source looks like the nuggets are looking to blow up team and get a new nucleus, either that or their owner wants to stop wasting tax money on fringe playoff team. opinions?
well a bunch of expring and jefferson for melo and camby? harris, VC, melo, swift, camby + their young core off the bench? uhhhhhhhhh, might win a few more games in the east. who knows, they may finish 37-45 and still make the playoffs in the JV league of the eastern conference.
no way you can have VC and Melo on the same team. Most likely they would have to trade VC to get Melo.
I agree, but in reading the article there seems to be a fair amount of speculating being done by the author. Almost Sam Smith style.
Carter and Anthony don't work either personality-wise or positionally while Jefferson can still play SG on defense.
Going from nearly bringing in Artest and having a huge salary expense to giving away 2 of their 3 best players for lesser talent? I just don't see it. Nuggets will continue to try and improve at all costs. Especially when they gave up 1st rounders for Iverson.
basically denver has a really crap team outside of iverson and carmelo. I think they're looking for more depth this time so they might trade for more players, but the talent they get back will probably add up to what they give away
Camby, J.R. Smith, and Kleiza are solid players. By no means do they have a crap team, I wouldn't mind having any of those guys on the Rockets.
If Rod Thorn can get this done and get rid of Carter's massive contract, this guy deserves to be the Executive of the Decade.
I strongly disagree. I'd say that on paper they have one of the more talented teams in the league. They just have a crappy organization from top to bottom, selfish players, poor leadership and a divided locker room. Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, Nene, JR Smith, Linas Kleiza, Eduardo Najera. All of those guys are quality NBA players. Problem is Nene was injured and seems to be pretty casual about reaching his potential. Kenyon Martin is vastly over-paid and injury prone. And JR Smith is a complete r****d. Couple that with Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson as your team leaders.... Ouch. Anyway, the talent level on the team isn't the problem at all. It's the construction of the team. It's almost New York Knick like, just with more talented guys. The other gigantic problem is with the owner/GM/coach. Apparently none of those guys are on the same page, and the players take advantage of the friction in the management. So yeah, the team is an absolute mess, but to say they don't have talent is just incorrect.
It's not going to be hard to do. Carter was the best 2 in the East last season (even better than Wade statistically). The dude was among the league leaders in pretty much every "advanced" stat (OWS etc.) and he was putting up a +12 +/- (higher than Lebron or Kobe). He def. still impacts the game the way a superstar should. The Nets were a winning team when he was on the floor; they would just go down BIG when he sat. Thorn should be hearing a bunch of trade offers for him this offseason. The fact that he can still play at such a high level on one leg (had surgery a few weeks ago as a matter of fact) shows that he'll still be a star after his athleticism diminishes. If we can get Carter here, our big 3 would be the best in the league.
I'm curious. As a Nuggets fan, how what kind of changes would you like to see amongst your core group of players next year?
If I was AI I would opt out of my contract right now. Hes not getting any younger and if he wants to win a chamopinship he better find a new team.
I think AI is going to be moved for sure. His contract expires after next season right? That's a great blue chip for the Nuggets. As long as they are not afraid of the luxury tax, they can pretty much have anyone on the trading block. Artest? Brand? Jamine O'Neal?
Chemistry is my first priority. Dumping Camby is priority 1B. I think both Camby and AI are gone. I don't think it's a matter of if, it's where. Nene is a possibility as well. Najera's a free agent and, barring a miracle, he's gone. First off, I think the Nugs are going to have to downgrade in talent to improve in the standings. One player I'd like to see get a decent shot is Bobby Jones. I've been a fan of his since he entered the league and even though I understood us cutting him earlier in the season I wasn't happy with it. He's a good-to-great defender who can develop into a James Posey or Bruce Bowen in a best case scenario. Plus, I like having JR come off of the bench a la Ginobili. Ironically, one player who I hope isn't moved is K-Mart. I know he's not popular on here, and I know Kelly didn't like the decision to put him on Kobe, but I disagree. First off, Kobe was going to get his in the playoffs, K-Mart made him work for it at least. Had anyone else bothered to play defense (I'm looking at you Camby you worthless piece of ....nevermind), we might have actually won a game. And yes, I realize the irony of the fact that after spending an entire season trying to convince you guys that the Nugs played D they decide to have their four worst defensive games in the playoffs. Secondly, K-Mart was one of the few players who brought it EVERY GAME this year. He played great D, rebounded and just busted his ass. I'd love it if he'd stop shooting 18 foot jumpers though. Ultimately, I think the Nugs are looking at a lineup like this: * Trade or Draft Pick/Anthony Carter or Chucky Atkins * Bobby Jones/JR Smith * Melo/Kleiza * KMart/Trade or Draft Pick * Nene/Hunter Next year is a step back year. We're going to fight to make the playoffs, but we're actually going to have a foundation. I think we fight to make the 8th spot and then lose in 5 like we normally do. The difference is that we have a young building block at PG (Ty Lawson? Someone from a trade?). No inside info here, but my gut is telling me AI ends up in LA with the Clippers.
$21 million he'll make this year. Would you walk away from that? Hell, I'd play basketball in UTAH for $21 million.
i agree with everything there, from an outsider's perspective. i think you have very realistic view and expectations of what the nuggets can and will look to accomplish. however, i think your team will end up with more talent than you think. camby may be worthless to you, but he will be able to bring in a decent return (tj ford? pieces from the bulls?) iverson will be tougher to move due to contract size and, well he's tough to fit into a system. however i see the same teams (bulls and raptors) being interested, and willing to return some young athletic talent.
