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.
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.
Unless the Nuggets’ front office can wheel and deal for the likes of Chris Bosh (Denver was not on his list of preferred cities to play in), then we will have to hope that Kenyon’s knees hold, that Birdman can be energy off the bench instead of a late season burnout, and that Denver never, ever has to rely on Johan Petro to start a game ever again.
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.
The cost of this whole thing is that now the Nuggets must win in Utah. It’s among the toughest places to play in the league. It’s tiny and steep and loud. It feels like the crowd is right on top of you. Literally, I think they sell seats in harnesses that hang from the roof of the arena. I think the Nuggets will still win the series though. The injuries for the Jazz are a little too much, and it’s doubtful they can consistently produce the best half in their franchise history every game to win by 3.
Now, with Jazz Center Mehmet Okur going down with a ruptured Achilles tendon on Saturday night, Utah will have to move PF Carlos Boozer to Center for much of the game. That gives Carmelo even more room to work on the perimeter, and likely spells doom for Utah in this series.
As dominant as the Nuggets were throughout the regular season series, the Jazz improved mightily in the final month of the season. Carlos Boozer came on strong after struggling for Utah since late last season, and the Jazz bench began contributing in a real way for the first time in years.
The loss relegates the Denver Nuggets to a likely 5th seed, as the Utah Jazz control their destiny in the race for the Northwest Division after a win at Golden State. Phoenix travels to Salt Lake City tomorrow night to settle the Western Conference seeding with the Jazz. Only a Suns victory can save the Nuggets from their late-season decent from 1-seed contenders to the 5-seed and a hellish road to the Finals.
