The Denver Nuggets have announced that they have signed 2018 NBA Champion Nick Young by using the injury hardship relief exception granted by the NBA. In order to sign Young, the Nuggets waived guard Brandon Goodwin who was originally signed using the injury hardship relief exception.
Young, who has been a free agent for the entirety of the 2018-19 season, will rejoin the league by signing with Denver, but the Nuggets were only granted an injury hardship relief exception because they have four (or more) player who have been out for at least two weeks.
The Nuggets are currently without six of their players — Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Isaiah Thomas, Michael Porter Jr., and Jarred Vanderbilt — for the foreseeable future. What is worse is that is, in addition to the injured players above, starting point guard Jamal Murray is also considered questionable after being kicked in the shin by Justin Anderson. That would leave the Nuggets guard rotation in shambles with Monte Morris, who is essentially a rookie this season, starting at point guard with the likes of DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell left to handle the backup point guard role if Murray is unable to play. Unfortunately, Akoon-Purcell has only played in garbage time and he has little to no experience at the NBA level.
Adding Young gives the Nuggets the depth and experience they need. Young has played in 716 career games over his career, has 35 playoff games under his belt, and even won an NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18.
Young will only be employed by the Nuggets until two of their six injured players return from injury. The injury hardship relief exception does not allow the player signed using it to stay with said team if they have three or less players injured for a minimum of two weeks. That means that Nick Young has an expiration date in Denver unless the Nuggets create room on the roster for him by waiving or trading a player.
Young averaged 7.3 points and 1.6 rebounds for the Warriors last year while shooting 37.7 percent from 3-point distance. Young is 33 years old and this will be the fifth team he has played for over his career.
