French international Petr Cornelie signed a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets, the franchise that drafted him in 2016 in 53rd position.
Five years after his draft in 53rd position, Petr Cornelie may finally be wearing the Denver Nuggets jersey in an official match. The 26-year-old French international winger (2.11m) played in the Summer League with the Colorado franchise in the wake of his draft (then in the summer of 2017 and in the summer of 2018, for a total of 14 matches. and 5.7 points average), but was not selected for the regular season. Denver therefore offers him a second chance, by making him sign a “two way” contract, which will allow him to go back and forth between the NBA (50 game sheets at most) and the G-League, via the affiliated team. at the Nuggets, the Grand Rapids Gold (Michigan). Passed by Le Mans (2013-17 then 2018-19), Paris-Levallois (2017-18) and Pau-Lacq-Orthez (2020-21), the one who has just won a silver medal with the France team at the Olympics by being called last minute will make the leap to the NBA.
OFFICIAL: Nuggets have signed F Petr Cornelie to a two-way contract.
Welcome back to #MileHighBasketball, @Petr_Cornelie!
? https://t.co/MosAVaCPex pic.twitter.com/YQ5Fmvqyhe
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) September 17, 2021
Cornelie, an eighth Frenchman in Denver
The native of Calais remains on a very good season with Pau on an individual level, with 14.4 points, 7.9 rebounds 1.5 assists at 54% success on shots in 29 minutes. He could make his debut for Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon on October 4 in the preseason game at the Clippers or on October 6 at Golden State. The kickoff of the regular season of the Nuggets is scheduled for October 20 on the floor of Phoenix, the reigning NBA vice-champion. Petr Cornelie is the eighth French player to have signed a contract with Denver, after Evan Fournier, Axel Toupane, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Johan Petro, Ronny Turiaf, Yakhouba Diawara and Joffrey Lauvergne.
