Nuggets Deny Trying to Sign Yugoslav Star

Nuggets General Manager Pete Babcock has denied a report that the team is trying to sign Yugoslav player Toni Kukoc.

Family sources told the Associated Press that Kukoc was contacted by Nuggets officials last weekend in Rome where his Yugoslav team, Jugoplastika Split, competed in a tournament with the Nuggets and two other teams.

Although Babcock has readily acknowledged interest in the 21-year-old, he said no negotiations are in progress or are planned for the near future.

“We are not allowed to talk to a player until he passes his 22nd birthday,” Babcock said. “We checked into his age and the feasibility of talking to him. We were told that we could scout him, but that’s it. We can’t even interview him until the spring when his season is over.

“We’ll keep tabs on him, but we can’t sign him.”

Kukoc will be eligible to enter the NBA draft next summer, and scouts who watched him during the Rome tournament believe that he has the talent to be a first-round selection.