Free Agency Frenzy Continues: Nuggets pick up Tim Hardaway Jr.

The Denver Nuggets added yet another shooter to the roster on Tuesday, signing Tim Hardaway Jr. to a one-year deal as part of the team’s free agency frenzy.

The deal, first reported by ESPN, brings the 33-year-old 6-foot-5 wing to Colorado for a veteran minimum. Hardway started 77 games in his lone season with the Detroit Pistons, averaging 11 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game on 41% shooting from the field and 37% from 3-point range.

Hardway has received Sixth Man of the Year votes four times in his career and has been part of some strong teams, including an NBA Finals run with the Dallas Mavericks in 2024. He has long been sought after by the Nuggets and was nearly part of the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departure as a sign-and-trade.

It’s the second addition the Nuggets made on Tuesday of a player they tried to get in the past, also picking up Jonas Valanciunas in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. While Lithuanian Lightning will back up Nikola Jokic, THJ will be a valued option for the Nuggets alongside the brought back Bruce Brown behind Christian Braun and the newly acquired Cameron Johnson on the wings.

The Nuggets still have one more open roster spot and may look to add a veteran guard to backup Jamal Murray and alongside Brown. They have the Mid-Level Exception and some other mechanism to utilize to bring in another player, but they may try to stay out of the luxury tax or as they near its first apron.

Hardaway’s father spent 14 games with the Nuggets toward the end of his Hall of Fame career. The son has bounced between the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Mavericks and Pistons since getting drafted late in the first round out of Michigan in 2013.

Hardaway, along with Johnson — who replaces Michael Porter Jr. — is a volume deep ball shooter. Since the start of 2017-18, he’s tossed up at least six 3-point shots a game. In that time he’s shot just under 37%. Denver was the lowest volume 3-point shooting team last year, and fixing that seems to be one of Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace’s big priorities in adding depth.

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