The Nuggets have officially waived guard D.J. Kennedy, forward JaKarr Sampson and forward Axel Toupane, the team announced via press release. The moves pare down the team’s preseason roster to 17 players, which is two above the regular season maximum. The only one of the trio with any guaranteed salary is Kennedy ($50K), and that amount will remain on Denver’s cap for the season unless he is claimed off waivers by another team.
Kennedy appeared in one preseason game for the Nuggets, posting four points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals in 12 minutes of play. His NBA regular season experience consists of two games with the Cavaliers during the 2011/12 campaign where he averaged 6.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 29.5 minutes per outing. Kennedy has split the remainder of his playing career thus far between the NBA D-League and overseas. He spent the 2015/16 campaign with the Russian club Enisey Krasnoyarsk, appearing in 40 games and averaging 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Kennedy’s shooting line on the year was .451/.287/.809.
Sampson was originally inked by Denver this past February and played in the final 26 games (22 starts) of the 2015/16 season, averaging 5.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 18.0 minutes. He has appeared in one preseason contest this year, notching 10 points, three rebounds, one steal and one block in 20 minutes.
Toupane signed with the Nuggets in March of this year and averaged 3.6 points, 1.5 rebounds and 14.5 minutes over the final 21 games of the 2015/16 campaign. He has appeared in one game this preseason, scoring 11 points, snagging seven rebounds and dishing out three assists in 19 total minutes.