Nuggets guard played well down the stretch of the season in Denver. He’s an unrestricted free agent this summer. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Forgive D.J. Augustin if he doesn’t exactly jump for joy each time he hears a team say its interested in retaining his services. He’s been there before. Many times before.
“This is my fourth summer being a free agent,” Augustin told The Post. “You never know what can happen. I’ve been promised things in the past, and it didn’t come true. I’ve had my hopes up in the past and it things didn’t happen.”
The point guard is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Nuggets have said they’d like to talk to him about a possible return. He played well after coming to the team in a deal that sent Randy Foye to Oklahoma City at the trade deadline.
In 27 games with the Nuggets, Augustin averaged 11.7 points and nearly tied for the team lead in assists with 4.7 per game — just a hair off of Emmanuel Mudiay’s 4.9 in that span.
But his best contribution to the Nuggets was shooting. Augustin hit 40 percent of his 3-pointers, which ranked second only to Darrell Arthur among players that played 10 or more games in that span.
Whether that earns an encore presentation with the Nuggets remains to be seen.
“It’s just all about putting things in God’s hands and my agent’s hands and I’m going to just relax,” Augustin said. “My wife is having our third child. So I’m going to just see what happens. Anything can happen. I love it here, and hopefully things work out.”
The situation in Denver is complicated. Augustin took over for an injured Jameer Nelson and played so well that he earned a permanent spot in the rotation. Nelson, who signed a three-year contract with the Nuggets last summer, expects to return fully healthy next season.
Whether he returns to Denver or not, the opportunity to play and showcase himself was invaluable. And Augustin took full advantage of it.
“I was in a tough situation in Oklahoma,” Augustin said. “Like I told a lot of people, it wasn’t working out there. I did the right thing, my agent did the right thing and talked to those guys and they were kind enough to trade me, trade me to a good situation. Everything worked out.”
And his advice to young players?
“It’s a business,” he said. “No hard feelings. You’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do as a player. You’ve got to think about yourself sometimes and anything can happen. The NBA, they don’t really care about us; we have families and moving around and stuff, it’s a business, it’s a job. You’ve just got to be prepared for those things. This is the life we chose.”
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
