Now that guard Charles Smith’s short-lived Nuggets career is over, the franchise has started a search for a veteran who can be a third point guard or 3-point shooter.
The Nuggets waived Smith on Wednesday, just six days after acquiring him from Portland. Denver seems interested in free agents Howard Eisley, who could be the front-runner, and Wesley Person.
“(Coach) George (Karl) may want to look at a couple people,” general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. “What we will probably do is look at 10-day contracts first. … There are a lot of good players right now. We have some very specific needs.”
Vandeweghe and Karl’s concern is the Nuggets have only two point guards in Andre Miller and Earl Boykins.
Adding Eisley, who was waived by the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 3, would address that need. The 12-year veteran played sparingly for the Clippers but averaged 6.6 points, 3.5 assists and shot 35.1 percent from 3-point range in his career. Eisley’s agent, Dan Fegan, attended Wednesday’s game against Detroit.
“He’s a quality NBA veteran,” Karl said. “I know he can play point and shoot the ball.”
The Nuggets are last in the NBA in 3-point shooting. Person averaged 8.1 points and shot 48.5 percent from 3-point range in 25 games for Denver last season, but hasn’t played this season.
Vandeweghe also reached out to former Nuggets guard Jon Barry, who was cut by Houston on Tuesday. Barry averaged 4.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20 games this season, but has missed 28 games with foot and calf injuries.
“Jon’s position was he may be taking a day or a couple days to think about things,” Vandeweghe said. “We said we would touch base when the team was in Houston (on Friday). This kind of came as a surprise to him.”
Footnotes
Nuggets forward Eduardo Najera missed his fifth straight game after having surgery on his right knee. He hopes to play this weekend. … Nuggets guard Greg Buckner missed his third straight game with a hyperextended right knee.
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
