After 11 seasons in the NBA, Jared Jeffries is transitioning from his playing career into an executive role, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reports that Jeffries has accepted a front office job with the Nuggets. The 31-year-old will begin in a scouting role, a source tells Wojnarowski.
Last summer, Jeffries was part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Raymond Felton from the Blazers to the Knicks. While sign-and-trade rules dictated that he had to sign for at least three years, only the first year of his contract was guaranteed, so Portland released him at season's end. Since then, we haven't heard any rumors connecting him to NBA teams, so it makes some sense that he would pursue an off-court position, even at age 31.
As Wojnarowski notes, Jeffries has a strong history with new Nuggets GM Tim Connelly. Jeffries played for the Wizards for the first four seasons of his career, from 2002 to 2006, when Connelly was in Washington's front office.
While the Yahoo! report doesn't technically mention retirement, it appears unlikely that the versatile veteran will return to the court for an NBA team. Assuming Jeffries has played his last game, he'll finish with averages of 4.8 PPG and 4.1 RPG in 629 career contests for the Wizards, Knicks, Rockets, and Blazers. According to Basketball-Reference, he earned a little over $40MM over the course of his NBA career.