Enjoy this video of Denver Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay, as he got drafted and then played summer league in preparation for the pros:
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Nuggets re-sign Darrell Arthur, Will Barton and Jameer Nelson
The Denver Nuggets have re-signed Darrell Arthur, Will Barton and Jameer Nelson to multi-year contracts, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Arthur, 6-9, 225, appeared in 58 games (four starts) for Denver in 2014-15, averaging 6.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 17.0 minutes per game. The six-year NBA veteran has played in 373 career games (82 starts) for Denver and Memphis, averaging 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. He was drafted out of the University of Kansas with the 27th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets and was dealt to the Grizzlies on draft night.
Barton, 6-6, 175, arrived in Denver via trade on Feb. 19, 2015 and averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.21 steals in 28 games with the Nuggets. He has appeared in 172 career games (five starts) over four seasons with Portland and Denver, averaging 5.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 13.2 minutes per game. Barton was selected out of the University of Memphis with the 40th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Nelson, 6-0, 190, appeared in 34 games (five starts) and averaged 9.6 points and 3.7 assists for Denver last season after being acquired in a trade from Boston on Jan. 13, 2015. The 11-year veteran and former NBA All-Star owns career averages of 12.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists while shooting .371 from three-point range in 714 career games (585 starts) with Orlando, Dallas, Boston and Denver.
Nelson spent the first 10 years of his career in Orlando where he reached the playoffs six times, including a run to the NBA Finals in 2009. He enjoyed his best statistical year in 2008-09, averaging a career-high 16.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists en route to an Eastern Conference All-Star selection. He currently stands as the Magic’s all-time leader in assists with 3,501. The Chester, Pa. native was drafted out of Saint Joseph’s University with the 20th overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft by the Nuggets before his rights were sent to the Orlando Magic on draft-night in exchange for a 2005 first round pick.
Kenneth Faried aims to improve defense
Here’s the Denver Post reporting on Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried, who last season was paid a lot of money to average a modest 12.6 points per game. He did grab 8.9 rebounds per outing, which is even more impressive considering he played just 27.8 minutes per game. But beyond numbers, stronger defense is expected of him, and he knows it.
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Kenneth Faried hears all the noise, but he didn’t need to. He already knew what he had to work on this summer.
“My defense, I’ve focused on that,” Faried said in a phone interview from Johannesburg, where he played in NBA Africa Game 2015 on Saturday. “I’ve been watching film on guys that I consider my toughest matchups, and I’ve been able to dissect them so that when the season comes around I’m able to guard those players — and become the player I want to be, and that’s hopefully defensive player of the year one day and first-team all-defense.”
Faried, a high-energy player, has the raw tools to be a defensive stopper. It will be up to new Nuggets coach Michael Malone to help him get there. What’s new is that Faried acknowledges his defensive shortcomings.
Nuggets sign Danilo Gallinari to contract extension
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After restructuring his deal, the Denver Nuggets have signed forward Danilo Gallinari to a multi-year contract extension, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
According to the Denver Post, “Gallinari’s extension has a total value of three years and $45 million. He will get a bump in pay that starts this season and raises his salary from $11.5 million to $14 million.”
Gallinari, 6-10, 225, appeared in 59 games (27 starts) for Denver last season, averaging 12.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 24.2 minutes per game.
The 26-year-old closed out the 2014-15 season by averaging 19.1 points and 4.9 rebounds over the final 22 games while shooting 45% from the field, 40% from three and 90% from the charity stripe. He also eclipsed the 40-point mark two times during this stretch, including a career-high 47 vs. Dallas on Apr. 10, the most points ever scored in the NBA by an Italian-born player.
The six-year veteran was drafted by the New York Knicks with the 6th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Gallinari has appeared in 344 career games (274 starts) with Denver and New York, averaging 14.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He has been a member of the Nuggets since being acquired via trade in 2011.
Nuggets sign rookie Emmanuel Mudiay
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The Denver Nuggets have signed guard Emmanuel Mudiay to a multi-year contract, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
All first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they wish to come to the NBA right away. Thereforefore, this is a standard signing, and was expected.
Mudiay, 6-5, 200, was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 7th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
The Congolese native appeared in four games (all starts) for the Denver Nuggets at the 2015 Samsung Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.25 steals in 30.5 minutes per game. He was named to the Samsung All-NBA Summer League Second Team.
Mudiay, 19, played one season for the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2014-15. He appeared in 12 games and averaged 18.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.58 steals per game.
Nuggets sign Nikola Jokic
The Denver Nuggets have signed center Nikola Jokić to a multi-year contract, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today.
Jokić, 6-10, 250, was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Jokić, 20, has spent the last three seasons playing for KK Mega Vizura of the Adriatic League. This past season he appeared in 38 games (37 starts), averaging 16.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.00 blocks in 29.5 minutes per game. He was also named Adriatic League Round MVP four times.
The Serbian native appeared in five games (all starts) for the Denver Nuggets at the 2015 Samsung Summer League in Las Vegas. He averaged 8.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.40 blocks in 21.0 minutes per game.
Nuggets trade Ty Lawson to Rockets
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The Denver Nuggets have acquired Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, a protected 2016 first round pick and cash considerations from Houston in exchange for Ty Lawson and a 2017 second round pick, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today. Subsequently, Prigioni was waived by Denver following the trade.
Dorsey, 6-8, 268, appeared in 69 games (17 starts) and averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game for the Rockets during the 2014-15 season. The four-year NBA veteran holds career averages of 2.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 130 career games (26 starts) with Houston, Sacramento and Toronto. Dorsey was originally drafted with the 33rd overall selection of the 2008 NBA Draft out of the University of Memphis.
Johnson, 6-3, 200, averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in 28 games for the Houston Rockets during his rookie campaign in 2014-15. The first-year guard also appeared in 20 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, averaging 18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 33.9 minutes per game. The Arizona product was selected 42nd overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Papanikolaou, 6-8, 225, appeared in 43 games (one start) in his rookie season with Houston, averaging 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.5 minutes per game. He was originally drafted by the New York Knicks with the 48th pick of the 2012 NBA Draft and was traded to Portland in 2012 and then to Houston on July 10, 2013. From 2011 to 2013, the Greek forward played for Olympiacos and in 2013-14 he played for FC Barcelona in the Spanish ACB league.
Prigioni, 6-3, 180, averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 assists in 16.8 minutes per game in 24 games with the Houston Rockets during the 2014-15 NBA season. Prigioni went undrafted in the 1999 NBA Draft and has appeared in 211 career games (48 starts) in three seasons with New York and Houston, averaging 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Lawson, 5-11, 195, appeared in 75 games (all starts), averaging 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assists in 35.5 minutes per game with Denver during the 2014-15 NBA season. Lawson spent the first six years of his career with the Nuggets, playing in 416 games (307 starts) and averaging 14.2 points, 6.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. The North Carolina Tar-Heel was originally selected 18th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and was traded to Denver in a draft-night deal.
Report: Nuggets will trade Ty Lawson to Rockets
Point guard Ty Lawson has been busy getting in trouble off the court and will soon be wearing a different jersey on his back. Here is Yahoo Sports reporting:
The Denver Nuggets have reached agreement to trade guard Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Houston will send Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round draft pick to Denver, sources said. Along with Lawson, the Nuggets will send a 2017 second-round pick to Houston.
Denver’s plan is to turn the team over to rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, the seventh overall pick in the June NBA draft, and veteran guard Jameer Nelson.
Nuggets interested in contract extension for Danilo Gallinari
Here’s the Denver Post reporting on a key member of the Nuggets frontcourt:
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Wilson Chandler’s contract extension could be just the beginning for the Nuggets. If they have their way, they’d like to open talks on an extension for Danilo Gallinari as well, according to a league source.
Gallinari is heading into the final year of his contract, which is scheduled to pay him $11.5 million. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Gallinari always has been viewed as an important piece of the Nuggets re-tooling — now rebuilding — effort, ever since he was traded to Denver from New York in 2011 in the Carmelo Anthony deal. When he’s been on the court he’s shown why. He averaged a career-high 16.2 points in 2012-13 before an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and two subsequent surgeries, set him back 19 months.
Ty Lawson arrested on on suspicion of DUI
This dude is messing up
Here’s the Denver Post reporting troubling news on an important Nuggets guard:
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Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson was arrested early Tuesday in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, the second time in six months he has been arrested on such allegations.
Lawson is being held in lieu of $5,000 bail at the Los Angeles County jail, records show.
The California Highway Patrol says Lawson was pulled over on U.S. 101 — known as the Hollywood Freeway — after an officer spotted him traveling “at a high rate of speed” about 1:30 a.m.
“He displayed several signs of symptoms of alcohol intoxication,” Officer Kevin Tao told The Denver Post.