The Denver Nuggets have rounded out their training camp group with three undrafted rookies, filling out a 21-player roster just one week before camp opens.
Per HoopsHype and The Stein Line’s Marc Stein, Denver has added Kevin “Boopie” Miller, Reese Dixon-Waters and Keonte Jones on training camp deals. The moves come after the Nuggets already used their 14th standard contract on veteran wing DeMar DeRozan and their final two-way slot on young wing Cam Whitmore.
Among the three newcomers, Miller stands out as the most intriguing name. The 23-year-old guard wrapped up a five-year run at SMU with a senior season that produced 19.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 46.5% from the field and 41.4% from three.
He’s undersized, but the production is hard to ignore. Miller brings real scoring touch, steady playmaking and enough efficiency to make him a player worth watching in camp.
His Summer League stint with the Milwaukee Bucks wasn’t especially loud, but there’s a path here if Denver likes what it sees. A spot with the Grand Rapids Gold would also make sense if the Nuggets want to keep him in the organization.
Dixon-Waters arrives with a different profile. The San Diego State product also played five college seasons and closed out his senior year with averages of 13.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists. His résumé includes an All-MWC selection, but not a lot else that jumps off the page.
He’s bigger than Miller and brings more athleticism, though the overall skill package still has to prove it can translate in Denver’s setting. Dixon-Waters logged Summer League minutes with the Golden State Warriors and posted 7.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but he remains more of a prove-it addition than a sure thing.
Jones fits that same general mold. The 24-year-old forward didn’t post eye-catching college numbers, but Denver clearly sees value in what he does bring. In his senior season at Dayton, he averaged 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
The hook with Jones is defense and energy. Over three years in Division I, he averaged 1.6 steals, 1.1 blocks and 7.0 rebounds per game, which helps explain why the Nuggets wanted him in camp. Like Dixon-Waters, he looks like a candidate to wind up with the Grand Rapids Gold, but he should at least bring athleticism and pressure to the floor during camp.
None of the three signings is expected to shift the Nuggets’ plans in any major way. Unless Denver makes another move in the next week, the team’s 21-man training camp roster is now complete.
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Nuggets Add Another Undrafted Guard With Something To Prove
Kevin Miller is getting his first NBA look in Denver after agreeing to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract with the Nuggets. The former SMU guard went undrafted, but the deal gives him an invitation to training camp and a chance to start making a case in an organization that has shown a willingness to mine overlooked backcourt talent.
Denver can bring Miller in without any corresponding roster move, with the team already carrying 20 players under contract. The more likely path is a stop with the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets G League affiliate, though training camp will at least give him a real opening to show he belongs in a deeper conversation. [Read more 🡒]
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The result is a roster that still has enough talent to matter, but one that has also sparked some skepticism from scouts about whether the changes actually improved Denver's supporting cast. Joki remains the engine that keeps the whole thing together, and the Nuggets are still firmly in the West picture, but the lineup around him now carries a different kind of pressure than it did a year ago. For a team chasing another deep run, the question is whether these savings-focused moves created more flexibility or a new problem in the middle of the title window. [Read more 🡒]
Nikola Jokic May Finally Have The Finishers Denver Needed
The Nuggets have spent plenty of time searching for the right kind of athletic support around Nikola Jokic, and this offseason brought a clear shift in that direction. With Cam Whitmore now in the mix and the roster looking noticeably quicker, Denver is trying to pair Jokics elite passing with finishers who can turn his reads into easy points at the rim.
Marvin Bagley III and Alpha Diallo also fit into that same idea, giving the Nuggets more options to attack the basket off Jokics playmaking. Peyton Watson is no longer part of the picture after being dealt to Cleveland, and the larger question now is whether this revamped group can finally give Denver the kind of rim pressure that makes its offense even tougher to guard. [Read more 🡒]