Jared Jeffries, a six feet, 11 inch journeyman forward best known for his defense who most recently played for the Portland Trailblazers, is ending his NBA career to pursue a job with the Denver Nuggets.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first broke the news about Jeffries' retirement and subsequent employment with the Nuggets. According to Wojnarowski's sources, Jeffries will begin his post-NBA career focused on a scouting role.
The 31-year old Jeffries has strong ties with the new general manager of the Nuggets, Tim Connelly, adds the report. Jeffries played for the Wizards from 2002 to 2006, a time when Connelly was with the Washington front office.
The hiring of Jeffries is one of the many personnel moves that the Denver Nuggets have undertaken this offseason. Aside from Connelly and Jeffries, the team has also hired Arturas Karnishovas as assistant general manager and Ben Tenzer as director of basketball operations.
Jeffries was a product of the Indiana University Hoosiers and played a key role in the school's Cinderella run to the NCAA title in 2002. A journeyman throughout much of his NBA career, Jeffries was the 11th overall pick of the Wizards in 2002. He played for four teams- the Wizards, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets and Blazers, who waived him in April. Jeffries was a versatile forward who can play shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center when given the opportunity. He was also a skilled defender. He averaged 4.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in his NBA career.
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