Ex-Cyclone Curtis Jones learning on fly in NBA, G League

DALLAS — Playing on two-way contracts in the NBA is often an eye-opening experience since players split time between the NBA and G League, an arrangement which former Iowa State men’s basketball standout Curtis Jones, currently on a two-way deal with Denver, knows all about.

“Obviously, it’s a lot of back and forth. I think I’ve been back and forth twice now,” Jones, 24, said during a Nuggets’ road game in Dallas on Dec. 23, 2025. “I started the season up (in the NBA), three games, went to Grand Rapids for three weeks, went back to Denver for a couple weeks, then back to Grand Rapids for a couple weeks and now I’m back here for a couple weeks.”

Jones started his college career at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa where he played from 2020 to 2021. His next stop was Buffalo, where he’d stay through 2023 when he earned third-team All-MAC honors. He finished his collegiate career with two seasons in Ames for the Cyclones, earning first-team all-Big 12 and Big 12 Sixth Man honors as a senior in 2025.

“I look back at it (my time at ISU) as a great time. From the team to the fans to the community, everything about it was great. I didn’t get off to the best start, but to end the way that I did, it shows a lot about my perseverance and fighting through adversity, which are huge life skills,” Jones said.

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And like many who have played for him, he credits the invaluable lessons learned from Cyclones head coach TJ Otzelberger and his staff during his two seasons in Ames for laying the groundwork to now play professionally. “I loved the teams he (Otzelberger) put together. I love my teammates and being around great guys,” he said. “I’ve got friendships that will last forever through my time there. That’s the thing I’m most grateful for.”

After going undrafted, he landed a spot on the Nuggets summer league roster and played well enough there that Denver signed him to a two-way contract over the summer.

“My first game in summer league, we were playing against the Bucks. I was bringing it up against Jamaree Bouyea, who is on a two-way with the Suns. I had spun and by the time I looked back, he was already going to lay the ball in,” Jones recalled. “That was probably my ‘welcome to the NBA’ moment.”

Jones’ NBA debut came on Nov. 29, 2025 at Phoenix when he played the final 1:29 against the Suns. Thus far, he’s appeared in three games for the Nuggets. However, it’s been the opposite in the G League as he’s already played 11 games for Denver’s affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, and is averaging 22.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 6.4 assists per game in the G League. “It’s very good (to get consistent minutes in the G League) because I’m a rookie. It’s nice to be there and get reps mentally and physically to prepare for this level,” he said.

And even though he’s only been a Nugget for several months, David Adelman, in his first full season as Denver’s head coach, already sees plenty to like in the hungry ex-Cyclone. “(He has) poise and a willingness to learn, to be uncomfortable with things that he hasn’t really done yet, that I think he’s going to have to do to play at our level and just absorb some coaching,” Adelman said. “Have heard nothing but positive things from my staff, when he’s been up and down, from the staff down there (in the G League).”

“Really talented kid, can really score but has to learn to be an efficient pick-and-roll player and I think that’s the next step. He’s a natural scorer but is an underrated passer once he learns the reads, the rotations, and how defenses attack him as opposed to him just trying to score the basketball. He has a bright future.”

Jones has enjoyed learning from Adelman, whose father, Rick, was a longtime NBA head coach and is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “It’s been good. I didn’t know too much about him before I got here and the way he’s been able to control the room and get the respect from the guys, the staff and the players, he just has a lot of respect and the things that he says, they hold weight,” he said. “Massive respect for him.”

Being an NBA rookie not only means doing his best impression of a sponge to absorb the plethora of information being thrown at him about how to succeed and stick in the Association, but it also means paying his dues to his veteran teammates in the form of rookie duties, small tasks he’s responsible for to show how much he respects the game.

For some rookies, that means lugging around a pink backpack all season long to announce their rookie status to the world, but Jones has no backpack to carry around. “My guys have been cool. I’ve just got to make sure everybody has got a towel before the game in the locker room,” he said. “That’s really all I’ve had to do so far, but anything the vets need, I’ve got them.”

When he made his NBA debut earlier this season, he became the 38th Cyclone to play in the Association, a group he’s happy to now be a member of. “I ‘m honored to be a part of it because when I went to Iowa State, I wasn’t even really thinking about the NBA. The fact that I’m here, sometimes it still just amazes me,” he said.

“I’m so blessed. I’ve really just got to give all the credit to God and then my mom. She’s a big reason why I’m here. It’s amazing. I was just talking to my mom and told her this didn’t even feel like a job. I don’t get up and think I’m going to work. This is what I’ve been doing my whole life, so this is what’s normal to me and I’m just really blessed to be able to do it at this level.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.