In a very surprising move (considering how thin the Nuggets are at people who can back up Danilo Gallinari) according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports … the Denver Nuggets are set to release small forward Kostas Papanikolaou.
The Denver Nuggets are releasing forward Kostas Papanikolaou, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) January 7, 2016
This also leaves open the question regarding the health of rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay … who was cleared to play last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves but did not get into the game at all. If the Nuggets end up re-signing Green that may point toward some concerns in that department.
However, this leaves the Nuggets very thin at Small Forward, as the only true 3 on the active roster right now is Gallinari. Will Barton can be a small 3 in certain situations but is widely considered to be a shooting guard. How the Nuggets will compensate in that position will be very interesting to watch.
UPDATE:
According to Woj, the Nuggets released Papanikoloau to avoid paying the balance of his salary for the rest of the season.
The Nuggets released Papanikolaou, 25, to avoid guaranteeing the balance of his contract for the season. The league’s guarantee date is Thursday.
