Kleiza leaving Nuggets for Greece
Denver Nuggets restricted free-agent forward Linas Kleiza(notes) has agreed to a two-year, $12.2 million contract with Greek team Olympiakos, his agent Bill Duffy told Yahoo! Sports on Monday.
The contract has an opt-out clause, which allows Kleiza to again become a restricted free agent next summer.
Kleiza averaged 9.9 points and four rebounds while shooting 44.7 percent as Carmelo Anthony’s(notes) backup last season. Olympiakos also has three other former NBA players on their roster: Josh Childress(notes), Andreas Glyniadakis(notes) and newcomer Von Wafer(notes). Olympiakos has also expressed interest in Detroit Pistons free-agent guard Allen Iverson(notes).
Kleiza’s contract is the largest European deal this summer. Kleiza, who is currently playing on Lithuania’s national team, is expected to sign the contract later this week.
Kleiza averaged 8.3 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 34.2 percent from 3-point range during three seasons with the Nuggets. His departure leaves forward Renaldo Balkman(notes) as Anthony’s backup.
Duffy said that while Kleiza attracted interest from other NBA teams, his client’s restricted free-agency status limited his options.
“There was never any substantive negotiation with Denver,” Duffy said. “Based on that, we turned our interest to a global market.”
