Nuggets waive Erick Green, re-sign Kostas Papanikolaou

The Denver Nuggets waived point guard Erick Green on Thursday to make room to re-sign forward Kostas Papanikolaou, the team announced.

Papanikolaou, 25, was acquired by the Nuggets as part of the five-player trade that sent Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets. Denver eventually waived him Sept. 25 in order to shed his salary before his $4.8-million contract became guaranteed.

A 2012 second-round pick of the New York Knicks, the Greek big didn't play his first NBA game until last season, with Houston, after his rights were sent to the team a year earlier. Papanikolaou averaged 18.5 minutes in a reserve role, scoring 4.2 points on just 35 percent shooting from the field.

The Nuggets have respectable backcourt depth, making Green - who's played only seven total minutes to begin the season - expendable. He averaged 3.4 points in 43 games last season for Denver.