{"id":6324,"date":"2025-07-13T09:13:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6324\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T09:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:13:05","slug":"tamar-bates-takes-summer-league-stage-as-nuggets-newest-2-way-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/6324\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamar Bates takes Summer League stage as Nuggets’ newest 2-way player"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 Tamar Bates<\/a> isn\u2019t afraid to stir the pot within Nuggets nation.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not pretending to be someone he\u2019s not. He\u2019s new to Denver, not a lifer. Just because he agreed to a two-way contract with the Nuggets last month doesn\u2019t mean he feels any allegiance to the city\u2019s other sports franchises. Especially the Broncos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s cool. But you\u2019re never going to catch me with a Broncos jersey on,\u201d Bates said when asked about his new surroundings. \u201cI\u2019m in Broncos country, but when the Chiefs come to town, you know what colors I\u2019m gonna have on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates, 22, is the roster\u2019s third player raised in Kansas City, joining Christian Braun (who is more agnostic toward the AFC West rivalry) and fellow two-wayer Spencer Jones. NBA teams can give out three two-way contracts per season, allowing those three minor-leaguers to appear in regular-season NBA games without counting against the salary cap or 15-man roster. Bates was the first to sign one for Denver this year.<\/p>\n

A lefty guard out of Missouri, he went for eight points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals off the bench Thursday in his Summer League debut. As the next week plays out, his productivity will be one of the most important topics to monitor on Denver\u2019s roster. The Nuggets face Minnesota on Saturday (8 p.m. MT) at Cox Pavilion.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny little jitters I had, I got them out in that game, and in the second half I settled in a little more, felt a lot more comfortable with the physicality and the pace,\u201d Bates told The Denver Post. \u201cI felt good with what I was able to do. I felt like I made a lot of winning plays. I made a few shots, but I think the thing I\u2019m most proud of is that I didn\u2019t let a missed shot or a turnover affect my communication (and) my intensity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, efficiency was the area he struggled. His 3-for-9 shooting performance notably included only two attempts outside the arc, where the Nuggets should want him to feel comfortable letting it fly more often. In his last season of college, Bates was 39.7% from 3-point range but on limited attempts (3.9 per game). Testing his own ability to find 3s at a higher volume, within the flow of the offense, will be a key developmental step as he strives to be a 3-and-D role player in the NBA.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, his leadership has already been identified by Nuggets Summer League coach Andrew Munson. That skill might not apply to Bates next season in Denver, where he\u2019ll be pretty low in the pecking order. But it will be relevant when he\u2019s suiting up for the Nuggets\u2019 G League affiliate team, the Grand Rapids Gold,<\/p>\n

\u201cJust in the huddles, he\u2019s always talking,\u201d Munson said. \u201cHe\u2019s the loudest guy on the team, in all the right ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re a Broncos fan trying to talk football. Bates will gleefully rub it in that Kansas City has dominated the division for most of the last decade \u2014 \u201cEverybody had the chance to get Patty, so that\u2019s not my fault,\u201d he said of quarterback Patrick Mahomes \u2014 and he has a chip on his shoulder about his hard-earned bragging rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not no fake Chiefs fan,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 Me, I\u2019ve been with the Chiefs with Matt Cassel, you know what I\u2019m saying? Dwayne Bowe, Jamal Charles, Tamba Hali. I could go on all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bates\u2019 roots are helping him feel settled a little faster. He\u2019s crossed paths with Braun in AAU basketball, at open pickup runs and at a University of Kansas team camp. His high school team nearly collided with Jones in the Missouri state tournament once. (\u201cThey lost when they were supposed to play us,\u201d he said, \u201cbut that\u2019s neither here nor there.\u201d) And his alma mater is shared by Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke.<\/p>\n

Bates averaged 13.3 points last season while leading Missouri to the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rocked with Stan yesterday,\u201d Bates said during Summer League training camp. \u201c\u2026 Just glad to have people that have been watching me for some time and kind of know who I am as a basketball player, but also as a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

His beloved Chiefs, like the Nuggets, have experienced recent championship success led by an elite passer who wears No. 15 on his jersey. And like the Nuggets, Kansas City will be trying to return to the pinnacle of its sport next season after falling short in 2025. Denver fans would likely resent the comparison. Bates would relish it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing so much chit-chat, especially after this last Super Bowl,\u201d he said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t even get past the 50. We\u00a0needed that, though. I liked it. Because we\u2019ll be back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 Tamar Bates isn\u2019t afraid to stir the pot within Nuggets nation. He\u2019s not pretending to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6325,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[6743,402,6744,1751,3832,4133,1840,1753,4142,6745,6746,4412,2114,2558,6747,4139,355,398,400,401,4140,6748,1821,99,6749,1803],"class_list":{"0":"post-6324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-afc-west","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-broncos-country","11":"tag-christian-braun","12":"tag-colorado","13":"tag-contract","14":"tag-denver","15":"tag-denver-nuggets","16":"tag-front-range","17":"tag-g-league","18":"tag-grand-rapids-gold","19":"tag-kansas","20":"tag-las-vegas","21":"tag-latest-headlines","22":"tag-missouri","23":"tag-more-nuggets-news","24":"tag-nba","25":"tag-ncaa","26":"tag-ncaa-basketball","27":"tag-ncaabasketball","28":"tag-nuggets","29":"tag-nuggets-summer-league","30":"tag-patrick-mahomes","31":"tag-sports","32":"tag-stan-kroenke","33":"tag-super-bowl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6324\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}