Bill Simmons for Nuggets GM?...

I've been dreaming about this ever since he first indicated he wanted to be an NBA GM. I just don't think any owner would give someone without long term experience around a basketball organization a real shot at running the whole thing. Simmons also comes up with a lot of logical trades, and you have to think that most of them wouldn't happen in real life. Someone in an organization he is trying to trade with might have a bad experience with someone he is trying to trade to them, and they will refuse it simply because they don't want that player on their team, even if the trade make perfect sense. You'll also come across teams that are attached to certain players for reasons beyond their basketball play, and will refuse to trade them even if it make sense. This is why I don't think the Nuggets will trade Melo away, even if Simmons thinks it is the right move to make. Melo is too invested as our young franchise player to simply trade away. Simmons has also been hit and miss in his draft analysis. He likes to tout the fact that he would have taken Chris Paul with the first overall pick, but like to not mention how high he was on JJ Redick. I'd still love to see him as our GM, because if anything I think he would make sound decisions that moved our franchise towards a championship. Not having to worry about the Nuggets' brass making stupid decisions would be a relief.

I don't know, i'm not ready to give up on the Melo/AI tandem yet. Simply because I want to see what a new Coach would do for them before they part ways. Also, I would rather Iverson leave then Carmelo, simply because I want Iverson to go to a team that is going to contend untill he retires. And Denver is the only place that will put up with the half effort Carmelo gives at times, he wouldn't be able to play in a larger market like New York or Philly, places that demand alot from their players, the fans and press would eat him alive.

I am also convinced that Melo is not a real franchise player, so people need to give that up already. He is a good solid player, thats it. You can usually tell by a players 5th year what they will be able to do in the league. By Iversons 5th year he was already MVP of the league and was leading his team to the Finals, by Kobes 5th year he was getting his 2nd ring with Shaq, by Lebrons 5th year he has already elivated his game beyong beleif and the scary thing is he is only going to get better, by D-Wades 5th year he has already elivated his game and has his 1st ring (albiet with Shaq) but he has shown he can be dominate. Look what players like CP3, D-Will and Dwight Howard are already doing for their team. Well, you get the point.

To me Carmelo just lacks that extra something, he does just enough to fill up his stat sheet and thats it, nothing extra. He just doesn't seem to have that extra "it" thing that real Franchise players have. And to me he's a fraud...but the Nuggets can keep holding onto false hope. I think they should keep him, because he is a good player but he's not the type of player you build around...he's the type of player you build with. Theres a differense. To me Melo is going to be more of a T-Mac/Paul Pierce type player as opposed to a AI, Kobe, Lebron type player. I think Melo will be solid, but I don't ever see him reaching greatness.

I completely agree with you, Anonymous: I'm not ready to give up on the AI/Melo tandem yet, either.

I also agree that Melo lacks that extra something -- and I believe that something is maturity. Five years in the league, and he plays like a sophmore.

You hit the nail on the head, pal.

But he is indeed a talented player, don't get me wrong. Just not an amazing player.

I wouldn't pay the $200 for NBALP every season if Melo was traded, like I did for AI when he was traded...

I agree that the AI/Melo experiment isn't working, but don't think the answer is trading Melo. If we do want to break them up, then the answer is trading The Answer.

While the Nuggets may not get as much for AI as they would for Melo, we need to look beyond the "now" and into the future.

AI is 32 years old and has a limited number of years left in his legs. Even on the high side, he will not be able to compete at this same level in, say, 5 years.

Melo, on the other hand, is only 23. Because of his position and style, he can be an All Star for the next 10 years. His inside play and outside shooting will not be impacted by age as much as Iverson's speed and quick release will.

If we were to break up this duo, I think the smart move is to trade the elder of the two.

Amen to what E.Pfaff said.

Andrew, I had high regards on your views on the Nuggets. After this article, I have changed my mind.

get rid of camby...someone would take him and give us a quality pg. with a healthy nene we can afford to give up the worthless so called defensive player of the year.

worthless so called defensive player of the year.

Now now, I wouldn't call Camby worthless. He's not your typical center -- he rarely dunks, and doesn't know how to do a layup. I myself would prefer a traditional center (can we say, Hunter?!), but Camby has brought a lot of good, notably a crapload of rebounds and blocks per game, to make up for the lack of defensive rebounding the Nuggets have.

Which brings up another point -- don't you just hate it when a Nugget takes a shot and the entire team runs to the other side of the court, assuming the basket will be made, only to have it miss and have one of the five opponent players fight over it?

Forget about trade, Iverson should just opt out and walk and make sure Nuggets gets absolutely nothing in return for him. Because they deserve that. I think that organization should be embarrassed for making a major trade for a player of Iversons caliber if they were not ready to win now. It was more then obvious in the first half of the season when AI first came that some of the players on that team had different agendas. Some wanted championships, some wanted All Star games, and some didn't know what they were playing for. Its unfortounate.

As a fan of b-ball in general, I sort of feel like Iverson would have been better off in Philly because coming to Denver has not helped him at all. Ive seen some fans of the team say Iverson has not helped, but the fact is without that guy that Nuggets team would be a .500 team this year in the West. He's helped out more then not. Carmelo is starting to look like a bust and at this point the Nuggets can have him. Because I can bet you that while some people may think Carmelos value is high, I can probably think of 20 GMs right now that wouldn't want Carmelo with the way he plays. People around the Internet have been talking so bad about Carmelo. Iverson should have just stayed in Philly at least some of his teammates there played with heart.

Anonymous poster above, I couldn't have said it better. It's sad but true.

Simmons sounds good to me. And since Larry Brown now appears headed to the Bobcats (if not the Bulls), how about Patrick Ewing to coach the Nuggets? He's assisted under both Van Gundys and has the Pat Riley and John Thompson influences as well. Think about it...

And I would, with much sadness, like to endorse the idea of trading 'Melo. The Grizz deal is fine, and I think Michael Redd will be available too. It depends on who else is staying and the new direction overall.

Bill Simmons is an idiot for suggesting the Nuggets trade the 23 year old Carmelo Anthony, who keeps raising his game.

Can you imagine if Carmelo's Nuggets got to play the Wizards in the 1st round like the King and his Cavaliers have for the past 3 seasons? Ah we can only dream, because the Nuggets play in the Western Conference, not the Least.

Take a look at Melo and the King's numbers next to each other for this season:

Carmelo Anthony (2007-08)
MIN - 36.4
PPG - 25.7
FG - 9.5-19.2
FG% - .492
3P% - .354
FT% - .786
TRB - 7.4
AST - 3.4
STL - 1.3

LeBron James (2007-08)
MIN - 40.4
PPG - 30.0
FG - 10.6-21.9
FG% - .484
3P% - .315
FT% - .712
TRB - 7.9
AST - 7.2
STL - 1.8

As you can see Melo's right there with LeBron, but he's getting hammered in the West.

It is sad that 50 wins only gets you the 8th seed in the West, but the King's Cavaliers with 45 wins get the 4 seed in the Least. The NBA really needs to change their playoff seeding format.

Anyways, great blog man, but I must say, I am not much of an Allen Iverson fan like you, due to the fact AI's barely 6 feet tall which causes a lot of defensive mismatches against the elite teams with bigger backcourts.

Yes AI gets his steals, but that is due to cheating in the passing lanes, but more times than not AI gets burned, because he just can't keep a guard in front of him. Why do you think Camby has so many blocked shots?

A lot of changes are coming this summer, but I fear George Karl will be back. :(