In the Peak Pub House on the second level of the Pepsi Center, Jusuf Nurkic snuck into the back of the room after the Nuggets’ news conference Wednesday to introduce the team’s newest draftees.

How could a 7-foot, 280-pound man sneak into anywhere? When he’s no longer 280 pounds.

And Nurkic no longer is. He has lost 35 pounds in the two months since the end of the season and is hoping his weight loss will pay big dividends in the upcoming season.

Asked how he’s done it, Nurkic said: “Steve Hess.”

Hess is the Nuggets’ head strength coach.

“It’s Hess and my work ethic,” Nurkic said. “I want to be healthy, and so I want to do whatever I can do be that. And I am; 35 pounds less, being (in) shape.”

Nurkic battled rehabbing a knee injury and then got a late start on conditioning after missing the first 33 games of the season. He’s now feeling much better.

“I feel strong, I feel healthy,” Nurkic said. “I feel great. I’m excited about everything coming up.”

Summer league Nuggets. The Nuggets are cobbling together their summer league roster, and it contains some interesting names. In addition to draft picks Jamal Murray, Juancho Hernangomez and Malik Beasley, the Nuggets also have locals Josh Scott and Josh Adams, former BYU standout Jimmer Fredette and Czech Republic center Ondrej Balvin on their roster.

There will be more players added to the summer league team. The Nuggets start summer league practices Sunday. The NBA Las Vegas Summer League begins July 8.

Hernangomez latest. The first hurdle cleared was getting draft pick Hernangomez on the summer league roster. Check. He’ll be there. The next question is whether he will be on the roster in the fall. That is more complicated.

“It’s the (general manager’s) decision, the coach’s decision, my family and my decision,” Hernangomez said. “So it’s our decision together.”

Said Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly, “We’re going to take our time, let him get a taste of the NBA, let our coaches get a taste for his game.”