Nuggets waive Antonio McDyess

Antonio McDyess was waived Monday by the Denver Nuggets and once he clears waivers will be an unrestricted free agent.  The move was expected from the moment he was traded by Detroit with Chauncy Billups for Alan Iverson.  The eventual plan is for McDyess to re-join the Pistons as a free agent.

The first part of the process was a $6 million contract buyout negotiated between Denver and McDyess.  Now that he’s been waived, any other NBA team can pick him up provided they’re willing to assume his contract meaning that Denver would no longer be on the hook for the buyout.  There’s only one catch to all of this—there’s only one team in the NBA with enough salary cap space to consider signing the veteran forward.  That team—the Memphis Grizzlies—say that they’re inclined to pass on McDyess despite considering several scenarios that would justify his signing.

Assuming he goes unclaimed for 48 hours from the time he was placed on waivers—and with only one team in a position to claim him that’s all but a foregone conclusion—he’ll become a free agent and can sign with any team except Detroit as soon as Wednesday.  The Pistons have to wait a month from the date the trade was finalized to make a play for McDyess which will put their earliest opportunity right around December 7th.

Despite the convoluted plan for McDyess to re-sign with his old team as soon as he’s able, there’s been considerable interest around the league hoping to convince him to change his mind.  The first of these was the team that received him in the trade—the Denver Nuggets made a pitch to McDyess hoping he’d stay around and provide some veteran leadership and frontcourt depth.  McDyess took a pass, setting in motion the waiver process.  The Nuggets are expected to re-sign Juwan Howard, whom they waived in order to create enough roster room to consummate the trade.

Among the other teams interest in the 34 year old forward are Cleveland and Boston.  There’s at least a half dozen other teams seriously considering a play for McDyess and most of these teams could offer him more money than could the Pistons.  Apparently, however, McDyess is more motivated to return to Detroit than he is maximizing his financial upside.

Pistons’ coach Michael Curry suggested that McDyess’ return to the Motor City was anything but a “done deal” contrary to most indications that it’s the only scenario he’s interested in:

"I wish I was confident. It would make my life a lot easier. But I don't know what is going to happen with the situation."