Young Josh Kroenke taking over, coupled with Warkentein’s departure, left potential free agents unwilling to take a chance on a club in transition. Without Carmelo’s signature on a fresh contract, Denver looked to be in decline.
Ujiri is back in Denver to kick-start the Josh Kroenke Era… and potentially the Post-Carmelo Era as well. If that is the case, at least Masai will be building a team designed to compete in the increasingly internationalized NBA.
Carmelo Anthony has been spoken for at length in recent months. To quote numerous media sources, Melo has been “on the brink†of being sent East on the trade winds since early August. But none among those purportedly in-the-know have anything better than unnamed sources to back up their claims.
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.
With a suddenly glaring weakness at power forward, the Denver Nuggets need to make a move to compete in the loaded Western Conference next season.
Bear in mind, of course, that this would not have happened in 2009. The ot-nine Nuggets would have simply overwhelmed the Jazz with the same barrage of offensive firepower that defeated New Orleans & Dallas. But without the commanding influence of one George Matthew Karl manually balancing Denver’s speeding keel, they routinely fell out of rhythm on both ends of the court.
The Nuggets could have won this game (and this series) with consistent effort. When they played hard at both ends they were clearly the beater team. But Utah simply out worked them. Melo was the only one who played hard all the way through (et to Billups?) and he missed time with foul trouble again.
This was just what the doctor ordered for the Nuggets’ hopes to win the Northwest Division. Three starters played less than 29:00 minutes (Nene, Billups, Martin), so everyone should have plenty of energy to run with the Suns tomorrow. A win Tuesday night in Phoenix clenches the 3 seed.
This date with the Blazers proved to be a shot of adrenaline for the Nuggets’ stars, who have failed to rise to the late-season occasion as the playoffs draw near. All you Denver fans owe Portland a big, sweaty thank you. Here’s why…
The Nuggets will be offering a contract to free agent power forward Brian Cook, according to Travis Heath at Hoopsworld.
