Mark Warkentien landed Allen Iverson in a misguided move, and then almost made up for it when he was gifted with hometown hero Chauncey Billups
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Mark Warkentien is on his way out of Denver after the Nuggets announced they are not interested in renewing the contract of their VP of Basketball Operations. With him will go Rex Chapman, the Nuggets’ VP of Player Personnel, whose contract has also expired.
Mark & Rex took their positions at the head of the Nuggets’ front office before the 2005-2006 season, and have shown a proclivity for finding diamonds in the rough since.
However, the duo was never able to land a mega-acquisition to partner with Carmelo Anthony, and Denver may lose Melo as a result. Despite the addition of Chauncey Billups in 2009 (a move fueled more by Chauncey’s desire to return to Denver than Mark’s negotiating chops), the Warkentien Era in Denver will go down as only slightly better than a failure.
The Nuggets did pick up JR Smith and Aaron Afflalo on Warkentein’s watch, and Denver reacquired fan favorite Chris “Birdman†Andersen as well. But even as Afflalo quickly became a starter, all of these guys were role players on a team that needed a second star. Even Billups, at this late stage in his career, was rarely able to hoist the Nuggets on his back over the last two seasons.
Read more about the Nuggets’ front office woes:
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That left Melo on an island, and Anthony’s initial refusal to sign a lucrative contract extension this offseason speaks volumes about the lack of faith he has in this organization’s ability to get him some help.
After all, through the most loaded free agent class in the modern history of the NBA, the best the Nuggets could do was grab… Al Harrington. And Harrington almost ended up in Dallas before Denver came through with more money.
The top two executives in the Denver front office likely won’t be finished clearing out their desks by the time the next tremor hits in this huge shakeup.
The Nuggets have not announced any replacements, but a thorough reconstitution of the front office is clearly in the works. Paul Andrews, President of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, announced in a press release earlier today that:
“We are in the process of evaluating and restructuring the Nuggets front office and have begun a search for possible replacements as we prepare for the upcoming season.â€
The rumblings started mid-season when it was reported that Warkentien had been courted by the Portland Trailblazers. Mark showed interest in the job, despite winning the NBA’s award for Executive of the Year in 2009 with Denver.
Now, with Stan Kroenke moving to transfer ownership to son Josh, the shakeup is in full effect. There was always a feeling that Warkentien was Stan’s boy and that Josh, the Nuggets’ VP of Team Development, would find a replacement as soon as he could. That may explain Mark’s early interest in the Portland job, although his interactions with the Blazers mid-season (and especially before the all-important 2010 free agency period) still border on unforgivable. The front office insecurity became a detractor for potential free agents as a result.
The only shame in the deal is that Rex Chapman, whose eye for talent is largely responsible for the Nuggets going after Afflalo & Smith, will be leaving with him. Chapman, unlike Warkentien, knows the value of executives in the player-driven NBA:
“I feel like this league has always been about the players, coaches and owners, and the rest of us are highly replaceable.”
Read Josh Kroenke’s team bio
