Nuggets Trading Hunter Tyson To Nets To Duck Tax

The Nuggets and Nets have agreed to a trade that will send forward Hunter Tyson to Brooklyn along with a 2032 second-round pick, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). In return, Denver will acquire the least favorable of the Clippers’ and Hawks’ 2026 second-rounders, Charania adds.

The move had been anticipated since Denver was operating just $400K-ish above the luxury tax line, with Tyson considered the most expendable minimum-salary player on the roster.

The trade will allow the Nuggets to duck the tax and create a second opening on their 15-man roster — they’ll have up to two weeks to add a new 14th man, with two-way standout Spencer Jones looking like the obvious candidate to fill that spot on a new standard deal. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) confirms that promoting Jones is the plan.

Even after completing that move, Denver will have a roster opening that could be filled on the buyout market, and Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link) confirms the team intends to be active on that front.

Tyson, 25, was the 37th overall pick in the 2023 draft and has spent the past three seasons with the Nuggets, but never became a trusted part of Michael Malone‘s or David Adelman‘s rotation. The 6’8″ forward has made 90 total regular season appearances, averaging 2.2 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.

The Nuggets will create a small trade exception equivalent to Tyson’s $2.2MM outgoing salary in the deal.