The Denver Nuggets have a somewhat short list of pre-draft workouts scheduled, and that list tips the Nuggets' hand at what they're searching for: another Spencer Jones. A two-way player who they can bring in undrafted after the draft, perhaps someone to fill the very spot Jones vacated.
Beyond Zuby Ejiofor, the Big East Player of the Year, who the Nuggets could be targeting for their first round pick, and his St. John's Red Storm teammate, Dillion Mitchell, no other player on the list has been mentioned in any mock draft.
So did the Nuggets do enough advanced scouting at the combine and during the year to know who they want to draft with their two picks? Perhaps, and they need a closer look at who they can mold into the next Jones, or even former Nugget Collin Gillespie, for that matter.
Gillespie set a Phoenix Suns franchise record for made threes in a season this year. He was a two-way player for the Nuggets in 2022-23 and 2023-24 before the Suns retained him as a two-way player and then converted him to full-time, just like Jones.
Two-Way players can still develop nicely
Jones and Gillespie are two solid examples of what a two-way player can turn into. Jones wound up starting 37 games for the Nuggets this season, including three in the playoffs for the injured Aaron Gordon. And Gillespie started 58 games for the Suns.
For comparison, DaRon Holmes, the Nuggets' first-round pick in the 2024 draft, never cracked the rotation this year. Zeke Nnaji was the Nuggets' first-round pick in 2020 and has never been a rotation player.
The Nuggets even found a potential spark-plug for next year in two-way player David Roddy. Roddy was brought in around the same time as Jones' standard contract conversion, but he didn't receive meaningful floor time until the final two games of the season, when the Nuggets rested their starters. He showcased his tenacity against the Thunder and Spurs, and quickly became a fan favorite, helping lead the Nuggets to wins in both games.
Two-way players are mostly added depth for injuries
Of course, not all two-way players develop the same way as Jones and Gillespie did. Mostly, as Roddy was most of the time, they're just depth for injuries. That's what Jones was until those injuries hit, and he ran with the opportunity.
But that shows just how important the two-way player has become to the modern roster, that at any given moment, they could find themselves starting in the playoffs on a standard contract. That's why it's still important to scout the fringe players.
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