JUNE 22ND, 11:50pm: Nelson has indeed opted out, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
JUNE 4TH, 5:05pm: Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson is planning to opt out of his $2.85MM player option for the upcoming season, league sources told Shams Charania of RealGM. Nelson has not yet informed Nuggets officials of his final decision, however.
The two sides have been talking recently, but the general understanding has been that the veteran will test the free agent waters, according to Charania. Recently, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post wrote that Nelson’s decision would hinge on the Nuggets’ head coaching hire. Nelson is said to be fond of interim coach Melvin Hunt, so his chances of returning could improve if Hunt stays on the sidelines.
Nelson, 33, had an eventful campaign in 2014/15. After signing a two-year pact with the Mavericks last July, he was shipped out in December in a deal with the Celtics. His stay in Boston was short-lived as well as a January deal delivered him to Denver in exchange for Nate Robinson. Between the three teams, Nelson averaged 8.3 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 22.2 minutes per contest. Nelson played a healthy 20.6 minutes per game in the second half with Denver and has said that he wants to continue getting significant burn.
For his career, Nelson has averaged 12.2 PPG, 5.3 APG, and 3.1 RPG across eleven seasons.
I’d like to see him play where his college days ended but I know Philly wouldn’t think about bringing him in.