There were a few days there when Nuggets Nation wondered who the Denver reserves would be next season. Was Yakhouba Diawara available? Linas Kleiza signed with a Greek team last week, so that left Chris Andersen, followed by rookie Ty Lawson and three others, none with career scoring averages higher than 5.4 points. But on Friday, the Nuggets re-signed ol’ reliable, Anthony Carter, the reserve guard who was an important cog on last season’s division championship team.
“It’s a great feeling — this is what my family and I really wanted, and the Nuggets did a great job of keeping us here,” said Carter, 34. “We still have the main core, and it’s a big thing to try to keep me here — I know what I bring to the team, I know what the team needs from me, and I think we’re right there to compete for the championship.”
There still could be another move because Denver has filled only 11 of its 13 roster spots. But at least with Carter — who signed a one-year, $1.306 million deal — the Nuggets have a proven reserve who knows the system and enjoys playing for coach George Karl.
“This guy is first-class in every sense of the deal,” said Mark Warkentien, the Nuggets’ vice president of basketball operations. “He works every day, he understands the value of a practice session, a shootaround or a team breakfast video session. And you can’t have enough guys like him.”
Last season, the point guard averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 assists in 22.9 minutes. He was considered the leader of the second unit, creating opportunities on the floor for Kleiza, Andersen and most notably, sharpshooting guard J.R. Smith, who will now start for the Nuggets.
Warkentien called Carter a “quiet leader.” And a player who professes such professionalism will surely rub off on Lawson, an impressionable point guard.
“I couldn’t think of two better people to mentor Ty Lawson than Chauncey Billups and A.C.,” Warkentien said.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
