The Denver Nuggets have waived forward Kostas Papanikolaou, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. In early October, Papanikolaou’s contract was going to become guaranteed, but Denver decided to waive him before that could happen.
The 6-foot-8 Greek was acquired by the Nuggets in the Ty Lawson trade with the Houston Rockets earlier in the summer. Along with Papanikolaou, Denver also attained Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Pablo Prigioni, and a 2016 protected first-round pick.
Upon completion of the trade, the Nuggets waived Prigioni, who signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Last month, the team also waived Dorsey, who signed a $650,000 contract with Galatasaray Liv Hospital of the Turkish league. Now, they have released Papanikolaou, keeping just Nick Johnson from the trade, a promising, young player the Nuggets have high hopes for.
Papanikolaou, 25, had a tremendous start to his rookie season with the Rockets, averaging 4.2 points and 2.7 rebounds on 18.5 minutes per contest. However, during the latter half of the season, the 48th overall pick in 2012 suffered a serious knee injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
Papanikolaou was becoming a major cog in Houston’s rotation before his injury, as he was providing floor spacing and flexibility. He is certainly a serviceable player who shouldn’t have any difficulties finding a new home in the NBA. But, at this moment, there haven’t been any teams to show interest in the one-year forward.
Prior to joining the NBA, Papanikolaou was playing overseas in Greece and Spain where he found great success. He is a two-time Euroleague champion, a two-time Greek League Best Young Player, Greek League Champion, Greek Youth All-Star Game MVP, and FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship MVP.
According to Stein, by waiving Papanikolaou, the Nuggets have shed $4.8 million that was owned to him for next season.
