Tim Connelly doesn’t rule out opening a roster spot for two-way player Torrey Craig

DENVER — Torrey Craig is averaging 22.6 minutes per game in February and has been an integral piece to Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s rotation over the past few months. He logged 27 minutes in the Nugget’s win over the Hornets last week, 28 in Denver’s loss to Houston on Friday and 16 against the Suns on Saturday. But under his two-way contract, Craig is only allowed to spend 45 days with the team this season.

The 26-year-old has been with the Nuggets since Dec. 15 and was also in Denver for a few days in late-November. He’s played in a total of 26 games and the Nuggets — along with other teams around the league that are relying on two-way players for significant minutes — have had to get creative when it comes to practice time and travel to limit Craig from reaching the 45-day maximum.

Once the G League season ends in late-March, Craig and Denver’s other two-way player Monte Morris can be with the Nuggets on a full-time basis but under their contracts won’t be eligible for the Nuggets’ playoff roster.

President of basketball operations Tim Connelly spoke about how Denver will proceed with Craig over the remainder of the regular season at Monday’s post-trade deadline debrief and didn’t rule out eventually opening a roster spot so the Nuggets could sign Craig to a regular NBA deal.

Here’s a transcript of Connelly’s comments regarding Craig and if Denver will explore the buyout market in the coming weeks.