Nuggets pick up options on Faried, Fournier

The Denver Nuggets exercised contract options on forward Kenneth Faried and guard Evan Fournier, the team announced Wednesday.

Faried averaged a career-high 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in 80 games last season. He was ninth in the NBA in field goal percentage at .552.

A first-team NBA All-Rookie selection in 2012, Faried has career averages of 11.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

Fournier, as a rookie last season, averaged 5.3 points and 1.2 assists in 38 games. Late in the season, he scored a career-high 24 points against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The 21-year-old Forunier played in France's top professional league as a teenager before he was drafted by the Nuggets.