Spencer Jones isn’t planning to let his new deal change the way he lives.
After the Nuggets matched the two-year, $12 million offer sheet for the restricted free agent earlier this summer, Jones locked in a guaranteed $6 million salary for both 2026-27 and 2027-28. But the 25-year-old forward recently laid out a plan that keeps his day-to-day spending surprisingly modest: just $100,000 per year for living expenses.
“I’m set to make $6M this year. After taxes, agent fees and jock taxes, I’m estimating I’ll actually have around $3.3M to allocate,” wrote Jones on X.
He then broke down where he expects the rest of that money to go, starting with venture investing.
“Here’s how I’m thinking about it: Venture: 15-20%. It’s aggressive, but I’m 25, have a long time horizon, access to some really interesting opportunities through my network, and want venture to be a part of my career long after basketball.”
Jones also made it clear that his lifestyle won’t be stretching to match the paycheck.
“Living expenses > 100K. That probably sounds surprising relative to the salary, but a lot is covered as an NBA player.
Travel, meals, gear, etc. I’m also 25 and single.
I have plenty of fun, and there just isn’t that much I feel the need to spend money on,” he explained.
From there, Jones said the rest would go into the more practical side of wealth-building.
“The remaining $2.5M+ goes toward the boring stuff. Index funds, savings, and some philanthropy.
And that’s kind of the whole point. The biggest part of my financial plan is also the least exciting.
“When I was on a two-way contract, I told myself that if the bigger contract ever came, my lifestyle wouldn’t automatically grow with it. Now it’s here.
The goal isn’t figuring out how much I can afford to spend. It’s figuring out how much freedom I can build,” Jones concluded.
The numbers behind that $6 million paycheck help explain why Jones is thinking this way. If he ends up with around $3.3 million after taxes and fees, that means roughly 45% is gone before he even gets to his own spending and investing choices.
And at 25, Jones is still early in his career, which makes the long view matter even more. He finished the 2025-26 season with 70 games played for the Nuggets, including the playoffs, and posted 5.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.8 steals per game while shooting 51.6% from the field and 42.0% from three-point range.
Those aren’t the kind of numbers that scream max contract down the road, so the window to build real financial security may be more important than ever. Jones appears to understand that. Rather than treating the first big deal like a green light to spend, he’s treating it like a foundation.
That’s the big takeaway here: Jones wants his NBA money to work for him long after basketball, not just make his life flashier right now.
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