The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed restricted free agent Spencer Jones of the Denver Nuggets to an offer sheet.
The Thunder gave Jones a two-year, $12 million offer sheet, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Now it’s up to the Nuggets to match it.
“Denver restricted free agent Spencer Jones has agreed to a two-year, $12 million offer sheet with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Adam Godes of ADS Sports tells ESPN. Jones was a key contributor for the Nuggets last season, including an NBA-best 69% from 3-point range during the playoffs, and now is ready to conclude chapter in Denver to move onto OKC,” Charania wrote on X.
“Jones’ $12 million deal is fully guaranteed with the Thunder and now the Nuggets have until 11:59 pm ET Sunday to match or not. Denver has dealt with the restricted free agencies of Jones and Peyton Watson this offseason amid rising tax bills,” Charania wrote in a follow-up post on X.
Spencer Jones is an Improving Role Player
Jones was an undrafted free agent who signed with Denver in 2024. The 25-year-old Jones has played in parts of two seasons for Denver. In his first season, Jones played in just 20 games for Denver, but this past year, he exploded in playing time, playing in 64 games for the Nuggets, including 20 starts, and averaging 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while also showing strong defense.
The Thunder lost some of their key reserves this season, including Luguentz Dort, who was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a salary dump deal. Jones would presumably take over Dort’s role as a defensive stopper who can also chip in some occasional offense off the bench for the Thunder. Overall, it’s an intriguing offer sheet from Thunder GM Sam Presti.
Thunder Trying to Steal Rival’s Player
The Thunder are hoping to steal one of the role players from one of their biggest rivals in the Western Conference by signing Jones to this offer sheet.
Ultimately, the decision will be up to the Nuggets’ front office about what they want to do. If they match the deal for Jones, then they will have to absorb the luxury tax penalties that come with it, but they’ll get a good player back on their team. If they decline to match, however, they’ll lose a very solid player to a rival team.
It’s a tough call for the Nuggets’ front office, and it will be interesting to see what they decide to do given the luxury tax issues that come with matching this offer sheet.
The Nuggets also need to consider the potential of Peyton Watson signing an offer sheet with another team, as the Nuggets still haven’t signed Watson to a contract extension as an RFA. Watson is a better player than Jones, but he will come with a much bigger contract because of it.
The Nuggets may ultimately need to decide whether they want to keep one of Jones or Watson more than the other, as it’s going to be very difficult and very expensive for Denver to keep both of these players on their roster.
Thunder Sign Spencer Jones to Offer Sheet