Report: Faried, Nuggets agree to five-year, $60 million extension
The Denver Nuggets have reportedly agreed to a five-year, $60 million extension with power forward Kenneth Faried, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Faried is coming off a breakout performance in Team USA's run to the FIBA World Cup gold medal. News first broke of Faried's new extension early Monday morning.
The Nuggets power forward averaged 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and shot 63.8 percent in Team USA's nine games this summer. Down Kevin Durant and Paul George, Faried became an unlikely starter for coach Mike Krzyzewski's team, which thrived off his boundless energy and rebounding ability. While he arrived as an under-the-radar training camp invitee, Faried starred with Anthony Davis for an athletic frontcourt that very well could have a role on a 2016 Olympics squad expected to include NBA All-Star forwards like Blake Griffin and Kevin Love. Faried earned a spot on SI.com's All-Tournament second team and ranked No.77 in SI.com's Top 100 players of 2015.
The Nuggets selected the fourth-year power forward with the No. 22 overall pick in 2011 after he played four seasons at Morehead State where he became the NCAA's all-time rebounding leader in the modern era. Faried has NBA career averages of 12.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 55.4 percent shooting from the field. He posted 18.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per 36 minutes in Denver's injury-filled 36-46 season last year.