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Was Jamaal Tinsley Almost a Denver Nugget?

There are some people in my life who I trust completely and I know I can believe anything they say.  Then there are others who I am a little wary of.  Peter Vecsey definitely fits in the latter category.  Well, Tom over at Indy Cornrows alerted me to the fact that Vecsey was on the radio in Indianapolis today and he had a little trade rumor surrounding the Denver Nuggets and Jamaal Tinsley. 

According to Vecsey the Nuggets and Pacers had a deal in place to trade Tinsley to the Nuggets in exchange for Chucky Atkins and Steven Hunter, but Rex Chapman used his veto power to reject the deal.

I believe Tinsley is a solid point guard and he was having a very good year in Jim O’Briens’ fast paced system.  He experienced a fallout with the coach and some injuries last year.  Then in the offseason the Pacers made the blockbuster Jermaine O’Neal/T.J. Ford deal and also brought Jarrett Jack in from Portland.  Tinsley suddenly became superfluous and the Pacers announced that Tinsley would be traded.

Heading into this offseason I listed the need to find a point guard as the second most important goal for the Nuggets this summer (the first being to resign J.R. Smith).  Heading into training camp the point guard situation is pretty much the way it was last season.  Atkins is hurt and Anthony Carter is set up to play more minutes than he is suited for.

Would Tinsley be the solution for the Nuggets at point guard? 

The blueprint for the perfect point guard for the Nuggets is a player with decent size who can penetrate, play defense and he has to be able to hit three pointers.  Tinsley has decent size and he can penetrate and score.  However, he is a below average defender and is a horrible three point shooter.  Actually, he is just an all around poor shooter with a career mark of 39.5%.  Another black mark on Tinsley’s record that bears mentioning is his propensity to stay out late and stumble upon trouble (an area in which the Nuggets require no additional assistance). 

However, the primary reason in my mind why I am glad the Nuggets passed on acquiring Tinsley is financial.  I am not an Atkins fan at all, but he is an expiring contract that will come off the books after this season.  Steven Hunter did not play much last season and might not play much this season, but with the departure of Marcus Camby, Hunter is a vital insurance policy for the Nuggets against Nene or Kenyon Martin missing time.  Hunter’s contract does have two years at about seven million dollars on it, but his deal will not have a negative effect on the Nuggets ability to add salary next season.

Tinsley has three years and over $21 million left on his deal.  After this season the Nuggets will only have one really bad contract on the books, that of Kenyon Martin.  They are close to getting their salary structure under control.  Tinsley does not have an awful contract, but it is significant enough that it would prevent them from being able to utilize the trade exception from the Marcus Camby deal.

Tinsley would certainly be an upgrade over the Carter and Atkins duo, but he is not the point guard the Nuggets need.  Pacer fans are hoping that we will bombard Rex Chapman’s voice mail with pleas to change his mind.  Somehow I do not think that is going to happen.

Of course, keep in mind the source for all of this.  Who knows if the Nuggets were ever really interested in the first place?

Aside from the trade rumor itself, there is another potential story here and that is the issue of how the Nuggets front office functions.  You would like to think there is an established hierarchy where some competent individual is in charge and is the final decision maker instead of having a plethora of individuals who can all put the kibosh on anything (picture the UN Security Council).

If everyone has to agree before a deal is done, hopefully that will protect you from making horrible decisions, but if one person can scuttle any given transaction, they could easily miss the boat on a very good deal due to one objector.

I do not know for sure how the front office functions, but if you cannot stand the heat, there may be too many cooks in the kitchen.  Or something like that.

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Vecsey reports deal is done

Posted for the New York Post at 3:17am this morning.

Still waiting for other reports to surface.

by Tom Lewis on Oct 3, 2008 6:50 AM MDT reply actions  

Story Pulled?

The link to that story still works, but I cannot find a link to it from anywhere on the NY Post sports section. I wonder if they pulled the story due to certain inaccuracies along the lines of Tinsley has not been traded to the Nuggets. The Indy Star post lined below something could still happen, but it has not happened yet.

Another reason I think this would be a bad deal is it might reduce floor time for J.R. If AI plays 42 minutes and Tinsley plays 30 that only leaves 24 for J.R.

by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2008 9:02 AM MDT up reply actions  

Finally something

This Denver Post report says no deal has been made and Steven Hunter’s agent claims there is nothing imminent.

Nothing from the Rocky Mountain News as of yet.

by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2008 9:36 AM MDT up reply actions  

ESPN Quotes Warkentien - No Deal

This ESPN.com report quotes Mark Warkentien as saying reports of Tinsley being traded to the Nuggets were “erroneous.” He also makes a reference to the 1948 presidential election which most people probably no longer get.

by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2008 9:57 AM MDT up reply actions  

This report scares me … not Tinsley but the front office. It sounds like they’re all over the place.

As for the trade, I’ll have to think about it. Some good parts to it, some bad parts too. If nothing else the Nuggets are a great fit for Tinsley’s talents.

by NBR on Oct 3, 2008 7:22 AM MDT reply actions  

IndyStar Reporting

No Deal

http://blogs.indystar.com/pacersinsider/archives/2008/10/no_tinsley_deal.html

I really hope the Indy Star is right.

The artist formerly known as Nuggets4.

by JLucas4092 on Oct 3, 2008 8:25 AM MDT reply actions  

If it wasn’t for the injuries I’d be 100% behind this deal. The injury history puts me on the edge … big risk.

Depends whether you want to rebuild straight away or give it one more heave. I’d be happy either way.

by NBR on Oct 3, 2008 10:35 AM MDT reply actions  

What about

the fact that Tinsley’s insane? Isn’t that enough to scare you off?

The artist formerly known as Nuggets4.

by JLucas4092 on Oct 3, 2008 10:45 AM MDT up reply actions  

No, Tinsley is a very good point guard and he’s been well liked by a lot of his teammates. No issues except for the injuries.

The injuries though …. they’re catastrophic. Only once in five seasons has he played more than 52 games, and that season (72 games) he played through injuries that he shouldn’t have and it showed in his performance, he was limited version of himself. The injuries are an absolute killer. Can’t help the team if you’re not on the court.

You’d have to be very confident that he could stay on the court to take on three years $21mil.

by NBR on Oct 3, 2008 11:32 AM MDT up reply actions  

Tinsley's Past

This morning I started shuffling through Tom’s posts on Tinsley for Indy Cornrows and it was not encouraging. Tinsley does miss a lot of time with leg injuries (knee/Hammy/Quad) that are most likely all related.

One thing that is apparent is he can be difficult to coach. Before last season Tinsley was on board with Jim O’Brien being the coach of the Pacers (link to Indy Star story broken).

Three months later he was suspended for a blow up during a film session.

It did not take long for that relationship to fall apart.

I was also freaked out about this post where Tinsley shot the ball on 14 straight possessions(!) as the Pacers blew a game against Phoenix.

Tinsley would certainly be an upgrade at the point, but it would be a short sighted move and would completely clash with what the organization has been doing since the end of last season (acquiring assets for the future and working for financial flexibility).

by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2008 12:01 PM MDT up reply actions  

I guess im confused...

ESPN.com and NBA.com both reported the trade was approved pending physicals, NOW ESPN.com says teams are denying the trade. Do we have Tinsley or no at this point??
And do we even want Tinsley??

MELO!!!

MileHighReport.com
PickaxeAndRoll.com

by abaca15 on Oct 3, 2008 11:50 AM MDT reply actions  

Difference between reporting and posting news reports

NBA.com runs links to basketball headlines from major media outlets and ESPN.com does the same thing in their rumor central (as does HoopsHype). They are not reporting the story on their own, just picking up the NY Post story. After the Indy Star, Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News and ESPN actually looked into the story they provided their own report based on the facts that the deal had not been agreed to.

This is all due to the scourge that is Peter Vecsey.

There is a problem with the way big websites run their rumor mills. They take any report, made up or otherwise and report it as fact. When Sam Smith wrote for the Chicago Tribune every Monday he would propose a trade he came up with for the Bulls. It was basically a running feature for him. Well, ESPN would take that story and put a report in their rumor page as if the teams had really had discussions when the source was a writer just having fun.

by Jeremy on Oct 3, 2008 12:12 PM MDT up reply actions  

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