Denver sends Sonny Weems and Walter Sharpe to Milwaukee for forward Malik Allen
by Nate Timmons on Jul 21, 2009 3:31 PM MDT
in News and Opinion
22 comments
The Sonny Weems, 23, and Walter Sharpe, 23, eras are over in Denver before they ever really began. The Nuggets traded Weems and Sharpe to the Milwaukee Bucks for reserve power forward and eight-year NBA veteran Malik Allen, 31. The trade was originally reported by Nova Fantasy Sports this morning, but didn't surface on more credible media outlets until the Denver Post's Benjamin Hochman reported it this afternoon.
Weems will probably be best remembered during his time in Denver for being J.R. Smith's designated passer in the 2009 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and for his choreographed pre-game rituals with Smith and Renaldo Balkman ... while typically wearing a suit.
Malik Allen can be best remembered, at least by me, for not being Malik Rose.
Let's break down the rest of this trade after the jump.
Milwaukee receives: 6'6'' and 203 pound Sonny Weems and 6'9'' and 245 pound Walter Sharpe
Weems' 2009-10 contract is for $736,420.
Sharpe's 2009-10 contract is for $736,420.
It looks like the Bucks will most likely waive Weems so that they can re-sign restricted free agent point guard Ramon Sessions to their full MLE. From SB Nation's Bucks blog: Brew Hoop:
... the Bucks are on the verge of trading Malik Allen and his $1.3 million expiring contract to Denver for second-year guard Sonny Weems, who would be owed just $175k if waived immediately.
(It) would be a no-brainer for the Bucks, as Allen doesn't provide anything of value at this point and the Bucks would be able to save a little over $1.1 million by converting Allen's contract into a smaller, partially guaranteed deal.
I'd probably do this deal regardless of the Sessions situation, but it's worth noting that this move alone would clear enough room to re-sign Sessions for the MLE without going over the 09/10 tax. That begs the question of whether the Bucks really are preparing themselves financially so they can match an MLE deal for Sessions, or whether they're simply trying to scare other teams off by showing they've got the cash to do a deal.
Denver acquired Weems (39th overall pick) in a draft day trade with the Chicago Bulls for a 2009 2nd Round Pick. That pick wound up in Portland as part of a three team deal and turned into the 55th pick in this year's draft where Portland selected point guard Patrick Mills out of St. Mary's (remember him?).
The Nuggets acquired Sharpe on July 13 in a trade with the Detoit Pistons that included Arron Afflalo.
Weems was a former college slam dunk champion out of Arkansas and possesses great athleticism. He appeared in just 12 games for the Nuggets last season and averaged 1.6 points on 32% shooting (8-25). Weems was known more as an offensive player ... with limited offensive game. George Karl prefers all-around players and guys who are willing to work on the defensive end. The writing was on the wall for Weems when Karl gave this quote to the Denver Post's Chris Dempsey recently.
"Sonny is an athletic player that's got to learn how to play basketball," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "At times it looks like he's taking that step, and then at times it doesn't look like he's taking that step. He has 10 days here at summer league. He's going to have to figure out his niche. He's got the talent to play in the league. The question will be: Does he have the mind to play in the league?"
It's incredibly difficult to judge a guy off his summer league play, so for what it's worth ... here are Weems' numbers from the 2009 Summer League: in 33 minutes, 16.6 ppg on 32% shooting (20% from three), 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 4 turnovers per game.
In 21 games in the D-League last season Weems averaged 20.5 points and 4.5 rebounds while leading the 14'ers to the D-League title.
www.nba.com
Sonny Weems never really got out of that Summer League uniform.
If Sonny was going to make the rotation for the Nuggets then it was going to have to be because of his effort on the defensive end. Dempsey's article mentions that Weems had been working closely with Denver assistant Stacey "Plasticman" Augmon to improve his defense, but the Nuggets were not willing to wait on Weems. Apparently Sonny's niche with the Nuggets was as a trade chip.
Denver receives: 6'10'' and 255 pound Malik Allen aka Malik Allen's expiring contract
Allen exercised his $1.3 million player option for the upcoming 2009-10 season and will be a free agent after the season.
Allen came into the league during the 2001-02 season as a free agent with the Miami Heat, after going undrafted in the 2000 draft. He played his college ball at Villanova and got his first crack at professional basketball with the ABA's San Diego Wildfire.
The 2000 NBA Drafted featured top pick Kenyon Martin and is widely considered one of the worst draft's in NBA history. Notable players selected in the first round include: K-Mart, Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford, Joel Przybilla, Hedo Turkoglu, Quentin Richardson, Jamaal Magloire, and DeShawn Stevenson. And in the second round there were three notable role players: Eddie House, Eduardo Najera, and Michael Redd. Not a lot of superstars there.
Though it's known as one of the worst drafts off all-time ... the Nuggets wound up having six players from that draft class on their roster at various times, as well as two undrafted free agents. So, that's a total of EIGHT players from one of the worst drafts ever who were members of the Nuggets in various capacities.
Who are/were these eight? The Nuggets two draft picks that year, center Mamadou N'Diaye (26th overall in the 1st Round) and center Dan McClintock in the second round (53rd overall), Kenyon Martin (1), DerMarr Johnson (6), Eduardo Najera (38), Jason Hart (49), Yakhouba Diawara (undrafted), and now Malik Allen (undrafted.)
After Allen broke into the league with the Miami Heat, like Chris Andersen, he'd remain an NBA player ... although he'd take on journeyman status.
Allen played three seasons with the Miami Heat (2001-2004) before being traded after appearing in just 14 games in his fouth season to the Charlotte Bobcats during the '04-05 season. After the '04-05 season Allen signed with the Chicago Bulls and played out his two-year deal. From there he signed with the New Jersey Nets before the 2007-08 season. Allen appeared in 48 games for the Nets before they shipped him off to Dallas in the Jason Kidd trade. Allen appeared in 25 games for the Mavericks, but left the team after the season to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2008-09 season.
Now Allen is entering his 9th NBA season with his 7th NBA team ... our Denver Nuggets. Allen does possess an expiring contract for $1.3 million and given his history ... I'm not going to rule out that he could be on the move yet again before the season is over.
A look at Malik Allen in his "better days."
How does one become an NBA journeyman?
Things actually looked promising for Allen in the 2002-03 season when he was a member of the Heat. He appeared in 80 games and started in 73 of them alongside Brian Grant. Allen averaged 29 minutes a night and produced his career-high in points at 9.6 and rebounds at 5.3 per night.
But the Heat had other plans. After the season they added Udonis Haslem and Lamar Odom to bolster their front line and Malik paid the price. In the 2003-04 season Allen's playing time was cut from 80 games to 45 games and he only started in 6 of those contests. His minutes were cut from 29 a game to 13.7 minutes a night.
Allen would never appear in more than 60 games after his one promising season in Miami.
| Career Numbers | 2008-09 numbers | |
|
Minutes |
16.2 |
11.8 |
|
FG% |
44% |
42.9% |
|
FT% |
77.4% |
47.6% (10-21) |
|
Points |
5.4 |
3.2 |
|
Rebounds |
3 |
2.1 |
|
Blocks |
0.5 |
0.2 |
You can see from the table above that Allen's number are down across the board from last season compared to his career averages. Allen appeared in 49 games for the Bucks, but played a very minor role with the team.
What will Allen's role be with the Nuggets?
Denver has been looking for big man insurance this offseason and flirted with at least Channing Frye in free agency, offering him a two-year $4.14 million deal, that Frye rejected in favor of the same deal with his hometown Phoenix Suns. Allen and Frye are at two pretty different points in their careers and each player sort of gives off a different message.
- Frye's potential signing meant: still an up and coming player who can stretch the floor with his shot and demands playing time.
- The trade for Allen means: servicable backup who does not require big minutes. Knows his role on the team, but shouldn't be counted on for extended playing time.
I'm not convinced that Allen will be with the Nuggets for the duration of the season, but I could be wrong. He will provide Denver with some veteran post presence and more insurance if Steven Hunter is unable to play this season. But Allen could also be packaged with Steven Hunter's expiring deal giving the Nuggets roughly $5 million in outgoing salary to go along with their $8.7 million trade exception that expires on November 3rd ... theoretically meaning Denver could absorb a salary of $13.7 million or less ... theoretically!
As I have mentioned previously, the Nuggets don't really have a lot of playing time to offer a fourth big man. There are 96 minutes between the Power Forward and Center positions in a given game. Nene and Kenyon Martin will probably average between 30-35 minutes a night each. Let's say they average 32 minutes each, that adds up to 64 minutes and leaves 32 minutes available. Chris Andersen will probably average between 20-25 minutes a night. Let's say he averages 20 minutes a night, that leaves 12 available minutes. Denver can split those minutes between guys like; Renaldo Balkman and Malik Allen.
We know Karl hates to play guys in spot minutes and the math above does not take into account unconventional lineups that Karl loves to throw out there during the regular season. The reason I mention this is because it was probably a little irrational for me to think that Denver would be able to bring in a young big like Channing Frye or Brandon Bass who would command at least 15 to 25 minutes a night. The roster is not done forming yet, heck training camp hasn't even started, but we do one more now.
The Sonny Weems era is over after just one season. The question now is how long will the Malik Allen one last?
0 recs |
22 comments
|
Email
Print
Comments
since weems will prob b waived...
we could prob resign him…. but i doubt GK would want tht….. where do u see him ending up… i c him going to a bad team where he gets playing time and shots….
by hvino on Jul 21, 2009 3:38 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
If it were me
I would take a chance on the kid and resign him. Sure, his shooting % is a bit awful, but that can be easily fixed. I see a lot of potential in the kid and I would say for what you pay for him, you might as well.
by GoldenNugget on Jul 21, 2009 5:28 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really dont know...
this guy has alot of athleticism and skill, but chances are he will be a irrelevant player for his career.
Melooooooo
by Mr.Clutch15 on Jul 21, 2009 3:45 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Hunter and Allen...
Im sorry but they both are terrible. They should play zero minutes on a contending team.
Melooooooo
by Mr.Clutch15 on Jul 21, 2009 3:46 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
LOL
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" - Ash from Army of Darkness
"H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?" - Evelle from Raising Arizona
"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." - Agent Rogersz from Repoman
by Broncoman on Jul 22, 2009 1:16 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
Allen
I think the thing that he will mainly bring to the team is a reliable jump shot. Something we haven’t had from our bigs and he knows his role.
by Jonnbear on Jul 21, 2009 4:02 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Not cool
Not at all… sorry but I hope this is part of a bigger deal. I knew we did not want Sharpe’s contract and Weems’ deal is only partially guaranteed. I still think Sonny is a project worth keeping around on the cheap, he wasn’t a Julius Hodge. Who, for whatever reason got more of a chance than Weems did.
What irks me is we targeted Allen, a regular bench guy with a minimum deal that can be found everywhere. He should not play ever except in case of emergency. Even then he is only a stand still shooter good for 10 mins a game.
I guess this opens up a roster spot for Coby Karl, or another SG who can help. Other than that, this deal is a push financially which gives us an old stiff and an extra roster spot.
by runningdonut on Jul 21, 2009 4:04 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Yes, this was a bizarre trade.
Basically traded two guys making about $1.4 million for a guy making $1.3 million. And while this opens up a roster spot it doesn’t open up any more money … it also probably spells the end of the Johan Petro era in Denver.
I think Steven Hunter is now more likely than ever to be traded or hopefully Denver can get a medical retirement out of his deal.
Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan
by Nate Timmons on Jul 21, 2009 4:47 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not the impact big we were hoping for
Not only that Nate, but we gave up 2 low risk, young players for a minimum salary 31 yr old who doesn’t make us better. Yes, it would be nice to have a shooting big man, but if K-Mart is healthy and Birdman improves offensively, then Malik won’t see any minutes at all. Not only that, I don’t see him running the floor and helping Nene defend the elite big men in the game.
I was really hoping the Nugs would swing a deal for some young talent up front, like DeAndre Jordan who another guy here suggested. That would be a good move, and it would have been better to get Amir Johnson or Mbah a Moute out of Milwaukee instead of this guy.
Now our front line backups are 31 yr old Malik Allen and the ghost of Steven Hunter. Bring back Petro and it still sucks pretty hard. I guess we all need to just wait and see. The only conclusion I can come to about this trade is it’s a set-up deal for something bigger.
by runningdonut on Jul 21, 2009 5:13 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree about Allen not improving the team outside of taking a seat up on the bench.
I too see this deal as perhaps allowing Denver to make another deal down the road (at least I hope … )
I get the feeling that the Front Office or Karl didn’t see in Weems what they wanted and this move being more about getting him out of town and bringing in a big body veteran who wouldn’t get upset with playing every other night or not for a week … who knows.
Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan
by Nate Timmons on Jul 21, 2009 8:34 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
...IF k-mart stays healthy and IF birdman improves his offense...
are both pretty big ifs, to me. I also wish we could have gotten some young talent out of this, but I think in the end Allen is an insurance policy against the health of our big men. Weems was really an insurance policy for the health of our perimeter players (with an outside chance of developing into a good scorer), and I think we have a greater need for big man insurance.
I think this opens up some room to add Coby Karl, and more important gives us an expiring contract, which is like gold in this economy. Here’s hoping we use it to add some impact player for next year.
by sleepydog on Jul 21, 2009 9:58 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
Who do you figure we would trade for?
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" - Ash from Army of Darkness
"H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?" - Evelle from Raising Arizona
"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." - Agent Rogersz from Repoman
by Broncoman on Jul 22, 2009 1:18 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
i agree with most…this better be part of something better because I could produce the same numbers Malik Allen does
by NugNugz on Jul 21, 2009 4:20 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Nate is dead on
when he says this will be used as a chip to swing a larger trade. Idk, look at teams who are interested in expirings and have some talent. Maybe a sign and trade with NY for Lee where we give them Hunter and Allen. I know the majority of Nugs fans are more interested in a legit Center but if we could land Lee for 2 expiring stiffs, I don’t think anybody would be complaining.
by GoldenNugget on Jul 21, 2009 5:26 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
I love the idea of bringing in a center, but ...
That makes for a difficult position battle w/ Nene and K-Mart as both would hopefully still be on the team.
Chris Dempsey was on 104.3 FM yesterday on the Sports Guys and talked about how Nene is the Nuggets center and that’s where the team wants him. But like the Lakers do … it’d be nice to have a big that could come in and take some heat off Nene at center … Bird can do that, but a big bruiser would be nice.
So like you, I could see a David Lee type being good for the team if we had the minutes for him. Even though I hear Lee coming to Denver has no legs (for now.)
Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan
by Nate Timmons on Jul 21, 2009 8:39 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with runningdonut that this deal seems disappointing if this is our idea of getting a big man to help out. Malik Allen, and Steven Hunter are bad, and yes I was hoping the Nuggets would try to use their chips on getting Deandre Jordan, or Maresse Speights. I really hope this isn’t what the front office had in mind as our backup big man at center…I actually prefer to keep Petro around and stand pat then give away the potential in Weems, for a old player that doesn’t really have much to offer.
by bodmiesta on Jul 21, 2009 7:29 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Hm, I actually dug Sonny.
"Old apple dessert = lots of vomit. :("
by Tempestuous Binary on Jul 21, 2009 9:06 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Nice write up Nate
I hope this means we will target an impact player in the season, not sure who that would be, but I have a feeling the Nuggets management knows.
"Me fail english, that unpossible" - Ralph Wiggum
"Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem" - Duffman
"Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun" - Ash from Army of Darkness
"H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?" - Evelle from Raising Arizona
"It happens sometimes. People just explode. Natural causes." - Agent Rogersz from Repoman
by Broncoman on Jul 22, 2009 1:20 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Very tricky stuff trying to determine who the Nuggets will target right now ...
As the season wears on it should be easy to see who is available and who is not. Mid-season trades can be good b/c you may not have to give up a lot to get the guy you want.
On the other hand … it’s also nice to have guys in training camp so they can get some chemistry down and gel w/ their new teammates.
Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan
by Nate Timmons on Jul 22, 2009 10:56 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs
boozer
we all know this is part of a trade we’re gunna make for carlos boozer… in my dreams haha
by The Birdman on Jul 22, 2009 2:25 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
The trade doesn’t seemed to have settled in yet, where it doesn’t have a report on nba.com or yahoo sports.
by bodmiesta on Jul 26, 2009 7:03 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
D-Lee
I mean looking at what is out there, D-Lee is by far the best person that is available for the Nugs to get. I love D -Lee and the hustle and intangibles that he brings, but i just dont see them making the move with New York to sign and trade for him. Im not getting my hopes up
Melooooooo
by Mr.Clutch15 on Jul 27, 2009 9:05 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
DENVER STIFFS T-SHIRTS!
Enter your email for updates
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
