2019 UVA title alums Jay Huff, Braxton Key sign with NBA champ Denver Nuggets

Two UVA basketball alums have signed two-way deals with the 2023 NBA champ Denver Nuggets – Jay Huff and Braxton Key.

Huff, a 7’1” center, split the 2022-2023 season between the Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards organizations, getting time in both the NBA and in the G League.

In seven games with the Wizards after signing with the franchise on March 1, Huff averaged 7.3 points per game, shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 50.0 percent from three-point range.

In 28 G League games split between the South Bay Lakers and Capital City Go-Go this past season, Huff averaged 15.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game, shooting 64.5 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from three.

Huff was named the G League Defensive Player of the Year for the 2022-2023 season.

Key, a 6’8” forward, saw limited action in three games with the Detroit Pistons in 2022-2023 before finishing the season with the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League, where he averaged 13.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, shooting 52.1 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three.

Both Key and Huff were members of the 2019 UVA national-championship team.

Teammates from that group include De’Andre Hunter, who was taken by the Atlanta Hawks with the fourth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and is now a four-year NBA veteran, and Ty Jerome, a late first-round pick in 2019 by Phoenix who signed in the offseason with Cleveland after stints with Oklahoma City and Golden State.

Other guys from that team with NBA run include Mamadi Diakite, an undrafted free agent in 2020 who has played for Milwaukee, OKC and Cleveland over the past three NBA seasons, and Kyle Guy, a 2019 second-round pick who has played in the NBA with Sacramento and Miami, and recently signed a deal with Panathinaikos Athens, a member of the EuroLeague.

One other 2019 title winner with a cup of coffee to this point in the Association – Kihei Clark, who was a freshman on the championship team, and just wrapped up a couple of weeks with the Utah Jazz Summer League team.