Same plan as last year. Andre Miller and Earl Boykins both got big contracts up front in exchange for the second year of their contract being a smaller number to give us more cap room. Reportedly high on K-Mart (not sure how I feel about that), Quentin Richardson (with Darius Miles following along in tow) and Manu Ginobli. Due to cap space and draft picks (we have 6 in the next 3 years), I see us landing either K-Mart or Q-Rich with a second tier FA as well (if we land K-Mart, someone like Brent Barry or Jamal Crawford).
Kiki is a good GM, which it's pretty obvious by now. However, I do think he overpaid Camby. With Camby's health record, 10 million a year is too much. However, Denver still has about 12 millions to spend in cap space, which makes you guys in pretty good shape. Nene/Skita(if he ever breaks out)'s contracts are up for extention in a couple of years, and after that, Carmelo. You'd better be prepared with enough money for them. I think your biggest competitor for the next couple of years is the Utah Jazz. They have more cap space than you guys (at around $30 million), which allows them to outspend you if they truly want some guy that you like as well. Last year you beat them by a game in the playoff race, but this year they just got two pretty good draft picks in Humphries and Snyder. The biggest advantage you have over them is that Denver is a more attractive place to FAs than Salt Lake City. The biggest advantage they have over you is Jerry Sloan, who is without question one of the top three coaches in the NBA. He by himself alone can quarentee 15 more wins for Utah. Coach Buzz just isn't in the same class. It's not even close. As tough as the West is, you'd better be careful they don't haunt you this year both during the regular season and the off season.
Also, I do think you guys are in good shape to land K-Mart. Utah said they have no interest in K-Mart. However, I don't necesarily think it's a good thing for you guys. At his position, you already have Camby and Nene, and possibly Skita. What you really need is either Manu(or Q Rich) or a good center. Mark Blont would be a good fit for you guys(he's hardworking, cheap and decent). If you want to spend big bucks on K-Mart, I'd rather get Blont + Okur for that price. You don't want to pay Dampier that much though. He's overrated due to his decent contract year performance. I doubt he'll sustain that next year. He's over 30 already if I remember it right.
6 yeras, 60M for Camby? The same Camby that breaks down every year? That's a lot of coin for a lot of uncertainty! No way Camby is worth 10M per!
Unless they plan on trading Nene for him, Nuggz should stay away from K-Mart. As attractive as his skills on the break may be, he just doesn't fill their needs as much as a shooter lik Q.Richardson would. I don't see where Darius would fit in with Carmelo... As many flaws as he may have, Darius is a starter.
Are the Nuggets not sold on Voshon Leonard? Seems to me the Nugs biggest problem now is that they have good players, but not good enough. They can keep stockpiling talent like the Grizzlies, but eventually you will need that one really good player - Detroit may have been an exception, but I think either Billups or Hamilton could have filled that role. I mean, if you look at Miller, Leonard, Anthony, Hilario and Camby, you can easily say that those are 5 decent to good players. I mean Ginobili is younger but arguably not that much better, if at all the Leonard. I like Richardson's game, though, and him and Melo would be a very strong one-two punch at SG/SF. Also, I see no reason not to go hard after K-Mart. He is more than just good at throwing down alley-oops. If the Nuggets land Richardson and K-Mart in the offseason they should be a very dangerous team next year analgous to Memphis.
No, nor should they be. Vo is SCARY. One night he will be the best player on the court. Then he'll disappear for 10 games minimum. Vo was a great one year stop gap both times we had him, but that's it. He has a buy-out in his contract that I would expect us to use if we can land K-Mart AND Q-Rich as well. Jon Barry is the better player of our SG's anyway (hopefully he'll be brought back). As for those saying we just blew almost all of our cap space, wrong. First of all, we had 23 mil to start with. Then we had one of the people on the Nugs board figure out the contract by the info we were given, and it appears that Camby's contract the first year will be just under $7 mil, meaning that the Nugs still have $16 mil to play with (and could have $19 mil if they buy out Voshon). Giving Camby that long of a contract for that much scares me, but the simple fact is -- we don't know the clauses. He has to meet games played, stuff like that to get this money. It wouldn't surprise me if the first 3 or 4 years are guaranteed, then the clauses get kind of tough. With the magic Kiki has done so far, I'm not gonna doubt this deal until I see it in print. Finally, as for the K-Mart worries, I'm in the same boat. I am NOT convinced that he is a good player for us. I like him as a player, but dude is frickin' insane. He scares me more than Rasheed Wallace, which says a LOT. That said, some of his nasty edge (something that was SORELY lacking in the Minnesota series -- f**k Spree) would be exactly what this team needs. Plus, in the West, you have to be big up front. Camby and Martin starting with Nene coming off the bench (until he removes his head from his posterior, then he'll replace Camby) would be a great three man rotation up front. Add Francisco Elson (who I feel is REALLY underrated, even by his own team) and another big stiff, and we're set up front. Okur isn't physical enough up front, and we had Blount once and that didn't work out, nor do I think it would work out at all again. Utah screwed with us last year, and they'll do it again until we run out of cap room (I honestly believe, when comparing the franchises, the cities and the players on both teams, no free agent would choose Utah over Denver if the contracts were the same -- no one). Last year, we wanted Maggette, but Utah (what we thought) overpaid for him. Then, we had Brad Miller in town to sign a contract, when Utah swooped in and started offering more money. Everyone in the league thought Miller to DEnver was done, but when Utah opened the door, Sacramento got involved and we lost him (that one still hurts). So, I believe I sum up everyone when I say F**K Utah.
I wouldn't go as far as saying no one would choose Utah over Denver. You probably don't like to hear this, but the Jazz as a franchise is way more successful than the Nuggets for the past 2 decades. They are not sexy to anyone, but they just keep winning. You don't want to get into a marathon situation with Utah trying beat them out, because they just don't die. It is mostly because of Jerry Sloan. They won 40 some games with a full load of crap on their roster(not counting AK) last year. I am sure if Jerry Sloan is in Denver and coaching Carmelo, you'd be a contender by now probably. City wise, I've been to both places, and Denver is way bigger than Salt Lake City. Denver is just an awesome sports town. The Avs, Rockies, Broncos and now the Nuggets, you have so many options. However, Salt Lake is not a crappy place some people think it is. It is quite nice combination of city life and outdoor activities. It's similar to Denver, but smaller and alot closer to nature.
I'm intrigued by Nene. He's a lot like a young Olajuwon in terms of athletic ability, strength, and quickness. Not as explosive a leaper, but not bad for someone as big as he is. He seems like a very crafty player for a guy that's only 21. His jumpshot is a work in progress, but it's not any worse than Amare Stoudemire's. And he's a pretty good passer. So why isn't he further along in terms of development? I mean, if the Nuggets are serious about pursuing K-Mart, and now have just locked up Camby to a long term deal, how impatient are they getting with him?
I don't really follow the Nugs, so I'm wondering if that tall white kid, with the funny name, is officially a bust?
I read an article the last week that basically said the Nugs might trade Nene for Martin, or some such thing. Maybe journalist's speculation, but Jersey needs to cut costs badly. I admire what the Nuggets are doing. Kiki Vandeweghe's quite a GM. Just another damn team in the West to look out for!!
We were offered it and turned it down. DOes it mean that we don't want Martin or does it mean we think we can get him outright? Nene is pissing us off. He barely improved last year, after a summer when he was supposed to be working but instead went back to Brazil. Now he's talking about doing that again this summer, not a good idea. Any 6'11" player who only grabs 6.5 rebounds a game has serious work to do. Skita isn't officially a bust, but it's not pretty. No one expected anything for 3 years, so I guess this is his year. The hard thing about Skita is he's such a hard worker and such a good kid, it's hard to be upset at him. His main problem is lack of confidence. I still think he can get it together and eventually become a servicable player at the backup 4 position.
Interesting takes Nuggets4. Looks like Skita has the same problem Nachbar does. The lack of confidence thing. I feel the ONLY way to over come that is get game experience. They just need GAME time to do it. Not practice, not only preseason games. But regular season games. It is about doing it. I am surprised about Nene. I thought he was going to be a beast inside with shot blocking and rebounding. Looked like an enforcer. Surprised to see he isnt working on his game and surprised at his lack of rebounding numbers. Nene needs to work on an offensive post up game to take himself to a new level.
