Meanwhile, one of Denver's internal free-agent candidates at shooting guard remains interested in returning. However, the agent for Greg Buckner guessed that nothing will happen for his client before the Nuggets return from summer league here next week. "They'd like him back and he'd like to be back, but market forces can send things in different directions," Steve Kauffman said. Buckner wants a deal that at least approaches the midlevel exception. Kauffman said his client has heard from five or six teams, and Houston is believed to be among them.
Well, no way we give him a deal that comes even close to MLE money. But for Adrian Griffin or Ryan Bowen money, eh, I'd take him. Decent defender off the bench.
Buckner is a good player. Very good defense but streaky offense. That being said I have never looked at him as anything close to a mid level exception player. I nice guy to have on your bench and can start for short stints but certainly not a player that can demand much more than the minimum IMO.
Isn't that the dude who whacked T-Mac in the groin in that last game against Denver? Sounds like a poor man's Bruce Bowen.
if we work out a S&T deal for a PF then i would say we may look to split the MLE. buckner, madsen, and potapenko have been named as options. buckner would be interesting. 6'4 210. shot over 52% from the field. shot over 40% from the 3. averaged a steal a game in 21 minutes. the nuggets have no outside shooters. he was the only perimeter player they had for most of the year. he didn't get a lot of open shots because teams knew he was the only guy that can hit the 3. that's why we didn't shoot many, about 1 or 2 a game, making one every other game. with tmac and yao, the open looks will happen about 3 or 4 times a game like with wesley. wesley made 28 3's in 26 games with the hornets. in 54 games here he made 90. about double. the same may go for buckner. he made 49 last year, so he could make about 90 next year. he isn't as good of a shooter as wesley is but his defense is much better.
For 5 games in the playoffs Buckner averaged 2.0 pts, 3.2 rbs and shot .22pct from the field in 20 minutes against the Spurs and he wants the full MLE. He is a very solid defender, but asking for the full MLE is insane.
It doesn't say that he wanted the full MLE. It says that he wants a deal that approaches the MLE. Now how close of an approach does he want? By his value, I'd say that he would be worth about 3 million to some team. It might be us if we get a PF with a sign and trade, and are able to split the MLE with Finley and Buckner.
gotta love a shooting guard that wants 4.5 M a year, but still can't find playing time on a team that loses its backup shooting guard to free agency and its starter to season ending injury
hmm...this makes a really intriguing offseason. It seems that we're on a bench revamp after reaching a deal with a PF that we want. I wonder how the Rox management can dispose Ward,Spoon,Baker,Norris
as a fantasy bball fanatic i know that he is a very good source of 3s and steals, i wouldnt mind having him for cheap
I wouldn't mind buckner for the 1.5 mill exception, but hell no to even splitting up the MLE for him, even if the rox really strike out in free agency, there's no need to overpay for someone like him.
Bingo, imo. smoothie- Having watched Buckner in the past, my guess is his 3P% this year was an outlier, not the norm. In his 6 seasons, 4 of them he's shot below 33% 3P%. His rep. is as a very good defender, not a shooter. He'd be a nice rotational swingman, but in a list of MLE candidates that supposedly includes Swift, Simmons, Walker, Finley, and Marshall right now, Buckner is certainly the name in that list that doesn't fit. Our name is being thrown around like a ghost this offseason. We're everywhere. It's just "believed" we've talked to Buckner. Very interesting change vs. the draft - it was impossible to find out who we were working out.
