Denver Nuggets sign both their 2023 second-round picks

The Denver Nuggets roster is essentially locked up just a few days into the official offseason.

On Wednesday, the Denver Post reported that both of the team’s 2023 second-round picks have signed contracts. Guard Jalen Pickett, the No. 32 pick out of Penn State, signed a four-year deal and so too did forward Hunter Tyson, the No. 37 pick from Clemson.

Deal is for 4 years overall, but with three years fully guaranteed, source says. https://t.co/P8nHZsyi86

— Mike Singer (@msinger) July 6, 2023

The Nuggets and Hunter Tyson have agreed on a four-year deal worth $7.7 million, a league source told @denverpost. The first three years are fully guaranteed with a team option on the fourth year. Deal will use second round exception as well.

— Mike Singer (@msinger) July 6, 2023

Picket transferred to Penn State after three seasons at Siena, where he was MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2019, the MAAC Player of the Year in 2020, and a three-time All-MAAC 1st Team selection. In Happy Valley, Pickett averaged 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. The 6-foot-2, 200 pound guard projects to compete for the backup point guard, or at least third-string job, using his well-known “Booty Ball” game. Pickett shot 63.9% at the rim, 45.4% in the midrange and 37.2% from deep while playing for the Nittany Lions.

While Tyson scored 15.3 points per game and snagged 9.6 rebounds as a fifth-year senior at Clemson a year ago. And he’s more than a big body with a 6-foot-8 frame, Tyson shot 40.5 percent from three-point range. He also shot nearly 84 percent from the free-throw line.

The two joined Julian Strawther at No. 29 as Denver’s draft night haul.

The Nuggets now have 14 players signed to their 15-man roster, but Strawther’s deal has yet to come in—meaning Denver’s roster is virtually filled. In the past second-round picks sometimes signed two-way contracts but a stipulation in the new collective bargaining agreement makes it easier for teams to lock up second rounders.

This leaves Denver with two-way slots, for which there are now three in the new CBA instead of two. One will be used on guard Collin Gillespie, with the other two perhaps up for grabs in Summer League.

Here’s a look at Denver’s current depth chart now that second-rounders have more or less locked in the Nuggets roster.

PG: Jamal Murray, Reggie Jackson, Jalen Pickett, Collin Gillespie (TW)
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Christian Braun, Julian Strawther
SF: Michael Porter Jr., Justin Holiday, Peyton Watson
PF: Aaron Gordon, Vlatko Čančar, Hunter Tyson
C: Nikola Jokić, DeAndre Jordan, Zeke Nnaji

The Nuggets still have the rights to last year’s second-round pick Ismael Kamagate, who will be on the team’s Summer League roster.

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