The Denver Nuggets have re-signed free agent forward Wilson Chandler, the team announced Sunday.

“It is great to have Wilson back on our roster,” Nuggets executive vice president Masai Ujiri said. “It was a very unique situation signing a talented free agent in the middle of the season, and we worked extremely hard to find an agreement that was best for everyone. Wilson will be an excellent addition for the rest of this season and for years to come.”

Chandler, 24, signed a multi-year deal, though terms of the contract were not announced.

Last season, Chandler averaged 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season with the Nuggets and New York Knicks.

Wilson Chandler is back from China, and he’s looking to return to his old role with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that a long-term contract is imminent, and it could even happen today.

“It’s very, very close,” a source told Stein.

Chandler, the New York Knicks’ first-round draft pick in 2007, was moved to Denver in the blockbuster Carmelo Anthony trade last winter. When the lockout hit in July, he went to China to play a season overseas.

Upon his return, Chandler failed to receive an offer sheet from another NBA team before March 1, so he must re-sign with the Nuggets or sit out the rest of the season until free agency restarts on July 1. The Nuggets have discussed a number of scenarios for Chandler to return right away, including a five-year deal worth over $30 million with a team option in the fifth year.

Chandler, who turns 25 in May, has career averages of 13.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Free-agent Wilson Chandler will reportedly meet with the Denver Nuggets today, according to Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post.

Just got word that Wilson Chandler will be in Denver tomorrow to meet with the team about a possible signing.

—
Benjamin Hochman (@nuggetsnews) February 20, 2012

Chandler has been forced to miss the majority of the 2011-12 NBA season after signing with a Chinese team during the NBA lockout. Due to international basketball rules, many players who signed contracts with a Chinese team when they thought the regular NBA season would be cancelled due to the labor fight between players and owners were forced to stay with their Chinese squads until the culmination of their season.

Chandler is currently a restricted free-agent, meaning that the Nuggets have the ability to match any contract offered to him by any other team. Last season he averaged 15.3 points and 5.6.1 rebounds per game in 72 contests. The 23-year-old was drafted 23rd overall in the 2007 NBA draft by New York.

The Nuggets, 17-15, have struggled since an injury forced star forward Danilo Gallinari to the bench. They have won just two of their past 10 games.

Ever since the NBA lockout was resolved in early December, we’ve been waiting for the league’s China defectors to trickle back to the States and reenter the league. That movement began this week, with Kenyon Martin joining the Clippers — and now, it appears, we’ve got another returnee.

Restricted free agent forward Wilson Chandler plans to re-sign with Nuggets once he returns from China, his agent Chris Luchey told Y!Sports

—
Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) February 09, 2012

Chandler has spent this season with the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. When he’s back from abroad, he plans to return to a Nuggets team that he helped bolster at the trade deadline last spring.

As a key piece of the trade package that brought Carmelo Anthony to New York, Chandler joined the Nuggets last February and became an instant success. He averaged 12.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Nuggets and helped make them one of the hottest teams in the league heading into the playoffs, though they were summarily bounced in round one by Oklahoma City.

Chandler turns 25 in May. He’s averaged 13.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game across his four NBA seasons with New York and Denver.