The Nuggets are coming back to Boulder.
The University of Colorado will host an NBA preseason matchup between Denver and Utah on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. inside the CU Events Center, giving Buffs fans a chance to see an exhibition game on campus and bringing a familiar face with it.
Former Colorado guard KJ Simpson will return to Boulder for the game. Simpson played for the Buffaloes from 2021-24, picked up a pair of All-Pac-12 Conference honors and helped lead Colorado on a memorable run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Simpson entered the league after Charlotte selected him in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. He later joined the Nuggets on a two-way contract midway through the 2025-26 season and has played in 56 NBA games, making 17 starts over two seasons. In that span, he has averaged 6.7 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.
The exhibition will be the fourth time Denver has made the trip up US36 for preseason action, and the first since 2015. That year, the Nuggets faced the Chicago Bulls on the Russell "Sox" Walseth Court. Colorado also hosted Denver and the Portland Trail Blazers for preseason games in 2007 and 2014.
The Boulder game opens a five-game preseason slate for the Nuggets. After that, Denver goes to Salt Lake City for another meeting with the Jazz on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
From there, the Nuggets return to Ball Arena on Sunday, Oct. 11, to host Chicago. They then head to Los Angeles to play the Clippers on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Intuit Dome before wrapping up the preseason against the Lakers on Friday, Oct. 16, at Crypto Arena.
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The late touchdown he hauled in helped explain the attention, and so did the quieter work that often goes unnoticed in a season opener. Williams also has a connection to offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, which adds another layer to his early emergence, even if the night was not spotless thanks to a holding penalty. For a player with limited college experience, it was the kind of debut that suggests Colorado may have found a useful piece sooner than expected. [Read more 🡒]