Evan Fournier

Nuggets Exercise Options On Faried, Fournier

4:08pm: The Nuggets have officially announced in a press release that they’ve picked up their 2014/15 options on Faried and Fournier. The release doesn’t include word on Hamilton, so it looks like his option will be declined, though that’s not official yet.

10:16am: The Nuggets have picked up their fourth-year option on Kenneth Faried and their third-year option on Evan Fournier, according to the transactions log at RealGM.com. The club has now locked up Faried for the remainder of his rookie contract, while Fournier will have one more team option for 2015/16.

With Andre Iguodala now playing in Golden State and Danilo Gallinari starting the season on the shelf, the Nuggets will be leaning on Faried and Fournier more than ever this year. Faried will earn a salary of about $1.37MM in 2013/14 before getting a bump to $2.25MM for ’14/15. Fournier, meanwhile, is in line for a guaranteed $1.48MM in ’14/15.

As for the Nuggets’ third rookie scale player, there’s no word yet on Jordan Hamilton‘s fourth-year option, which would be worth about $2.11MM. When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined this year’s rookie contract option decisions, he suggested that Hamilton would be on the bubble, particularly since Denver’s new GM and coach don’t have as strong a stake in the young swingman. The Nuggets have until tomorrow to exercise or decline Hamilton’s option.

To catch up on all of this month’s rookie contract option decisions, check out our tracker.

Western Notes: Evans, Trail Blazers, Fournier

Here are a few notes from around the Western Conference. 

  • According to a tweet from the Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones, Kings general manager Geoff Petrie says the team hasn't had any significant discussion regarding  a contract extension for Tyreke Evans
  • The San Francisco Chronicle's Rusty Simmons tweets that Warriors center Andris Biedrins has never asked for a trade, and, despite recent reports that the team spent the summer trying to move him, believes he can turn his career around with Golden State. 
  • According to CSNNW.com's Chris Haynes, Ronnie Price and Damian Lillard could have a mentor, protege relationship this season with the Trail Blazers. 
  • Nuggets 2012 first round draft pick Evan Fournier probably won't be receiving regular minutes with the team this season, but Denver management still preferred he stay in the United States as opposed to another year over in Europe, writes the Denver Post's Benjamin Hochman
  • Mercurynews.com's Tim Kawakami gives his training camp primer for the Warriors. 

Nuggets Sign Evan Fournier

The Nuggets have officially signed first-round pick Evan Fournier to a rookie scale contract, according to a team release. While most first-round signings are merely a formality, Fournier's deal is notable since it means the 19-year-old guard will join the Nuggets immediately rather than continuing to play overseas.

As the 20th overall pick, Fournier is eligible to sign for a first-year salary of up to about $1.36MM.

Draft Updates: Wednesday

With eight days left until June 28th, mock drafts continue to roll in, with the latest coming from Tom Zeller of SBNation.com, who projects surprisingly high selections for Kendall Marshall and Evan Fournier, among others. You can find Hoops Rumors' mock draft right here, and you can follow today's draft notes in this post, with the newest updates added up top throughout the day….

  • The Nuggets are expected to work out Michael Eric, Evan Fournier, John Jenkins, Doron Lamb, Ramone Moore, and Izzet Turkyilmaz on Thursday, tweets FoxSports.com's Chris Tomasson.
  • Mike Tokito from The Oregonian highlights a few prospects that worked out at the Trail Blazer's facility today, including Austin Rivers and Kendall Marshall

Read more

Woelfel On Bucks, Raptors, Ross, Fournier

As teams continue to host players for workouts in the days leading up to the draft, the Bucks are having trouble getting all the prospects they want to see to come to Milwaukee, writes Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. Although the Bucks have worked out a handful of big men that interest them, they haven't been able to host Austin Rivers, Terrence Ross, Dion Waiters, Jeremy Lamb, Damian Lillard, and Jared Sullinger. Woelfel suggests some of these players are confident they'll be drafted by the time Milwaukee picks at No. 12, while others, particularly the guards, don't view the Bucks as a good fit based on the team's current roster.

Here are a few more notes from Woelfel's piece, including additional items on Lamb and Ross….

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Draft Updates: Tuesday

In case you missed it yesterday, we published our first 2012 mock draft. Be sure to check out our projected first round and jump into the comments section to tell us which choices you like or dislike. In the meantime, we'll continue tracking the latest draft news and rumors. Tuesday's updates can be found right here, with the newest items added up top throughout the day….

  • John Reid of The Times Picayune writes that the Hornets will likely keep their 10th pick. GM Dell Demps says that he hasn't received any offers warranting any serious consideration to trade the pick and believes that they can come away with a good player at that slot.
  • Jared Sullinger will work out for the Cavaliers on Friday, writes Bob Finnan of The News-HeraldFab Melo is also scheduled for a workout this week and could join Sullinger.

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Draft Updates: Friday

Yesterday's roundup of draft links included a ton of updates on workouts and speculation on where certain players may land. We expect more of the same today, so we'll track today's draft notes right here, adding new items to the top of the list throughout the day….

  • Anthony Davis has decided to hire Wasserman Media Group to represent him, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The former Kentucky star will work out for the Hornets on Tuesday, tweets Adam Zagoria of Zagsblog.com.
  • The Jazz will host six players on Saturday for a pre-draft workout, according to a team press release. The participants will include Kim English, Jorge Gutierrez, Noah Hartsock, Robbie Hummel, Toure' Murry and Malik Wayns

Read more

Draft Updates: Thursday

The countdown until the 2012 draft is down to two weeks, and this week has been heavy on workouts and trade speculation. We'll track the latest news and rumors on both fronts, along with a handful of other draft-related items, right here. New updates will be added to the top of the page throughout the day….

  • According to their official website, the Pacers will work out Evan Fournier, Ashton Gibbs, Travis Hyman, John Jenkins, Josh Owens, and Tony Wroten Jr. on Friday. 

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Cavs Notes: Kidd-Gilchrist, Fournier, Melo, Leonard

The Cavs hold picks No. 4 and No. 24, but unlike other teams with two first-round draft choices, they aren't looking to trade one of them. The team seems to be zeroing in on Harrison Barnes with the fourth pick, but Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer says a scenario is in play that could have them leaving Barnes on the board.

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Fournier Won’t Participate In Draft Combine

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (via Twitter) confirmed that Evan Fournier will not participate in this year's NBA Draft combine (Fournier's agent, Bouna Ndiaye, first tweeted the news). The 19-year-old, 6'7'' wing player is currently rehabbing an ankle injury, but will still attend EuroCamp.

Fournier recently finished his second season in the Pro-A French League, averaging 14 PPG, 42.5% shooting, and 1.2 steals per game in 30 games. He is currently slotted to go #22 overall on the DraftExpress mock draft board.