While it is no foregone conclusion, the sign-and-trade seems like the only way for the Nuggets to approach break-even on this deal. If Carmelo plays the entire 2010-2011 season in Denver without a new contract, I would be utterly shocked. Nobody in this town wants to see Carmelo Anthony on prime time television announcing that he’s leaving while the Nuggets get approximately squat in return.
The Denver Nuggets will open next season at home versus the Jazz and finish in Utah against that same division nemesis. With the release of the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 schedule on Tuesday, we see a clear focus on Northwest Division games when it counts.
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.
The Nuggets were scary good when they were all healthy in the first half of ’09-’10. Kenyon’s potency at 100%, combined with Harrington’s added length (6’9”) off the bench and the inspiring return of coach George Karl could be enough to keep Denver afloat in the stacked West.
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.
The Denver Nuggets have developed a disturbing trend of sitting out the NBA Draft. What began with an ill-fated Draft Day decision the year after Carmelo Anthony was drafted in 2003 has become a legacy of poor draft-related decisions by the Denver Nuggets’ front office.
Stan Kroenke, current owner of the Denver Nuggets & Colorado Avalanche, will need to strike a delicate balance if he hopes to become majority owner of the St Louis Rams.
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.
Down three games to one in the opening round of the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Denver needed a big victory on Wednesday night. More than that, they needed a big outing from absent star Chauncey Billups. The Nuggets got both in Game 5 at Pepsi Center, part of their 116-102 win.
Denver’s bigs couldn’t make layups, their bench had no spark, and their defense made lazy rotations versus the Jazz for the third straight game. Not coincidentally, after going up 1-0 to start this opening round playoff series, the Nuggets have lost the last 3 games.
