Denver draws its line in the sand
Sixty-nine percent. That was Spencer Jones from three in the playoffs, the best clip anyone posted across the entire postseason. Numbers like that get noticed, and Oklahoma City noticed. The Thunder floated an offer sheet to peel the young wing away from Colorado. Denver barely blinked before matching it, locking Jones in for two more years at $12 million.
He arrived with no fanfare. Undrafted in 2024, signed by the Nuggets as a free agent, Jones now heads into a third season in Denver. Watching a shooter like that leave for a conference rival was never really on the table.
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Why the Nuggets fought this hard for a role player
Shooting next to Nikola Jokic is its own kind of currency. Every defense tilts toward the big man, and someone has to make the help pay. Jones did exactly that when the lights were brightest. The reigning champions in Oklahoma City studied the same tape and tried to exploit Denver’s cap crunch. It backfired.
The price of saying yes
Matching an offer sheet is easy to cheer and painful to sign. Denver’s luxury tax bill leaps from $36 million to $68 million with Jones back in the fold. The franchise crosses into the second apron for the first time, and that territory drops a hard ceiling on how the front office can reshape the roster from here.
The bill is steep. Denver signed anyway, eyes still fixed on the top of the West.
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