It was June 5, 2024, just 21 days before the NBA Draft, and KJ Simpson was in Minnesota for a pre-draft workout. The Timberwolves were interested in the 6-1 point guard out of Colorado who was a projected second-round pick after averaging almost 20 points and earning First Team All-Pac 12 honors as a junior.
Midway through the workout, Simpson went down with an injury. It was a hamstring strain that prematurely ended his pre-draft tour and put him on the shelf indefinitely. Simpson was devastated. Every thought ran through his head. How would this injury affect his draft stock? Could a bad hamstring drop him out of the second round all together?
On the Timberwolves practice court, one voice gave Simpson the assurance he needed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Minnesota’s Director of Player Personnel told Simpson. “I think highly of you. I’ve seen you play in college. We know what you can do. Your film’s out there. You’re a great person. Just keep at it.”
That Timberwolves executive? It was Jon Wallace, now the Nuggets EVP of player personnel.
The Charlotte Hornets would up selecting Simpson 42nd overall, and the Southern California native split time between the G League and NBA that season. He appeared in 36 games for the Hornets and started 15 while averaging 7.8 points in over 23 minutes per contest. It was major minutes and a significant role right away for the second-round pick.
Simpson opened the 2025-26 season with the Hornets but injured his hip and was waived a month later. Another setback. He retreated to his home base in California, where he reset, trained, and lived in the practice gym. Then, his agent called. Several teams were interested.
“My agent told me one of the teams was Denver,” Simpson told DNVR. “Right then I knew it was going to be Denver. I did. I just – all the signs were all there.”
“It was a full circle moment.”
Wallace and the Nuggets pitched Simpson on joining a high-tempo offense where he could play fast and to his strengths. Denver wanted a pure point guard that could guard 94-feet, pick up full court, and be a pest for opposing ball handlers to get into their offense against. Simpson also said the Nuggets told him they wanted a player who could help invigorate their locker room and be a great teammate.
Even though he had ample interest from other teams, Simpson quickly committed to Denver. He joined the Nuggets while they were in Los Angeles to play the Clippers in their first game after the All-Star break. Immediately, he felt like he was where he was supposed to be.
Simpson was energized by joining a contending team that was competing for playoff seeding. He sensed a different level of focus, detail and preparation in Denver than he experienced in Charlotte.
“You can feel the championship DNA here,” Simpson told DNVR last season. “The way the guys come in with their level of preparation and focus and the attention to detail in the film and walkthrough.”
Simpson signed a two-year, 2-way contract and logged just 34 total minutes for the Nuggets last season. But he flashed his skill-set and checked a couple boxes that Denver was missing from its roster: ball handling, competitiveness, and an offensive spark off the bench. That mentality has carried over to Summer League where Simpson’s 19 points led the Nuggets to a win on Saturday. He had 17 points and 9 assists in Denver’s opener.
When Simpson steps onto the floor, he knows no one’s going to play harder than him. It’s something he prides himself on. He pledges to bring that level of competition to the Nuggets practice court. He wants to push Jamal Murray and the other guards on Denver’s roster, who he’ll put in countless reps against this coming season.
“I just like the culture here,” said Simpson. “The competition is at an all-time high, and that’s something I love.”
The Nuggets culture is of course set by one man. Simpson immediately recognized the effect that Nikola Jokic has on the franchise and everything that happens day-to-day inside Ball Arena the second he stepped foot inside Denver’s facility.
From the weight room, to the practice court, to what happens on game days, Simpson saw that this organization has Jokic’s fingerprints all over it. Sharing a locker room with the 3-time MVP has been a surreal experience.
“It’s crazy,” Simpson said about Jokic, smiling at just the thought of describing his greatness. “He’s the best player ever, like, that I’ve ever seen. It’s different when you play against him. You scout him, you know what he’s good at, right?”
“But when you’re teammates with him, it’s just his mental. His IQ is so high. And he knows the game of basketball at such a quick pace. To be able to share the court with him and other guys with amazing talent, that’s why I’m excited to be here.”
Watching Jokic’s brilliance up close was a shock to his system.
“Somebody can make a clip of my reactions on the bench,” Simpson said. “I keep turning around to the coaches and saying, like, ‘Yo, I’ve got to get used to this. Like, this is insane!’”
Being in Denver just makes sense if you know Simpson’s path to get to this point. He feels like it’s destiny – even though he grew up a Laker fan and idolized Kobe Bryant – that he’s now wearing a Nuggets jersey.
“I’m proud to wear Denver across my chest,” he said in Vegas last weekend.
Simpson isn’t taking this moment for granted. He knows he’s landed in the spot where he wanted to be and on a team that he’s comfortable with. He’s both thankful for the chance the Nuggets took on him and hungry to prove his doubters wrong.
And who knows just how big of an impact he can make. On a 2-way contract, Simpson is permitted to play in 50 games with the Nuggets next season, and Denver’s point guard situation behind Murray is murky at best. The Nuggets re-signed veteran Tyus Jones this offseason. But as their depth chart currently reads, there’s opportunity to be had.
“The thing about me is I’m loyal to the core,” Simpson said. “I’m never going to jump ship when things go wrong or minutes go down. At the end of the day, they took a chance on me. They decided to give me an opportunity, and that’s all I ever need. People still try to write me off to this day, and, look now. I’m with the Nuggets.”
Simpson already feels embedded with this team. On the high school circuit he grew up playing against Peyton Watson, another SoCal hooper. He was friends with DaRon Holmes even before signing his contract with Denver last year. He battled Spencer Jones for three seasons in the Pac 12 whenever Colorado and Stanford faced off.
He’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s home.
There’s a photo saved in Simpson’s phone. It’s a Snapchat memory of a picture of Ball Arena from 2021. Simpson and his Colorado teammates drove to Denver to watch a Nuggets-Timberwolves game and support their ex-teammate McKinley Wright, who was a rookie for Minnesota.
The caption of that photo read, “I’m going to play here one day.”
Now he is.
