KJ Simpson Returns to Boulder as Nuggets Face Jazz in Preseason Showcase

BOULDER – The NBA is coming back up US36, and this time it’s bringing one of Boulder’s own with it.

The University of Colorado will host a preseason matchup between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 5 p.m. at the CU Events Center, a rare NBA stop on college hardwood that doubles as a homecoming for former Buffaloes star KJ Simpson.

For three seasons, from 2021 to 2024, Simpson drove Colorado’s backcourt and helped push the program into national conversation. He collected two All-Pac-12 Conference honors and steered the Buffaloes on a memorable run through the 2024 NCAA Tournament, carving out a legacy that still feels fresh around campus.

Now he returns in different colors, and on a bigger stage.

Simpson entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, selected by the Charlotte Hornets. His path wound back west midway through the 2025-26 season when he joined the Nuggets on a two-way contract. Since then, he has carved out rotation minutes in Denver: 56 NBA games, 17 starts, and averages of 6.7 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game over two seasons. Solid numbers for a young guard still finding his ceiling.

This preseason date in Boulder will mark the fourth time Denver has taken its October tune-up schedule to CU. The Nuggets last appeared at the CU Events Center in 2015, facing the Chicago Bulls on the Russell “Sox” Walseth Court. Before that, Colorado hosted Denver for preseason contests against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2007 and 2014. Each visit has turned the college arena into a temporary NBA outpost; this one adds the emotional pull of a local favorite stepping back onto his old floor.

The matchup with Utah opens Denver’s five-game preseason slate. Once the final buzzer sounds in Boulder, the two teams will see each other again almost immediately, this time in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 6.

From there, the Nuggets’ warm-up tour swings back to Ball Arena on Sunday, Oct. 11, when they host the Chicago Bulls. A California double then closes out their exhibition schedule: a trip to Los Angeles to face the Clippers at Intuit Dome on Wednesday, Oct. 14, followed by a preseason finale against the Lakers at Crypto Arena on Friday, Oct. 16.

For Colorado fans, though, the focal point sits squarely on Oct. 4. An NBA game on campus. A contender in town. And a familiar guard, once the heartbeat of the Buffaloes, now testing himself against the league he fought so hard to reach.

Tickets for the Nuggets–Jazz preseason game at the CU Events Center go on sale to the general public on Thursday, Sept. 10.