The Nuggets are one of three NBA teams interested in signing four-year NBA veteran and current Spanish league point guard Sergio Rodriguez, reports Jesus Perez Ramos of Mundo Deportivo (translation via HoopsHype). The 29-year-old Rodriguez is seeking $6MM salaries on a deal that covers at least three fully guaranteed seasons, according to Ramos. Conflicting reports paint a confused picture of whether Rodriguez is high on a return to the NBA, where he hasn’t played since 2009/10, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who indicated that Rodriguez does want back in the league, wrote that NBA front offices regard him as an elite backup point guard.
Rodriguez’s deal with Real Madrid requires a buyout worth 2 million euros, Ramos writes. That’s the equivalent of more than $2.234MM at today’s exchange rate. Even though that’s much greater than the $625K that NBA teams can’t exceed in international buyouts this coming season without essentially taking the rest out of the player’s paycheck, it isn’t expected to be an obstacle to getting him to the NBA, according to Wojnarowski.
The Nuggets have more than $53MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $67.1MM cap, though the team has been heavily involved in trade rumors of late, so just how much it’ll have to throw around is unclear. Rodriguez put up 10.7 points, 5.1 assists and 1.8 turnovers in 21.9 minutes per game this season in Spain. He averaged 4.3 PPG, 2.9 APG and 1.3 TOPG in 13.2 MPG across his time in the NBA with the Trail Blazers, Kings and Knicks.