To the surprise of many, the Nuggets did the right thing and matched the Thunder’s offer sheet for Spencer Jones, keeping him in Denver. The move put the Nuggets into the second apron for the time being, but that’s really neither here nor there. Could the order of operations have been better? Perhaps. But at the end of the day, this contract is a no-brainer, and it has nothing to do with their overall financial troubles.
The team is facing the situation they are in thanks to years of asset mismanagement, bad contracts, and indecisiveness. Saving a few bucks in the short term by letting Jones walk for nothing wouldn’t have helped their issues and would have signaled a rudderless approach, chasing the carrot dangling in front of their face, rather than operating with a cohesive plan.
Denver still has to find a way to afford Peyton Watson. And they likely still have to shed salary to do so, probably in the form of Cam Johnson or Christian Braun. And guess what? That was the case whether they signed Jones or not. So, letting him leave over a two-year, $12 million deal to one of your chief rivals and competitors within the conference, just to continue making further cost-cutting moves, would have been gruesome.
In a weird way, it’s actually almost nice that OKC forced Denver’s hand in a sense, as it made them actually do something. Luckily, Jones got offered a reasonable deal, and the decision to match became an easy one. At least now that bit of business is done, and the Nuggets are keeping a good, young, homegrown three-and-D player on a solid contract.
Nuggets' hand was forced, but they ultimately did the right thing
They don’t need to let old mistakes dictate new ones, and doing anything but matching this contract would have been a huge mistake and proof that the Nuggets really don’t have a plan and are simply trying to wait out the market and hope things work out for them. From the outside looking in, that has certainly felt like the approach this summer, and they’ve done nothing proactive to alter that view.
Even this move for Jones was obviously reactionary to what the Thunder did, so I don’t love the process, but at least, in the end, they got it right. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is something to celebrate, but it’s still exciting to lock up Jones for the next couple of years amidst all the other roster chaos surrounding the team.
That’s at least one vital bench player that we know will be back in the fold to offer some lineup versatility going forward. We’ve already seen Tim Hardaway Jr., Jalen Pickett, and Jonas Valanciunas walk out the door, and Bruce Brown could be next at any time. But among the group, the 25-year-old Jones was absolutely the priority.
Perhaps now that one of their restricted free agency dilemmas has been solved for them, the Nuggets can get serious about finding common ground with Peyton Watson before they destroy the relationship with their best young player.
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