Torrey Craig’s agent, Johnny Foster, has confirmed to Mile High Sports that Torrey Craig will sign a two-year contract worth $4 million to stick with the Denver Nuggets.
Sources also told Mile High Sports that Craig was receiving lots of interest from multiple teams around the NBA. Denver had competition to retain his services, but ultimately Craig elected to stay in Denver being that the Nuggets were the team to give him his first shot at making the NBA.
Craig’s journey to the NBA was full of chaos and improbabilities. After spending a few years across the pond in both Australia and New Zealand before impressing the Nuggets during the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League, Craig finally saw his dream of playing in the NBA come to fruition when he was awarded a two-way contract that would allow him to spend 45 days with the Nuggets team and the rest of the season in the G-League. Unfortunately, being that Craig’s time with Denver was limited, he was unable to practice with the Nuggets throughout the year in an attempt to conserve his 45-day limit.
When Craig officially became an NBA player in the eyes of the rest of the league was on December 15th, 2017 when drew his first career NBA start and was matched up across from All-Star guard Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans. Craig played well, but his real ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment was when just seconds remained left in regulation with the game tied and Craig was isolated on Holiday, who was looking to hit a game-winning shot to stun the Nuggets crowd. Instead, Craig blocked his shot and the game went to overtime with the Nuggets eventually pulling out a big win. From that point forward, Craig was consistently part of Malone’s rotation until his 45-day limit on his previous two-way contract as finally up.
“That kid is an NBA player,” Malone exclaimed after Denver’s win over New Orleans back on December 15th, 2017. “I believe in him and I think we are going to see more and more great things from Torrey Craig going forward.”
Now, armed with a full NBA contract, Craig will have nothing holding him back from practicing and developing full time with the Nuggets and their staff. For a player that works as hard as Craig does — he has been one of the most consistent players working out in Denver this offseason — that will be huge for his growth as a player.
Craig was a restricted free agent with the Nuggets and a player that Denver’s front office and coaching staff value highly. He was a staple in head coach Michael Malone’s rotation for much of the second half of the 2017-18 season and, with Wilson Chandler being shipped off to Philadelphia, the role of backup small forward is sitting there just waiting to be taken.
Craig now has every opportunity to grab the reserve forward role. His versatility on defense and offense, floor spacing capabilities, and the infectious energy that he brings every time he steps onto the hardwood will be a big help for a Nuggets roster that is ready to take the step into the playoffs.
Craig was a big reason Denver was just one game away from the postseason last year and that was with him drastically limited. Now, with a full NBA contract and his dream realized, Craig wants to take his game and the Nuggets franchise to the next level.
