Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:
NBA Insider
The three members of the Nuggets’ Summer League squad most likely to impact regular-season games proved enough before the team’s finale.
Denver capped Summer League with a 96-89 win over the Raptors on Sunday and left Las Vegas with a 3-2 record thanks to Jahmi’us Ramsey’s 20-point performance on a perfect 9-for-9 mark from the field.
KJ Simpson, Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins did enough in the first four games to watch the Sunday matinee in street clothes from the sideline.
Brazile finished as the team’s leading scorer with 18.7 points per game and did so while shooting better than 45% from the field and 47% from 3-point range. The scoring average and 3-point percentage were carried by a 32-point outing against the Thunder when he went 6-of-12 on 3s. He went 9-for-25 (36%) from the field in the other two games he played.
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The 6-foot-10 forward almost exclusively played alongside a center but still averaged more than eight rebounds per game. His windmill dunk and deep buzzer-beater against the Thunder and a high-flying rejection against Portland were among the 35th pick’s highlights from Summer League. He signed a standard, four-year contract with the Nuggets during his time in Las Vegas.
Hopkins, the 49th pick, was Denver’s most consistent scorer in the desert. The 6-foot-7 wing used his physicality to create space around the bucket to score and flashed potential as a 3-point shooter, going 5 for 14. He averaged 18 points across four games and made a statement in the opener, dropping 24 points on 13 shots. He also posted 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
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The consistent scoring would have been even more impressive had Hopkins done better than 8 for 12 on free throws. His contract situation will be impacted by what happens with Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones, Denver’s forwards who are navigating restricted free agency. If nothing else, expect Hopkins to have the opportunity to graduate from a two-way contract to a standard deal, like Jones did last season.
Simpson had the tough task of running a Summer League offense that didn’t feature any other player who played for the Nuggets last year. Though he scored 19 and 17 points, the efficiency wasn’t there.
The 6-foot-1 guard didn’t have much time to establish a rhythm and finished the two games he played 10 for 28 from the field, including a 3-for-12 mark from 3. He dished out 13 assists. The former Colorado Buffalo already occupies one of Denver’s three two-way roster spots for next season.
The rest of the roster was competing for the two remaining two-way contracts or a spot with the Grand Rapids Gold. Mark Sears — another small guard like Simpson — Erik Stevenson and Ramsey were among the other standouts.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort celebrates a score against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
What I’m Thinking
The second apron of the salary cap looks increasingly like a hard cap with each year.
The Cavaliers were the only team to operate in the second apron last season. After the Thunder made some cost-cutting trades this offseason, it looks like all 30 teams will avoid the most restrictive portion of the salary cap.
Oklahoma City saved roughly $20 million by trading Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe to Atlanta and Detroit, respectively. The Thunder didn’t take back any salary, instead settling for two second-round picks for each player. The trend continued Sunday when the Thunder shipped Luguentz Dort to the Hawks in a three-team trade that included Dallas. Oklahoma City’s front office once again avoided adding any salary, receiving a trio of second-round picks in the latest trade that shed more than $18 million in salary. The trio of moves saved the front office more than $200 million in taxes and penalties.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti acknowledged trading Dort had little to do with basketball after Oklahoma City won the 2025 title and lost to San Antonio in a seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals this year.
“This was a financial decision,” Presti told The Oklahoman on Sunday. “The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years, will be reallocated to future teams.”
That’s an even more damning indictment of the second apron since the Thunder won’t be subjected to the repeater tax anytime soon. Teams that operate in the luxury tax in three of four seasons pay an even larger tax bill.
The Nuggets will almost certainly be the only team in the second apron if ownership signs off on an unlikely plan that brings back Peyton Watson on a new deal and keeps Cam Johnson on his expiring contract worth more than $23 million for next season. Sunday’s trade could also impact Atlanta’s interest in a sign-and-trade deal for Watson.
Escaping the second apron while retaining Watson almost certainly includes trading Johnson in a move that mirrors Oklahoma City’s moves this summer. If that’s the case, the second apron will act as a hard cap for at least one year.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) warms up before an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Cleveland, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
What They’re Saying
Fans aren’t the only ones growing impatient with LeBron James’ decision-making process.
“Where LeBron plays will affect the schedule, so I would like him to make his announcement already so we can finish the schedule,” commissioner Adam Silver said during an interview with CNBC last week. “Because, as you might imagine, the teams are calling us, the networks are calling us and everybody wants to lock in the schedule, but (LeBron’s decision) will influence how we set the schedule.”
What I’m Following
Golden State beat Memphis 94-90 in the Summer League championship game Sunday night. Yaxel Lendeborg, the 11th overall selection in last month’s draft, and Deivon Smith led the Warriors with 21 points apiece. Cameron Boozer, the third pick, and Cedric Coward, a first-team All-Rookie selection last season, each posted 19 points for Memphis. Lendeborg was named Most Valuable Player.
With his restricted free agency still playing out, Peyton Watson was among the stars to attend the World Cup final.
Nuggets guard Julian Strawther hosted a back-to-school backpack giveaway at his former high school in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Jonas Valanciunas, as expected, reached an agreement to continue his career in Europe. The Nuggets’ backup center is headed back to his native Lithuania to play for Zalgiris Kaunas.
The Lakers added some needed perimeter defense, signing Matisse Thybulle to a one-year contract on Monday.
The Mavericks decided to match the $4.7 million offer sheet the Knicks offered center Moussa Cisse to keep him in Dallas before Monday’s deadline.