According to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, the Denver Nuggets have signed Josh Childress to a non-guaranteed, one-year deal.
Source: Nuggets and Josh Childress agree to a deal. He’ll be the first @thebig3 player to sign with an NBA team after playing in the league.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 12, 2017
Childress last appeared in an NBA regular-season game for the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2013-14 campaign, prior to spending two seasons with the Sydney Kings, one in Japan, a brief stint in the NBA G League and most recently, starring in Ice Cube’s BIG3.
The 34-year-old Childress who was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 6 draft pick in 2004 has career NBA averages of 9.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Childress will join a Nuggets team that lacks depth on the wing, giving him an opportunity to see solid minutes behind starting small forward Wilson Chandler.
While this is a great move for the former NBL star, it most likely hurts another former NBL star, Torrey Craig. Craig signed a “two-way deal” with Denver last month and it was thought he would see immediate NBA minutes with the Nuggets having only one true small forward, Chandler after it decided to trade Danilo Gallinari to Western Conference rivals, the LA Clippers.
During his time with the Sydney Kings, Childress averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists over 31 games. In 2016-17 he played for Sanen Neophoenix in Japan where he averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
While many believe Childress has more than likely been signed to make up numbers at training camp, with Denver so thin on the wings, Childress could prove himself useful with a stellar training camp.
Though Childress has signed with Denver, it’s unlikely he’ll make the Nuggets’ roster, sources told ESPN.
Training camp begins in 13 days.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
