Nuggets key reserve Linas Kleiza was confident earlier this week that the Nuggets would extend his contract, but negotiations fell through today, the deadline day for such deals to be worked out. Now, Kleiza will be a restricted free agent next summer.
“Nuggets owner (Stan) Kroenke is evaluating and exercising flexibility, and I’m not particularly opposed to that, because it allows Linas to look at options as well,” Kleiza’s agent, Bill Duffy, said.
The two sides discussed a contract extension that would cover four years, in the neighborhood of $25 million.
“Linas wasn’t opposed to the signing, and they had actually approached us,” Duffy said. “They had a change of heart themselves.”
Duffy didn’t rule out the possibility the Lithuanian could play overseas.
“The world of basketball is big,” Duffy said.
