KJ Simpson

Team: Denver Nuggets · Position: PG · Contract: two-way at the information cutoff

Reported baseline

Simpson played 20 NBA games and averaged 4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 threes in 12.9 minutes. He shot 34.3% from the field and 61.1% at the line with 1.3 turnovers.¹ The July 13 roster report identified him as a two-way player rather than one of Denver's 12 standard contracts.²

Summer League showed the creation tail: 17 points and nine assists against Houston, then 19 points, four rebounds and four assists against Minnesota.³

Encyclopedia projection — two-way NBA games

9-cat per-game band: unranked. Points: emergency stream only if elevated into a 24-MPG guard role. Dynasty: deep points-league stash; shooting efficiency is the swing skill.

Fantasy profile

• Helps: assists and steals per minute, plus on-ball scoring upside.
• Hurts: FG%, FT%, turnovers and blocks; two-way availability is itself volatile.
• Floor: spends most of the season outside the NBA rotation.
• Ceiling: Murray or Tyus Jones misses time, Simpson reaches 22-25 MPG and supplies five assists with points/steals in a temporary stream.

Role and confidence

The team page keeps Simpson outside the 240-minute signed-standard rotation. A two-way can still play NBA games, but his night-to-night eligibility and development deployment differ from a regular rotation guarantee. Roster confidence medium-high, minutes low, rate low-medium, availability medium.

Sources

Career record

Pre-NBA: Three seasons at Colorado (2021-24), rising each year: 7.4 PPG as a freshman (Pac-12 All-Freshman), 15.9/4.3/3.8 as a sophomore (second-team All-Pac-12), then a 19.7 PTS, 5.8 REB, 4.9 AST junior year on .475 FG/.434 3P (first-team All-Pac-12), capped by an NCAA-tournament game-winner against Florida. Draft: 2024, Round 2, Pick 42, Charlotte Hornets.

Durability: No injury pattern — the low GP totals are roster-driven, not health-driven: two-way limits as a rookie, then waived by Charlotte on February 6, 2026 and signed to a Denver two-way on February 19.

Trajectory: Two NBA seasons show a real per-minute playmaker (3.1 AST in 23 MPG as a rookie) who has never shot better than 35% from the field at the NBA level — the .434 college 3P has not traveled. In 2026-27 he competes for Denver's emergency-creator role behind Murray and Tyus Jones from a two-way slot. He becomes fantasy-relevant only if a Denver guard injury elevates him to 22+ MPG for multiple weeks AND his FG% climbs off the floor; until then he is a points-league stream at best.

Career sources: ESPN career stats · ESPN player page · Wikipedia · StatMuse season averages

Open questions

• Does Simpson remain on the two-way through opening night?
• Can he lift both shooting percentages enough to survive NBA minutes?
• Is he Denver's first emergency point guard or does a veteran addition pass him?