Melo, AI, K-Mart + the 2002-03 Nuggets?...

by Andrew Feinstein on Aug 4, 2008 6:46 PM MDT

A lot of Denver Stiffs readers have been emailing me a link from Terry Pluto's Cleveland.com blog claiming that the Cavaliers are talking to the Nuggets about acquiring shooting guard J.R. Smith. According to Pluto, the Nuggets are so desperate to shed payroll, that they might be willing to relinquish Smith for an expiring contract or two.

Giving up Smith in another salary dump would fly in the face of everything we've heard from Nuggets Vice President of Something or Other Mark Warkentien about Smith's free agent status to date. While Wark typically keeps his cards close to his man boobs, he's been pretty open about matching any offer for Smith that comes along.

Prior to the Camby "trade" debacle, I actually agreed with Wark's purported strategy as far as re-signing Smith is concerned. First, the Nuggets need to get over bidding against themselves for free agents (which in the past produced the ridiculous contracts for Nene, Kenyon Martin, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and others). Secondly, by publicly stating the Nuggets will match any offer tendered to Smith, perhaps Wark scared off potential suitors. Because until this Cavs rumor surfaced, we haven't heard a peep about interest in Smith from any other team.

As anxious as I am to see Smith re-signed, if I were Nuggets management I'd just wait and see what offers come in, match it, and hope its less than the mid-level exemption. Why pay more if you don't have to for a supremely talented - but sometimes troublesome - restricted free agent?

But if the Nuggets do indeed dump Smith to clear cap space, this would be yet another terrible decision by management. Moreover, sans Smith - and taking away Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and Martin - the 2008-09 Nuggets would look a lot like the 2002-03 17-win Nuggets. Minus Jeff Bzdelik's work ethic, of course.

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Come on, when bloggers portend to speak with authority about team trade activity, you gotta take it with a big grain of salt. There is absolutely no way Denver is looking to shed JR's salary. He's making very little this coming year so they are in no rush to shed his salary.

In fact, the Nuggets would love the Cavs to present JR an offer sheet at the mid-level range. That way, they could avoid the risk of the unrestricted FA market next season.

Maybe that's the smoke this blogger heard about. Cleveland may have inquired about how much Denver was willing to resign JR for in the future to see if its worth pursuing further.

My guess is that teams will stay scared from wasting their offer sheets and we sign him next season for about $7M/yr over 5 years. and hopefully not much more.

If we lose him to FA, the FO will have officially lost our confidence.

by Haig on Aug 4, 2008 7:25 PM MDT reply actions

this link wasn't from a blogger. Pluto is a veteran NBA writer and cleveland.com is the plain dealer's website. so this is the equivalent of the rocky guys who cover the nuggets with their blog. other than that, i agree with haig that theres no way the FO doesnt resign jr but i'm starting to get worried!!!!

by maxie miner on Aug 4, 2008 7:35 PM MDT reply actions

I second what maxie miner said about Terry Pluto... as a side note, anyone looking for a good book about the ABA (with plenty of great Nuggets stories) should read his oral history "Loose Balls," one of the most compulsively readable sports books ever written.

As for the possibility of losing J.R., the Nuggets will be putting a whole lot of pressure on Linas Kleiza to perform in his place. While J.R. isn't the most consistent player, he is more reliable than Kleiza, who looks like a completely different player from one night to the next. Without J.R., we'd have the chance to see if the potential that made Kleiza untouchable for trades this past year blossoms into anything more than another player development miscalculation on the part of the Nuggets' brass. Not likely, but you never know.

by rauf is on fire on Aug 4, 2008 10:00 PM MDT reply actions

i sure as hell hope we don't shed JR's contract. he's the guy i love to watch on this team. more than ai and melo. yeah i said it. the things he does sometimes is mind boggling. and all while the coach hates his ass. i always go for the underdog.

by andrew fisher on Aug 5, 2008 12:39 AM MDT reply actions

Someone in the Nuggets brass will be able to convince JR that signing a deal with the CAVS would mean he would have to play defense too. That should keep him from signing an offer sheet. What am I saying? Someone on the Nuggets probably had to explain to this kid that there were no more games after the Lakers' sweep. Next we'll maybe be able to teach him what day the trash is supposed to go out.

by Anonymous on Aug 5, 2008 1:06 AM MDT reply actions

hahaha proud of my beloved aussies. they played well considering andrew bogut wasn't playing. i duno if it was our solid defense or usa's dull offense (mainly from the stripe and downtown) that got us close! haha

by andrew fisher on Aug 5, 2008 8:50 AM MDT reply actions

I can't believe how stupid our front office is. Really. They are unbelievably stupid. Why all of a sudden are they trying to shed cap room? They built an incredible team that had all the right keys to winning a championship yet couldn't figure out that getting rid of Karl was the key to bringing the Nuggets as close as they could get to the promise land. Now they are going to get rid of perhaps the most talented young athlete you should try to build around on our roster! It absolutely makes no sense. Our window with A.I. is now and J.R. is just as important as anyone on this team is to getting, well, somewhat further into the playoffs. If we were really into shedding cap room we should just admit that A.I. needs a title, which isn't comming anytime soon in Denver, and trade him to a REAL contender for some young talent that hasn't yet blossomed and start to build around Melo, Smith, and Nene. I just don't get it.

by frustratedgoldennugget on Aug 5, 2008 9:29 AM MDT reply actions

I expect the team to keep JR but not AI. My conspiracy theory of the week is that the FO is taking their time with Smith because they're looking for some way to shed Iverson. The concern (besides how much I like AI) is that they package both guys together. Melo would be pissed.

by Mike on Aug 5, 2008 9:47 AM MDT reply actions

"Smith isn't going anywhere" -espn

by Anonymous on Aug 5, 2008 10:10 AM MDT reply actions

There's no rush on the AI move. I agree that we're exploring options with him and those options may come to fruition by the trade deadline. Or else we let him go and enjoy the cap space for next season.

JR will be retained, hopefully sooner rather than later. He'll continue to be a spark off the bench and when AI is moved, he'll be ready to start at the 2 guard.

The question is what kind of value can we get from trading AI. We'd be wise to reinforce our front line with a legitimate post player to complement Nene.

I'm not convinced PG is our biggest shortcoming so that can wait until the opportunity presents itself.

by Haig on Aug 5, 2008 12:06 PM MDT reply actions

Bottom line in is the Nuggets are not ready to contend, so the need to get Iverson out of there and give the guy the chance to contend untill he retires. When he leaves, the Nuggets won't make the playoffs this season, thats for sure and face a very strong possibility of not making the playoffs the following season as well. I don't have faith in the FO that they would even aquire the right types of players with any 'cap space' they may have considering what they have done so far (or lack there of) since Iverson has been here. Untill the Nuggets change their style of play and all around culture, the results will be the same no matter who is on that roster. Some fans can continue to hold onto false hope that they will be able to compete with a roster of Melo, JR, Klieza and Nene in the Western Conferense. But I will say that that organization looks real stupid making a major trade for a guy like Iverson if they knew they as an organization (and some of its players) were not ready to contend. They are basically continuing to tarnish their reputation.

by Anonymous on Aug 6, 2008 11:10 PM MDT reply actions

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STIFF LIST (as of 4/26 by Andrew Feinstein)

1. METTA WORLD PEACE

Metta resorted back to Ron Ron last Sunday by clubbing James Hardenwith an "inadvertent celebratory elbow", landing him a 7-game suspension. Apparently, changing his name didn't prevent NBA commissioner David Stern from overlooking Metta's past behavior problems.

2. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

The 'Cats are on the verge of securing the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Given that the guy who runs the team - Michael Jordan - had previously drafted Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, should this really be a shock?

3. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
The team that was supposedly built to overcome the lockout-shortened season managed to lose 7 of its last 14 games, ceding the Western Conference's 1-seed to the Spurs in the process. Their reward might be a first round matchup with defending champion Dallas.

4. BILLY HUNTER AND DEREK FISHER

With report after report coming out about NBPA union head Hunter's shady, nepotistic dealings and questions arising about Fisher's own role in dealing with NBA owners behind Hunter's back during the lockout, this off-the-court scandal could prove to be more exciting than the playoffs themselves!

5. STEVE NASH AND THE PHOENIX SUNS
The Suns are on this list for squandering the last few great seasons from Nash. Nash is on this list for his stupidly stubborn loyalty to a franchise as awful as the Suns.