Denver Nuggets waive forwards J.J. Hickson, Steve Novak, per report

The Denver Nuggets have waived power forward J.J. Hickson after deadline deal for the big man failed to materialize yesterday, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.

Denver has waived forward JJ Hickson, league source tells The Vertical.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 19, 2016

Charania is also reporting the Nuggets have released forward Steve Novak, who was acquired in a trade deadline with the Oklahoma City Thunder for guard Randy Foye. Both moves were expected and have been completed today.

Denver has also released forward Steve Novak after acquiring him from Oklahoma City, league sources tell The Vertical.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 19, 2016

Hickson averaged 6.9 points and 4.4 rebounds in 15.3 minutes over just 20 games for Denver this season, but quickly fell out of coach Michael Malone’s rotation and favor by the All-Star break. The 27-year-old actually filled in admirably for a depleted Nuggets frontcourt that was missing Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic for stretches over the first month of 2015-16 campaign, but wasn’t seen on the bench for a stretch of games in late January, stirring up rumors that he was being shopped.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and The Vertical reported earlier this week that if the Nuggets couldn’t find a trade partner for Hickson, they would waive him.

That trade Denver was seeking, possibly for a 14th or 15th man, or second round pick, never came to be and the Nuggets are now left with two open roster spots by waiving Hickson and releasing Novak. We detailed five players the Nuggets could look to bring in for the remaining 28 games (well, 27 games after tonight’s contest with the Kings).

Sean Kilpatrick might not be without a home for long as Bobby Marks, also of the Vertical, reported that the 26-year-old is could re-sign in Denver for the rest of the season. The team could also look to go the 10-day contract route with other players, Kilpatrick is not eligible for another 10-day as team’s have a maximum of two per player in a given season.