Nuggets turn one-night nemesis into backup point guard option

Ryan Nembhard absolutely wrecked the Denver Nuggets last season at Ball Arena. Now he’s playing for them.

Nembhard has agreed to a two-way contract with the Nuggets, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal ends a strange summer for the 23-year-old guard. He was traded twice and waived once before he got to choose where he’d play next.

Nuggets fans will remember him, and not because he’s Andrew Nembhard’s little brother. On Dec. 1, 2025, Nembhard was an undrafted rookie on a two-way deal with Dallas. He came to Denver and scored a career-high 28 points with 10 assists in a 131-121 Mavericks win. It was the kind of night that makes a whole building ask, “Who is that?”

The Nuggets apparently were asking that, too.

Nembhard spent his rookie year in Dallas, playing in 60 games and starting 27. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.3 assists, the most assists per game of any rookie. In the regular-season finale against Chicago, he had 23 assists, the most by any player in a single game all season. He was also the only undrafted player to get an All-Rookie vote.

He was even better as a starter. In those 27 games, he averaged 9.4 points and 6.8 assists in 25.7 minutes, made 40.4% of his 3-pointers and averaged just 1.7 turnovers.

The Mavericks picked up his team option June 29. Then Dallas traded him to Atlanta in a three-team deal July 19. On Sept. 22, the Hawks traded him to Charlotte. The Hornets then waived him. Nembhard cleared waivers Tuesday, making him a free agent, and the Nuggets moved quickly.

This isn’t the first time a Gonzaga guard lit up Ball Arena and found his way to Denver. In March 2023, Julian Strawther had 28 points and 10 rebounds there in Gonzaga’s 82-70 first-round NCAA tournament win over Grand Canyon. Three months later, the Nuggets drafted him in the first round.

The Mavs game in 2025 wasn’t even Nembhard’s first big night at Ball. Two days after Strawther’s game, Nembhard, then at Creighton, scored 30 points in an 85-76 win over Baylor that sent the Bluejays to the Sweet 16.

The Nuggets need options at backup point guard. Behind Jamal Murray, they have Tyus Jones, with DeMar DeRozan and Lonnie Walker IV — competing for a job — able to help in a pinch. Denver’s three two-way spots were already full with KJ Simpson, Bryce Hopkins and Cam Whitmore, so a move is coming. Simpson, a Buffs legend, is the expected casualty. There’s a real chance Nembhard ends up playing big minutes this season.

A two-way deal doesn’t count against the 15-man roster. Nembhard will shuttle between Denver and Grand Rapids with the other two-way players. Last season, that path worked out for Spencer Jones. Monte Morris and Torrey Craig also turned the gig into bigger roles in Denver, and Jay Huff and Collin Gillespie used it to become solid NBA players elsewhere.

At 5-foot-11, Nembhard will have to prove he can hold up in the playoffs. First, he’d need to get there. Two-way players aren’t eligible for the postseason, which is why Denver moved Jones to a standard deal at midseason last season once he became indispensable.

Last season, Jones turned a two-way deal into a real contract. Nembhard has already shown Ball Arena what he can do. Now he gets to do it for the home team.

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