With the celebrations still ongoing after the Denver Nuggets won their first-ever title, the team signed three players to two-way contracts in the summer of 2023: Collin Gillespie (his second time signing a two-way with Denver), Jay Huff, and Braxton Key. Two years later, among those three players, Huff has the best opportunity to make the most impact in the 2025-26 season.
Huff, who went undrafted in 2021, was traded from the Grizzlies to the Pacers this summer after Myles Turner signed with the Bucks in free agency. The trade took place several months after Huff signed his first-ever NBA standard contract after hopping around the league, appearing in games for the Lakers, Wizards, Nuggets, and Grizzlies.
The 28-year-old center averaged 6.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game for Memphis last season, shooting 51.5% from the field and a career-high 40.5% from three on 3.1 attempts per game. He played a career-high 64 games as a rotation player for the Grizzlies, including two starts. Huff had never started in an NBA game.
His time in Denver was forgetful, as he averaged 1.2 points and 0.6 rebounds in 2.5 minutes per game (20 contests), but over the past year, Huff has improved to the point where he can be a key contributor for a team that made it to the NBA Finals in June.
Jay Huff expected to play a big role for the Pacers next season
Huff could be Indiana's starting center, a trajectory that once didn't seem likely for him. Like Turner, Huff can protect the rim and shoot threes. He was named the NBA G League Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, leading the league with four blocks per game.
He'll compete with Isaiah Jackson, another who entered the league in 2021, for the starting spot, but Huff might have the upper hand, as Jackson is returning from an Achilles injury. How he'll look upon his return is still unknown, another reason the Pacers traded for Huff.
The seven-footer exploded onto the NBA scene this past season, but that was with him coming off the bench. Indiana won't be the team it was the past couple of seasons with Tyrese Haliburton out with a torn Achilles, but in a weak conference, the Pacers can still make some noise. Huff hopes that he'll be at the center of that (literally).
He didn't get much of an opportunity in Denver, making fans feel some regret over the past season, but at least the Nuggets now have Jonas Valančiūnas.