The Denver Nuggets are staying busy. Sportando has a report out of Europe that Denver is in the lead to sign Facundo Campazzo, the 29 year old Argentine who has played for Real Madrid this past season and is one of the best point guards in Europe, which is essentially a retweet of a Euroball insider.
His agent confirmed interest from a Western Conference team but declined to name them:
There are more details here in this Marca article, which also notes that Denver showed interest in Campazzo in 2019 and that the Minnesota Timberwolves re-signing Ricky Rubio essentially removes them as competition for Facu. Campazzo still has a final Euroleague game this Friday with Real Madrid, but his escape clause in his contract should allow for a transition to the NBA – though it could cost him $5.75 million and his NBA team cannot pay all of that. With the addendum from the Marca article that Real Madrid will retain his European rights, however, it’s possible his buyout has been negotiated down.
There’s still no confirmation that Denver is his final destination for his NBA debut, but his fit with Denver is interesting. The Denver Nuggets sure don’t look like they’re standing pat with the status quo this offseason. After drafting two teenage players in the first round in last night’s NBA draft – forward/center Zeke Nnaji and speedy scoring guard RJ Hampton – it looked like the Nuggets might just run back their guard rotation for another year and give Hampton some time to get his feet wet.
But if Facu Campazzo is indeed coming to Denver, that changes some things. He’s undersized at 5’11 but he can play on or off ball, has a tremendous feel for an offense paired with some passing wizardry, and is a dogged defender. After adding Markus Howard, an undersized scoring guard from Marquette, to a two way contract once the draft was over in addition to RJ Hampton, Denver would certainly seem to be squeezing Monte Morris for playing time but a Campazzo signing would greatly amplify that playing situation and signal an incoming trade to clear up Denver’s guard rotation.
Dallas was connected to Campazzo earlier in the year by some reports and his interest in coming to the NBA has been stated before, but it looked like the Mavericks were downplaying that at the time. He did play with Luka Doncic on Real Madrid, but would have a different set of stars to play with in Denver.
This is definitely something to keep an eye on, but while you’re waiting enjoy these highlights!