie (Texas A&M)

Coleman Hawkins, 6-10 F, 225 pounds, rookie (Kansas State)

Bryce Hopkins, 6-7 F, 220 pounds, rookie (St. John’s)

DeJon Jarreau, 6-5 G, 185 pounds, three years of NBA experience (Houston)

Mark Mitchell Jr., 6-9 F, 230 pounds, rookie (Missouri)

Matthew Murrell, 6-4 G, 200 pounds, rookie (Ole Miss)

Aaron Nkrumah, 6-6 G, 175 pounds, rookie (Tennessee State)

Osayi Osifo, 6-9 F, 230 pounds, rookie (Jacksonville)

Jahmi’us Ramsey, 6-3 G, 190 pounds, three years of NBA experience (Texas Tech)

Mark Sears, 6-0 G, 185 pounds, one year of NBA experience (Alabama)

Erik Stevenson, 6-4 G, 2-5 pounds, rookie (West Virginia)

KJ Simpson, 6-1 G, 189 pounds, two years of NBA experience (Colorado)

Nuggets Summer League schedule

Friday July 10: Rockets, 4:30 p.m., ESPN2/Altitude

Saturday July 11: Timberwolves, 5:30 p.m., Prime Video/Altitude

Tuesday July 14: Thunder, 7 p.m., ESPN/Altitude

Thursday July 16: Trail Blazers, 8 p.m., Prime Video/Altitude

Three of the No. 1 seeds in the 2026 NCAA Tournament were schools attended by a current Nuggets player. March Madness had arrived with plenty of championship ambition inside Ball Arena.

“I think they’ll win,” Aaron Gordon said when asked about his former team, Arizona, which entered the tournament with a 32-2 record. “They’ve got really good guards. Got some good wings. Got some rebounding. They’ve lost  already, you know what I mean? So they’re not going into the first round of the tournament with the undefeated pressure. So they’ve got a good chance of winning.”

“AG doesn’t even watch Arizona,” Nuggets guard Christian Braun retorted. “Go ask AG to name three players on the team.”

Braun, as it happened, was the primary source of that trash talk. A proud and occasionally obnoxious Kansas alum, he’s one of the most avid college basketball followers on Denver’s roster. On Monday, he was already looking ahead to a potential second-round matchup between Kansas and St. John’s, claiming that “we have the best coach in the world” in Bill Self, “so I don’t really doubt us.”

When Bruce Brown was asked for his thoughts on Miami’s first-round draw against Missouri the next night, Braun interrupted with his: “They’ve got the weakest team in the NCAA,” he said, despite his mother having played at Mizzou. “You should beat Missouri.”

“I don’t know anything about Mizzou,” Brown murmured to his teammate. “I don’t watch —”

“Nobody does,” a deadpan Braun fired back. “Nobody watches them.”

(It bears mentioning that by this point, his insults seemed to be directed at the inquiring #MizzouMade Nuggets beat writer.)

Not everyone in the NBA keeps track of their college team quite as fervently as Braun — Jamal Murray has been known to lose track of who’s left by the Final Four — but March Madness does have a tendency to capture the attention of the basketball world, even for those who are generally locked in on just the pros.

The Nuggets have a particularly robust list of alma maters on the current team. They recently added another blueblood to that list when they signed Final Four hero Tyus Jones off the buyout market. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, UCLA, Arizona, Gonzaga and Michigan are among the schools now represented on Denver’s roster.

In celebration of this year’s tournament, The Denver Post reassembled that roster into a new hierarchy based only on the success of each player’s college hoops career — an All-NCAA Nuggets starting lineup and second unit, if you will. (Sorry, Nikola Jokic. Looks like you’re the first roster cut.)

There was no perfect way to make some of these decisions, especially given Denver’s surplus of prolific college guards and shortage of bigs. It becomes kind of difficult to sort out a frontcourt when the real-life Nuggets’ top two centers spent their developmental years playing for European clubs.

But we tried anyway. Ultimately, the final decisions skewed in favor of players who:

A) contributed to successful NCAA Tournament teams.

B) enjoyed longer, more established college careers.

Here goes nothing.

Starters

�ʳ�:��Tyus Jones, Duke (2014-15)

����:��Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan (2010-13)

����:��Christian Braun, Kansas (2019-22)

�ʹ�:��Cam Johnson, Pittsburgh/North Carolina (2014-19)

��:��DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (2021-24)

Jones is the only “one-and-done” player to make the starting five. How can you leave him out? He was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2015 after taking over the national championship game. His 23 points led Duke’s comeback from down nine with 12 minutes to go against Wisconsin. The Blue Devils have fielded several super-teams since 2015, but that remains their last championship squad.

Braun was also part of a memorable NCAA title game in 2022, when his 12-point double-double helped the Jayhawks erase a 15-point halftime deficit against North Carolina. For Braun, that was the culmination of a three-year, 101-game career at Kansas.

Hardaway had a similar career arc at Michigan, where he quickly earned a starting role under John Beilein and eventually co-starred with Trey Burke on a 2011-12 team that won the regular-season conference title and on a 2012-13 team that reached the championship game. Hardaway was a First-Team All-Big 10 selection that year. The Wolverines may have fallen short against No. 1 overall seed Louisville, but is one of the enduring moments from an awesome game.

Only three current Nuggets while in college. Holmes earned Second Team honors his third and final year at Dayton, when he led the Atlantic 10 in points (20.4) and rebounds (8.5) while averaging 2.1 blocks and shooting 39% from three. It’s perhaps the best individual college season anyone on Denver’s roster has had. Holmes led the Flyers to a No. 7 seed and an NCAA Tournament win.

Johnson remains an avid fan of his Tar Heels, which could cause some chemistry issues with Jones in this unit. But if Holmes is the five, you can’t have a four-guard lineup. The pride of Duke and Carolina will have to sort out their differences. Johnson spent the last two seasons of college in Chapel Hill. As a fifth-year senior, he led UNC to a No. 1 seed and a Sweet 16 appearance, making First Team All-ACC and leading all power conference players in 3-point percentage (45.7%). He shot 40.5% from deep across his career, scoring 1,514 points between his two schools.

Bench

�ʳ�:��Jalen Pickett, Siena/Penn State (2018-23)

����:��Jamal Murray, Kentucky (2015-16)

����:��Julian Strawther, Gonzaga (2020-23)

�ʹ�:��Aaron Gordon, Arizona (2013-14)

��:��Zeke Nnaji, Arizona (2019-20)

Pickett and Murray are going to have to be high-usage early subs for the All-NCAA Nuggets. They deserve to be starters, but we’re not playing completely position-less basketball here. Although Murray’s lone season at Kentucky ended early in March, he was still a 20-point-per-game lottery pick and a Third-Team AP All-American alongside Tyler Ulis.

Pickett was a delightful college point guard to watch. Like Holmes, he was a Second-Team All-American for a non-blueblood program. He flirted with a triple-double in an NCAA Tournament win for Penn State, amassing 19 points, seven boards and eight assists. He had a 40-point game at both of his schools. Long live “Booty Ball.”

If you were to edit together a “One Shining Moment” video of the Nuggets’ best March Madness highlights, Strawther’s game-winning shot in the Sweet 16 would probably be the main feature. “Down one, to shoot it from the logo, it was a questionable shot,” he admitted to The Denver Post when reflecting on it a couple of years later. Nonetheless, his 35-footer cemented another March classic between Gonzaga and UCLA. When he was a freshman, Strawther also rode the bench for a Gonzaga squad that lost to Baylor in the championship game.

A pair of one-and-done Arizona Wildcats will fill out Denver’s frontcourt. Gordon and Nnaji were both named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in their brief college careers. They were both First-Team All-Pac-12. Gordon’s team fell one point short of a trip to the Final Four.

Honorable mentions

Props to two-way guard KJ Simpson for his first-round game-winner for Colorado a couple of years ago. Also to Brown (Miami) and Curtis Jones (Iowa State), both of whom made multiple NCAA Tournaments. Again, this backcourt is cutthroat.

Water boy

The All-NCAA Nuggets can probably spare Jokic a spot behind the bench. Certainly not on the court. You expect a 41st overall pick to play?

Buyout market deadline approaching

The Nuggets are interested in using their 15th roster spot to add forward depth as a key deadline approaches for buyout candidates, league sources told The Denver Post this week.

March 1 (this Sunday) is the last day players can be waived by a team and remain eligible to appear in playoff games for a different team. They don’t have to sign with a new team by March 1, but they must be released from their previous contract by that date.

After trading Hunter Tyson and converting Spencer Jones to a standard minimum contract, Denver has enough salary wiggle room to sign a 15th player for the rest of the season and stay under the luxury tax. The addition of KJ Simpson on a two-way contract last week doesn’t count against the salary cap.

Kyle Anderson was one of the candidates the Nuggets considered, according to league sources, but he chose to reunite with the rival Timberwolves on Thursday after Memphis bought out his contract. “Slo Mo” was on the Minnesota team that Denver eliminated en route to the 2023 NBA title — and the Minnesota team that got payback the next year with a Game 7 comeback at Ball Arena.

Khris Middleton (Dallas) is a key name to watch in the next few days, as Denver has already shown interest, sources told The Post. Like Anderson, he could provide the Nuggets with size on the wing and ball-handling, another skillset they’ve felt short on this season with Aaron Gordon in and out of the lineup.

According to a report by Marc Stein, the to decide whether he wants to play out the season with them or get bought out to join a contender. The 34-year-old scored a season-high 25 points last Sunday, along with seven rebounds and seven assists. He’s currently dealing with a mild injury, but he was able to play on Thursday. Middleton won an NBA title with Milwaukee and an Olympic goal medal with Team USA in 2021. A 6-foot-7 shot creator, he’s . If he’s bought out, multiple playoff teams could pursue him.

The Nuggets have been content to exercise patience in recent weeks and see who becomes available in case any dark horses emerge, but the market hasn’t exactly been abundant with forwards.

Spencer Jones bets on himself

Jones could have sought more long-term security in the NBA with his first standard contract. The Nuggets, who are in need of cheap cap hits after this season, wouldn’t have minded converting him for more than just the next few months at a team-friendly salary. Instead, the former two-way wing negotiated for the opportunity to be a restricted free agent this summer, he told The Post.

“It was preferred (this way). I kind of wanted the optionality,” Jones said. “And I love Denver. But I just wanted to keep the optionality open. I was happy they were able to let me do that. I’m really happy with the decision. Like I said, I love it here. Definitely want to stay here.”

With Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson close to returning from injuries, Jones seems unlikely to start seven more games and trigger the “starter criteria” that would increase his qualifying offer to more than $5 million. Still, his emergence as a rotation-caliber 3-and-D player could theoretically attract an offer sheet from another team this offseason or enable him to negotiate a new deal with Denver.

The Nuggets decided they wanted to convert Jones weeks before the trade deadline, but the process was delayed until after the All-Star break because he suffered a concussion in early February. The Nuggets were incentivized to slow-play it because a smaller prorated salary for Jones helped them stay out of the luxury tax. His exact prorated cap hit came out to $623,967, according to Spotrac.

“The concussion was definitely annoying in terms of how untimely it was,” Jones told The Post. “But it gave us a chance to really look at how we wanted to set it up.”

Jones is averaging 5.9 points and 3.3 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per game this season. The Stanford grad is shooting 41.5% beyond the arc.

“It’s great to not have that little asterisk with the two-way anymore,” he said. “To fully feel like you’re part of the team. Obviously, everybody had embraced me (before), but it’s nice to get that contractually.”

Julian Strawther is past his back pain

It’s been an odd year for Strawther. He had a steady job last season but lost his spot in the everyday rotation when the Nuggets acquired Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency. He couldn’t buy a bucket in October or early November when limited playing time presented itself. Then he was inactive for a month with lower back pain that he told The Post extended into his hip area. When he came back, his slump continued with a 6-for-21 stretch from 3-point range over 14 games.

“The only person you can lean on is yourself,” he told The Post. “The league moves so fast. And there’s only so much that other people can do in terms of worrying about what other people got going on. So it’s one of those things where you’ve just gotta (deal with the frustration) by yourself.”

Now he’s playing arguably the best basketball of his career. When Adelman was short on forwards in early February, he decided to go small in the starting lineup. He wanted to keep Hardaway in his usual sub pattern off the bench. Strawther got the starting nod in Chicago and scored an efficient 19 points. He was one of the only bright spots in an unconvincing win over the Bulls.

Adelman has stuck with him as a starter for seven consecutive games, a run that could be ending soon as the Nuggets get healthy. But in those games, Strawther has scored in double figures six times and shot 40% from three. He’s averaging 15 points and 3.3 rebounds since Feb. 7.

“It was a super-weird little thing going on with my back,” he said. “It was something I had dealt with a little bit when I was at Gonzaga my freshman year. It’s just one of them things where with the back, you’ve gotta be careful. Gotta take all the precautions because you don’t want that stuff to linger. … I feel 100% now. I feel completely healthy.”

With defense. Rebounding. Discipline, elbow grease, etc.

“Usually, maybe we win with the offense,” Nikola Jokic said, “but today we won with the defense.”

And when that happens, it’s a point of pride. The Nuggets know they can score. They’re not known for their rock fights. They did what they had to do Wednesday for a rewarding 103-84 victory over the Celtics, who came into Ball Arena with nine wins in their last 10 games. Despite shooting 42% from the field and 35% from the 3-point line, Denver kept an opponent out of triple digits for only the third time this season. Boston’s 84 points were the fewest the Nuggets have allowed.

“We have gotten to this point with our win total because of our offense. That’s the bottom line,” coach David Adelman said, putting a finer point on Jokic’s comment. “But for us to do anything uniquely special this season, our defense has to come along.”

The Nuggets (37-22) outscored their visitors 42-28 in the paint, 23-9 on second-chance points and 14-6 on fast breaks. Nikola Jokic led them with 30 strenuous points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 14 off the bench. The heroes were Bruce Brown for his relentless ball pressure, Spencer Jones for his pesky physicality and Cam Johnson for his heady defensive impact as much as Jokic for his typical box score theatrics.

Torched by the Warriors from 3-point range on Sunday, Denver limited the trigger-happy Celtics to a 12-for-43 clip downtown. Nikola Vucevic — another veteran pick-and-pop big man like Golden State’s Al Horford — didn’t knock down a 3-pointer all night.

“Took away the corners,” Adelman said. “Made them drive it back into the defense. The full rotation to Vucevic was really good. Just (happy with) some things that I thought in Golden State, we talked about doing and didn’t do well enough.”

Boston’s primary scorer was neutralized as well. Jaylen Brown has elevated his offense to — in the opinion of LeBron James, at least — an MVP level this season with running mate Jayson Tatum rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon. Brown was held to 23 points on 21 field goal attempts in Denver, committing four turnovers against higher pickup points than Denver usually applies. Bruce Brown grilled him the most, pick-pocketing the star wing a handful of times.

“He’s a game-breaker,” said Julian Strawther, who scored 12 points in another start. “Get a couple steals. Get the crowd engaged. Get everybody going. Once he does it, everybody on the team wants to get involved, too.”

“The whole film session with Golden State was, they were starting their offense wherever the hell they wanted to start it,” Adelman said. “It was guys dribbling to the elbow without being touched into dribble handoffs. It just wasn’t good enough. … In our league right now, that’s the area where you can get physical. You have to toe the line a little bit. And then obviously discipline comes into play when they attack the basket.”

Before Wednesday, the Nuggets had held 17 of their opponents to fewer than 110 points. Only four of those teams have winning records, including Toronto (the NBA’s 18th-ranked offense) and Golden State (14th).

This was perhaps their most worthy defensive performance of the year against a serious team. Boston touts the second-best offensive rating in the league, behind Denver’s. It was the second night of a back-to-back for the Celtics after they played Tuesday in Phoenix, but Jaylen Brown had sat that game out.

“In the third quarter, we fouled them four times in two minutes, and then we kind of set the tone for the rest of the game,” said Jokic, whose most recent crusade has been for the Nuggets to foul more often.

“When we play like that,” Bruce Brown said, “we’re the best in the league.”

Jamal Murray was feeling under the weather when he arrived for work on Wednesday, but he decided to try playing through it. He didn’t last long. After logging eight minutes, he went to the locker room and didn’t return. The Nuggets officially ruled him out at halftime, after attempting to treat the point guard with “all the medication,” according to Adelman.

“All kinds of bodily things were happening,” the first-year head coach said.

Jalen Pickett was out due to right knee soreness. The availability of both point guards is unknown going into Friday’s showdown in Oklahoma City.

In the meantime, Adelman had to get creative, extending his rotation to account for Murray’s illness and Jones’ foul trouble after he picked up his third in nine minutes. Zeke Nnaji filled in for a stint at power forward. KJ Simpson played his first meaningful minutes since joining the team on a two-way contract last week. His fast-break flush late in the third quarter capped an 11-0 Nuggets run and sent them to the fourth with a 77-67 lead, the first double-digit margin of the night.

That run carried over with a pair of buckets from backup center Jonas Valanciunas. When Jokic was out of the game, Adelman continued to ride a bench unit with Johnson staggering — not that he had a surplus of other options with Murray, Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson all out.

“KJ didn’t show up here thinking he was going to play,” Adelman said. “He warmed up, it seemed like, four hours before the game. That’s his warm-up time. So he’s been sitting around here not doing anything. And then Jamal gets sick. He’s out. I felt like it was appropriate to let him play in the first half out of fairness, so gave him a few minutes there. And I personally thought he looked comfortable.”

When Jokic was in the game, his “inat” — a Serbian term for stubbornness — was on full display at the top of the arc. It paid off eventually. He was the epicenter of Denver’s collective dry spell, but he refused to stop launching as his right wrist and soft touch betrayed him. He was off to a 2-for-11 start from 3-point range when he buried one for the lead late in the third quarter. His next attempt three minutes later was silky, contributing to the Nuggets’ knockout blow of a run.

KJ Simpson allowed himself to daydream about his future as he watched the floats pass by. One was occupied by an acquaintance. He and Peyton Watson were born a month apart in 2001. They played high school hoops against each other in Southern California. Simpson knew Watson, knew his family. Now he was looking up at them from the sidewalk while they partied on a bus. Simpson, a college athlete on summer break from CU Boulder, beamed with pride. Recognizing one of his peers somehow made it feel more attainable.

“That was the closest I had been to seeing or being there to experience a championship team, I guess,” Simpson said. “Seeing them just go by. The job is finished. That was mad inspiring to me. Like, man, I want to feel that one day.”

Almost three years later, Simpson is back in Colorado, where he’s beloved for his three-year CU career and March Madness heroics in 2024. The former Buffs guard signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets on Thursday, filling a spot that opened up when Spencer Jones was converted to a standard NBA deal. He debuted the next day with four assists and a bucket in garbage time of a win at Portland.

“I’m just excited to play in front of that fan base,” Simpson told The Denver Post. “It’s bigger than just CU Boulder. Colorado in general. … I was there for three years. First place I lived other than home. So to me, that was considered like home. I loved my time there. I loved everything about it. The people. And we would go to Denver a lot just to go see games. … So I’ve always felt that connection to Colorado. It’s just crazy how full-circle it is.”

That full-circle opportunity arrived two weeks after Simpson was a surprise trade deadline casualty in Charlotte. Once drafted 42nd overall by the Hornets, he was waived from a two-way contract on Feb. 6. It caught him off-guard.

“Just from the way I was getting messages and things like that, I don’t think it was expected from a lot of people,” he said. “And so that obviously was a tough pill to swallow. Because this was my first time I’ve really experienced this. So I just didn’t know what was next. But I have a great support system.”

He packed as many bags as he could carry, flew home to Southern California and waited. He received reassurance from his agent, his girlfriend, his parents, his former Hornets teammates who reached out. He trained. He spent time with his family. He waited more.

“It felt longer than the amount of time it was,” he said. “Like, for me, it felt a lot longer. I was just trying to stay confident and stay ready mentally, emotionally, spiritually.” It helped that he heard multiple teams were interested in him.

The Nuggets were one of them, and by sheer serendipity, they were in the same place as Simpson. He was able to immediately join the team on a three-game road trip that started in Los Angeles after signing. Soon, he’ll be assigned to the Grand Rapids Gold to get more playing time and learn the Nuggets’ system. “Wherever I’m asked to be,” he said, “I’m excited for that.”

But in the meantime, he was happy to be along for the ride in Portland, where he continued to work on building relationships with players and coaches whom he once watched demolish beers in a parade.

“When I went back home, I planned on not being in Charlotte for a minute, just so that wherever I was, I’d be dedicated to that’s where I was gonna be,” Simpson said. “So I have like five bags on this trip with me right now.”

Still remembered for March heroics

Simpson’s excursions from Boulder to Denver were almost always to watch the Nuggets or the Avalanche. (One of his teammates, Luke O’Brien, was an especially big Avs fan.) He has an old Snapchat post from Ball Arena saved to his phone. “I’m gonna play here one day,” he had posted.

“I didn’t know I meant I was gonna be a Denver Nugget, you know?” he said, laughing. “I just meant in the NBA.”

He was between his sophomore and junior years when he attended the parade. The next year turned out to be life-changing. Already an all-conference selection, he elevated his game with 19.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, making First Team All-Pac-12 and leading the Buffaloes to the NCAA Tournament. Then he cemented his legacy with a Kawhi-esque baseline jumper and a Kawhi-esque bounce with 1.7 seconds remaining in a first-round classic. It gave CU a 102-100 win over Florida.

And it took on a life of its own that Simpson didn’t anticipate as he entered the pros.

“I get tagged in it (on social media) a lot. Anytime I do something good, they always draw back to, ‘Oh yeah, that’s KJ. He hit this shot.’ It’s crazy how one moment can stick with you,” he reflected. “Obviously, it was a big shot, but to me in the moment, I don’t know. I just didn’t realize the significance of how big a shot that was. You dream of it, obviously, March Madness. … But (in the moment) it just was like, ‘Phew, all right, we get to keep playing.’ … When I signed to the Nuggets the other day, all I saw was that video playing over and over. And it’s special. I appreciate it.”

The calls and texts came flooding in when Denver’s plan to sign him was reported. Simpson heard from his former strength coach at CU. He heard from his old teammates who are still in Boulder. His parents even received calls from parents of other former Buffs. He was still playing catch-up as he clocked in for work on Friday in Portland.

Mostly, he sees the fresh start as validation after the disappointment of being released by his original team.

“This is my first time experiencing it. Everybody who has tells me it’s part of the journey, things like that,” he said. “But it definitely makes you just appreciate the opportunity even more. … I think it just adds so much more, like, we say ‘chip on your shoulder.’ I don’t even know how much more my shoulder can hold. That’s how I feel. I have so much ammunition. Fuel. Now I’m just ready to let it out.”

First, Simpson has to get settled. While he’s on the road with the Nuggets this weekend, he might feel at home, but he’s also technically homeless. He has no idea where his apartment will be in Denver when the team returns. Not to mention Grand Rapids.

“We’re gonna figure out the living situation when it happens,” he said. “If not, I’ll go crash with somebody at CU Boulder.”

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.