Hey KG, Have Fun Losing the 2008 NBA Finals!

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

There are numerous reports that Kevin Garnett has been traded to the Celtics for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes and a draft pick or two.

This is a trade that will work for both teams.  From Boston’s point of view, making the trade now instead of during the draft allowed them to send their #5 pick to Seattle instead of Minnesota which allowed them to add Ray Allen and KG.  I doubt that Danny Ainge planned it that way, but the Allen deal was only going to make them competitive, not put them over the top.  They still had a mismatched team of prospects and a couple of vets in the win now portion of their careers.  Now a triumvirate of KG, Paul Pierce and Allen will make them instant contenders for the next two or three seasons.  Their bench will be pretty thin, but with players like Glen Davis, Gabe Pruitt, Leon Powe, Allen Ray and a healthy Tony Allen it should be deep enough to get them by.

Minnesota had to make a deal.  There is not a trade in the world they could have pulled off leaving their fans saying, “Wow, I am so glad we traded KG, we got more than he was worth.  Great job Kevin!”  It would do no good to watch KG kill himself to end up 9th or 10th in the west again. They now have a nice young nucleus of Randy Foye, Gerald Green, Corey Brewer, Al Jefferson and Craig Smith.  Telfair is not a completely lost player.  In an up tempo system I think he can do quite well.  Believe it or not, the future in Minnesota looks brighter today than it did yesterday.  The key will be to get another GM in there to handle the rebuilding.  If they leave McHale in there to screw the team over again fans will burn down the Target Center or whatever it is called now.

From the Nuggets’ perspective for this season there is one less dog in the fight for the playoffs.  The division just got a little easier and they should be able to take advantage of Portland, Seattle and Minnesota all rebuilding at the same time, to get a few more ticks in the win column.  They were a combined 8-4 against those three teams last season, but hopefully this season can make it 11-1 or 10-2 at the worst.

From a league perspective the seepage of talent from West to East has picked up steam in the last month.  The East has added KG, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Jason Richardson while the West has added Darko Milicic and Grant Hill.  A couple more offseasons like this one and the East will be much more competitive as a whole.

From a skeptical perspective I wonder if David Stern woke up this morning and saw the the media was still all over the Donaghy scandal and he placed a call to Danny and Kevin “recommending” they make a deal to put a new headline on the NBA home pages of the big Internet sites.  Add in the fact that baseball’s non-waiver trading deadline is tomorrow and it would be another example of Stern doing something to steal the spotlight from another sport.

In closing let me say this.  It has been great to watch KG battle over the years.  You always knew what you were getting into when Minnesota came to town.  He always made a game worth the price of admission.  Kevin, good luck and may the Celtics make it all the way to the 2008 NBA Finals where they can have the honor of losing to our Denver Nuggets.

Chucky Atkins?

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

I am not enthused about the potential Chucky Atkins signing.  He did have a nice statistical season last year at Memphis, but it is clearly a fluke season.  His Player Efficiency Rating spiked last season at 17.45.  His second best PER season was 13.44.  He is more of a scoring point guard than Steve Blake, but another scorer is not what this team needs.  Atkins is being touted as a better three point shooter than Blake, but each of them sport a career three point shooting average of 37.0%.  Blake is six years younger and entering his prime and Atkins will be 33 starting the season.   

I realize that Blake may be too expensive for the Nuggets, but we do not know that for sure yet.  If Mo Williams ends up signing with Miami instead of Milwaukee the Blake market will dry up.  The Nuggets may be able to get him to agree to a deal at about the same salary as what they will be paying Atkins.   

Blake is the superior point guard and the better fit for the Nuggets. If he signs somewhere for the full midlevel exception then so be it, but the Nuggets should not settle for less until they know they have to. 

Other Developments 

• I was shocked that after holding his rights for so long the Spurs dealt Luis Scola away as part of a salary dump.  The fact that he never had a reasonable buy out was a contributing factor, but to use the rights to a player of his ability to get another team to swallow a player with less than three million dollars in salary (Jackie Butler) was surprising to me. 
• The Nuggets summer league team had a very nice showing against Detroit last night.  Von Wafer had a very nice game scoring 25 points including 11 in the first quarter.  Will Blalock had another nice performance.  He was very efficient scoring 16 points on eight shots, although he was only 5-9 from the free throw line, and he did not turn the ball over.  Jelani McCoy had another double-double and Curtis Sumpter provided more energy and heady play.  If Blalock, McCoy and Sumpter are not in camp this fall, I will be shocked.
• The Rocky Mountain Review kicks off today and rookie prospects such as Al Horford, Acie Law, Thaddeus Young, Jason Smith, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Morris Almond will be on display. 

Update:

It is official.  The Nuggets signed Chucky Atkins for $3.2 million in 07-08 and $3.4 million in 08-09.  Steve Blake has agreed to sign with the Trailblazers, but the terms have not been disclosed.  If he signed for $4.0 million or so the Nuggets will have made a big mistake to save about $1.5 million next season.  Giving up Blake for Atkins makes no sense from a basketball perspective. 

The Circle is Now Complete

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

Remember back at the 2003 NBA Lottery when the number one pick in the draft had come down to the Grizzlies and Cavilers for the chance to draft LeBron James.  The other subplot was if Memphis did not land the top pick, then Detroit received the pick as part of a trade for Otis Thorpe that had been agreed to several years prior to the events that were unfolding that night. 

We all remember the look on Jerry West’s face when he saw that not only did he miss out on LeBron James, but he was going to have to ship the number two pick in the draft to Detroit.  Equally as memorable was Detroit deciding to select Darko Milicic with that pick they received from Memphis instead of Melo. 

Why am I recounting all of this?  Reports are circulating that Darko has agreed to sign with Memphis.  It may not be much consolation for missing out on LeBron, but they just got theit old number two pick back and all it will cost them is a little bit of cash.

Hopefully now Jerry West can sleep a little better at night.

Accute Summer League Obsservations

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

• Marco Belinelli has been the most enjoyable player to watch. He is a complete chucker, but has been dialed in enough to make a great first impression.  He is one of those players who seems to be a better shooter when turning around with a hand in his face than spotting up wide open.  Of course, so far he has made plenty of shots both open and well defended.  He is also a tremendous passer always hitting his teammates in stride no matter how small of a window he has to squeeze the pass through.
• Golden State has the most entertaining team as a whole.  Along side of Belinelli they have Pierre Pierce, who was kicked off the team at Iowa a couple of seasons ago and Kelenna Azubuike from Kentucky who played with them sparingly last season.  These three have pushed the pace and set each other up beautifully.  They all have been making the right decision every time down the court.
• Jose Juan Berea has had a marvelous start to his summer.  The mighty mite has done a great job of running the offense while scoring points when he has to.  He would be a great change of pace point guard for Dallas to bring off the bench next season.  Devin Harris can play fast, but not like Berea and he is nowhere near the shooter Berea is.
• The next time that either Johan Petro or Mouhamed Sene pass out of the post will be the first.  These guys have been complete black holes.  I am sure the coaches want them to work on their post up game, but they should not ignore working on passing out of the post since that is what both of them will be doing most of the time in the NBA.
• Kevin Durant has absolutely been a disappointment. Everyone will say that it is just summer league, but a player with his abilities should not be shooting 25%.  He has two more games to turn it around.  The fact that he has not recorded an assist after the attention he gets from defenses is absurd.  On the bright side, he has done a good job of drawing fouls even though many of them are non shooting fouls and some of his statistical ineptitude can be attributed to whoever the official scorer is.  Against the Knicks he blocked a couple of shots in the first half that he did not get credit for, stole a pass that he did not get credit for and he definitely had more than one rebound.
• Yi Jianlian has been decent.  Like Durant he has not really gotten in a groove yet. The talent is there.  His offensive game is already relatively polished.  He has good footwork and it is difficult to not be impressed when you see his spin move in the post and his step back jumper on the perimeter.  He will be a very good inside out offensive player.  Like Durant, he draws a lot of non shooting fouls because he posts up so aggressively.
• Somehow Marcus Banks scored 42 points and made four out of five three pointers in the Suns first game.  He must have thought he was back in college at UNLV.  I watched the archived broadcast of the Phoenix/Cleveland game (just to see how on earth Banks scored 42 points) and the announcer must have been Marcus Banks’ old roommate from UNLV.  Whenever someone scored he said the player’s first name and then yelled their last name while increasing the volume and pitch.  Every time someone scored it was the same.  There was one instance where he did something different.  Marcus Banks made a common everyday one handed break away dunk and he suddenly yells, “Slam Dunk!” followed by the standard, “Marcus BANKS!”  I wondered if he would get that excited about every dunk and on the next possession Dwayne Jones dunked for Cleveland and we once again treated with the standard first and last name.  How disappointing that must have been for Dwayne.  There may have been more than 20 people watching this game from the stands if they just had silence instead of the announcer doing his shtick.  It got old fast.
• Louis Williams has been a scoring machine.  He has been able to get to the basket at will and his jumper looks to be much improved.  He plays a similar style to Iverson which makes it doubtful his success will translate with the parent club as he will not be able to dominate the ball.  He will be able to score though if he is given the chance and his constant parade to the free throw line shows that he is being aggressive attacking the basket and not just settling for jumpers.
• Former Nugget fan favorite Ryan Bowen is on the Timberwolves summer league team.  It still makes me mad that Nugget fans were so attached to him.  I appreciated his hustle as much as anyone, but for people to have said if they traded him they would stop watching the Nuggets was a joke.  He is a 10^th man at best on a shallow roster.  Enjoy his hustle, but do not make him a folk hero.  Of course these comments are about five years to late, but I did not have a blog back then.
• The Nuggets are getting very good performances from Will Blalock, Jelani McCoy, Curtis Sumpter and the prize prospect Von Wafer.

Blalock has done a good job pushing the pace, making the right decision when running the offense and has played pretty solid defense.  If Steve Blake ends up going somewhere else, they will replace him with a veteran, but they will probably be interested in bringing in a young player like Blalock to add a prospect for the future.

McCoy has been very good showing his athleticism and shot blocking ability.  He definitely belongs on someone’s bench. His offense has been limited to put backs, but he is playing very well.  At worst he is a player that you could put on Tim Duncan for a few spot minutes and would provide insurance in case of foul trouble.  We mentioned him as a potential replacement for Jamal Sampson and at this point, Sampson has the size advantage, but McCoy has an advantage in the athleticism department.  He can run the floor very well which is important for a Nuggets big man.  McCoy is listed at his standard 245, but he looks bigger to me than he did in the past.

Going into summer league play we mentioned Curtis Sumpter is an intriguing player and he just needed to be able to shoot from outside.  Well, he has done that and more.  He has shown a very good feel for when to slash to the basket, made some nice passes, been active and even made a couple of three pointers.  If he continues to play like this, he should be invited to camp along with Blalock and McCoy.

Von Wafer is the player with the best shot at being in the rotation next season and he has been good, but not great.  He missed all four of his three point attempts in their first game, but cashed in on three of four in the second game including an angry three after missing two free throws with a defender in his face (on the three pointer, not the free throws).  He has also done a good job being aggressive and making his way into the lane by utilizing a pump fake on the perimeter.  He even tried to ram a dunk down on top of Pops Mensah-Bonsu the pogo stick from George Washington and drew the foul.  He has not been a star, but is definitely showing why the Nuggets are excited about him.

Larry O’Bannon played very well in the second game showing a good touch from outside and solid athleticism after barely seeing the floor in game one.

I ripped Lamond Murray’s inclusion on the Nuggets’ roster and despite a very solid shooting performance in the first game I stand by it.  He was much worse in game two.  They conveniently forgot to list his birth date on his summer league profile page, but undeterred I found out that he turned 34 in April.

Skita has shown progress in his understanding of the game, but is still no where near being an NBA player.  He has one of the worst spin moves when driving the lane, but he insists on using it often.  Most players change direction when they spin to get around a defender or seal the defender on their back.  Skita just barrels straight ahead into the defender.  It is neither graceful nor effective. 

Other players that have not looked good at all are Dontaye Draper, Bracey Wright and Matt Freije.  Sorry to any family members or college buddies of these three who may have read that, but it is true.

Summer League Roster Announced

Born a Nuggets Fan has moved to Pickaxe and Roll

The Nuggets summer league roster has been announced and for a team without a draft pick last week, there are some intriguing names on the list. 

Anthony Carter, DerMarr Johnson and Jamal Sampson are players who may not be back next season and will need to be replaced.  For that matter, Steve Blake will probably be gone too, but I doubt his replacement is on the summer league roster.  It is possible that one or two of the players on the summer league roster might make the team so let’s look at the players that have the potential to stick.

Will Blaylock, PG, Iowa State – Blaylock was a second round pick by the Pistons last season and is a guard who can penetrate and set up teammates.  He is a poor shooter though and is on the small side, but he has the talent to make a roster.

Mark Karcher, G/F, Temple – Karcher was the best player for a couple of years at Temple and is a decent scorer.  I have no idea how his game has advanced over the past couple of seasons as he has not been in the NBA, but he has potential to create offense off the bench.

Jelani McCoy, F/C, UCLA – McCoy has been in and out of the NBA, most recently out, but has the size and athleticism to make a roster.  He has seven years of NBA experience so if he can bring something to the table in summer league, he may be a replacement for Sampson.  I do not think I would make that exchange, but it is a possibility.

Curtis Sumpter, F, Villanova – Sumpter is a very talented player who has had several knee injuries that derailed his college career.  He is more of a power forward in a small forward’s body, but he has skills and if he can develop a decent midrange jumper, he may be able to make it in the NBA.

Dajuan Wagner, G, Memphis – Wagner was an absolute stud in high school and at Memphis.  He came out after one season and was drafted between Skita and Nene.  He had some strange flukie health problems (an infection that spread form his bladder to his urethra, does not sound fun) and is trying to get back to the NBA.  He was on Golden State’s roster to begin last season, but was let go early on.  It is unlikely he will ever be what he could have been had he stayed healthy, but if he can recapture a little of that talent he had entering the league he can be a contributor in the NBA.  

There are also two players that make me wonder what on earth the Nuggets were thinking.  First of all Skita is on the roster.  Do the Nuggets really need to bring in a guy who represents one of the worst decisions and biggest missed opportunities in team history when the Nuggets could have drafted Amare Stoudemire or Caron Butler instead of Skita?  Why Skita?  Was Mark Macon unavailable?

Secondly, Lamond Murray who has not been in the league for probably two or three years and has no contributed anything for probably five years is on the roster.  Do we really need to see what he can do?  Why not bring in Richard Dumas or John Wallace?  Hopefully, he is being considered as a potential coaching candidate, because if he actually plays I will be very confused.

There are 14 players on the roster.  Would 12 have been too few?  

Who is not there?  Kiki’s big reach from the 2005 draft Ricky Sanchez is AWOL.  He has been playing with the Idaho Stampede in the CBA, but no one ever mentions him as someone the Nuggets are watching anymore.  I can count seven players that were drafted behind Ricky that have a future in the NBA and three that I personally would have picked ahead of him (Andray Blatche, Monta Ellis or Ersan Ilyasova in that order).  Actually, there are probably about 20 or 30 players that I would have picked ahead of him, but those three were guys that I really liked (and still do). 

The player to watch is Von Wafer who the Nuggets called up from the NBDL last season.  Wafer hit 45% of his threes and if he can even just play acceptable defense and mistake free offense the Nuggets could really use that shooting.  The Nuggets picked him up last season knowing that they had no picks in the 2007 draft so that they had at least one prospect heading into the season.  It may work out and if it does, we will see the first signs of that starting this weekend in Las Vegas.

Update:  The Nuggets have announced that Dajuan Wagner will not be part of their summer league team. No reason was given and I have yet to see Wagner on any other team’s summer league roster. The Nuggets have added Bracey Wright who played (or should I say watched) for Minnesota the past couple of seasons.