[Izulde]

A review of the coaches likely to be available this offseason settles it.

George Karl will not be coaching the Nuggets next season.

We have too many good, young players to entrust their development to someone better suited to a veteran team.

But the time for coach hiring will come.

NBA Lottery
1. Washington Wizards (+2)
2. New York Knicks (-1)
3. Cleveland Cavaliers (+1)
4. New Orleans Hornets (-2)
5. New Orleans Hornets
6. Chicago Bulls
7. Miami Heat
8. New Jersey Nets
9. Golden State Warriors
10. Seattle Supersonics
11. Orlando Magic
12. Utah Jazz
13. Portland Trailblazers
14. Phoenix Suns

That was the lowest amount of ripple I've ever seen as an NBA GM. Hard luck for the Hornets, who held the pieces to have a top 3 and a top 5 pick and instead they're forced to settle for two Top 5 selections. Good problem to have though and I forget just who they fleeced to get that deal.

NBA Awards

Major Awards
MVP
Andrew Bynum - Los Angeles Lakers - 20.4 ppg, 12.4 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.2 bpg, 0.8 spg
Defensive Player of the Year
Andrei Kirilenko - Utah Jazz - 13.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 3.7 bpg, 1.4 spg
Rookie of the Year
Demarcus Baptist - New Jersey Nets - 10.6 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.6 bpg, 0.7 spg
6th Man of the Year
Troy Murphy - Seattle Supersonics - 9.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.8 apg, 0.3 bpg, 0.8 spg
Coach of the Year
Rick Adelman - Houston Rockets

Yeah, okay I don't get Adelman winning Coach of the Year at all. Should've gone to Avery Johnson for what he did with the Mavericks.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Dwayne Wade - Miami Heat
SG LeBron James - Cleveland Cavaliers
SF Dirk Nowitzki - Dallas Mavericks
PF Elton Brand - L.A. Clippers
C Andrew Bynum - L.A. Lakers

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG Gilbert Arenas - Washington Wizards
SG Mateen Yeaton - Indiana Pacers (Argh! Why didn't I trade for him?)
SF Kevin Durant - Portland Trailblazers
PF Pau Gasol - Memphis Grizzlies
C Yao Ming - Houston Rockets

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Mike Bibby - Houston Rockets
SG Ben Gordon - Denver Nuggets
SF Paul Pierce - Detroit Pistons
PF Al Jefferson - Boston Celtics
C Jonte Jones - Dallas Mavericks

About damned time I finally got an All-NBA player. Good to see it was one of my boys, too.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Dwayne Wade - Miami Heat
SG Lebron James - Cleveland Cavaliers
SF Andrei Kirilenko - Utah Jazz
PF Tyrus Thomas - Philadelphia 76ers
C Greg Oden - Toronto Raptors

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Zelipe Gama - San Antonio Spurs
SG Tracy McGrady - Sacramento Kings
SF Gerald Wallace - Charlotte Bobcats
PF LaMarcus Aldridge - Portland Trailblazers
C Murray Alexander - Golden State Warriors

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Darrell James - Sacramento Kings
SG Duez Walker - Denver Nuggets
SF Charles Garren - Washington Wizards
PF Bill Towns - L.A. Clippers
C Demarcus Baptist - New Jersey Nets

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Calvis Graham - Golden State Warriors
SG Andre Quarles - Seattle Supersonics
SF Jon Wilson - Miami Heat
PF Sean Pryce - Cleveland Cavaliers
C Austin Buller - Chicago Bulls

Nice to see Walker make the 1st team, which I didn't expect.

Utah Sixers

PG Brandon Brooks - Portland Trailblazers
11.6 points and 9 assists a game. Although Brooks, now 27, doesn't look like an elite PG, he looks like a very good one, good enough that I'm very strongly tempted to try and trade for him. The cost would be quite high, I'm sure, but I think it'd be worth it. An excellent ball PG with some great defensive skills. Not really a ballthief, however.

PF Kelvin Moody - Minnesota Timberwolves
Numbers declined considerably and for the first time in three years, he's not an All-NBA 2nd Team member, but he only played 60 games due to a broken finger. Still managed to average 17.3 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2.4 blocks and 0.9 steals. 24 years old, he's one of the best young players in the NBA.

SF Julius Austin - Miami Heat
It's a good thing he got that fat deal to re-sign with Miami last offseason, because he averaged just 10.3 minutes and his numbers were hideous: 2.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and it only gets worse from there. Played 80 games, started none. A topnotch defender, but that's about it and definitely not worth the money they're paying him.

C Rudy Braun - New York Knicks
Had his greatest season yet, averaging 9.1 points and 6.5 rebounds, both career highs as he started 80 games after stealing the starting C job from Shaq. He's still got maddening potential, but at 25, how much time does he have left to fill it? One of the most curious players in the league, that's for sure.

PF B.J. Whitehead - Houston Rockets
Played 76 games and averaged 19.1 minutes en route to 5.8 points and 4.7 rebounds. Decent all-around player. Not somebody you'd want starting or even as your 6th man necessarily, but a respectable depth guy to have around.

SF Brian Robertson - Free Agent
Nobody called and probably nobody ever will. He's not a bad bench guy for a D-League team, but he just isn't drawing interest.

Crenshaw approves the job I did, then turns around and sells the team to B.B. Dyer in the offseason. He's a guy who wants to win a championship and he's much more loose with the pursestrings than Crenshaw was, though not excessively so. This may be the godsend I need to ink Buboltz to a contract extension.

I tell Dyer playoffs and he says he expects more out of us than that. Ulp. Can we have Crenshaw back again? He's fine with right about the cap again, though.

Coach Hiring

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets pink-slipped. Detlef Schrempf and Lionel Hollins are allowed to stay out their contracts.

There's some damn good coaches on the market, just like I hoped and I immediately make a play for the big name.

And we get him!!!!

Larry Brown, the great coaching nomad and legend, signs a 3 year, $6.6 million a year contract to be the new Denver Nuggets head coach!!!! Sure he's 70 years old, but he's just the guy we need for our team.

Other head coach changes the same day:
Don Nelson - New Jersey Nets (4 years, $5.63 mill/yr)
Doug Collins - New Orleans Hornets (5 years, $1.68 mill/yr)
Del Harris - Cleveland Cavaliers (4 years/$3.08 mill/yr)
Mike Brown - Washington Wizards (3 years, $2.21 mill/yr)

Later head coach changes:
Steve Van Gundy - Golden State Warriors (2 years, $1.66 mill/yr)
George Karl - New York Knicks (2 years, $5.43 mill/yr)

I nearly fell out of my chair in shocked laughter when I saw the Knicks signed Karl to a contract. I think George was very upset I didn't bring him back, so he's getting revenge by trying to make the Knicks a playoff team. Yeah, good luck with that Baldy.

My first choice for 1st assistant rejects us, so I sign Rory White for 3 years and too much money, but oh well. He's an improvement over Kareem.

For the first time since I took over the Nuggets, we're in great shape bodies-wise, with 10 players under contract heading into the offseason.

Realistically speaking, though, Ben Gordon's trade stock will never be higher than what it is right now. He's 30 years old, on a very affordable contract and coming off an All-NBA season, even if it's only 3rd Team. If I'm going to make a deal for a superstar, he's going to be it.

Unless I decide Paulinho Buboltz isn't going to cut it. I mean, suppose I get a really good PG and sacrifice Gordon to get him. How many guys Buboltz's size are even playing in this league, let alone starting at SG? ...Okay, there's one. Jameer Nelson in Orlando who has averaged between 13-15 points there. Hmm, not something I'd want to shell out $12 mill base and 10% raises for, but on the other hand, Nelson doesn't have anywhere near Buboltz's scoring instincts.

Then there's the SF problem. I investigate discussions with teams using Gordon as bait and there's quite a few teams willing to offload their...

...Wait a minute. Dan Jacobson can play SF. That's right. I'd forgotten about that.

A blockbuster with the defending champion Raptors falls through at the last minute, which is too bad, but I sort of expected it. The Trailblazers are wanting blood money for Brandon Brooks, aka Ben Gordon handed over to them.

In fact, everyone everywhere is demanding Gordon or Buboltz as part of any deal we make with them.

We do make one trade though.

Denver Nuggets receive
SG Mike Miller

Cleveland Cavaliers receive
PF Mehmet Okur

What this means for the Nuggets
Miller gives Denver much better ball-handling and outside shooting and a touch improved defense and scoring for the SF spot. He's also a year younger, but on the books for one more season than Okur. But he never was the secondary sparkplug in the Cavaliers offense and not in the playoffs either.

What this means for the Cavaliers
Okur provides Cleveland desparately needed rebounding, inside shooting and scoring instincts. While there's no guarantee he'll be a better second offensive option than Miller was, he's a much better fit with Lebron James than MM. He's also got just two years remaining on his contract.

Advantage: Cleveland
As much as this deal has pros and cons for both teams, we like the pros for the Cavaliers better. Miller is a more natural at SF than Okur, to be sure, but our suspicion is that the Turk will be better than the former Gator at improving his new team.

Bah, what do they know? I mean, we already had rebounding and inside shooting/scoring in Emeka Okafor and Dan Jacobson. It's a small improvement for us, but an improvement all the same, I think, because Miller won't have to be the do-or-die second option here in Denver. I mean, we've got Gordon, we've got Buboltz and Jacobson and Okafor have been shown scoring ability.

But I'm not done yet.

Denver Nuggets receive
PG Kirk Hinrich
SG Willie Green
Atlanta Hawks 2013 1st round pick (#18)

Atlanta Hawks receive
SF Al Thornton
PG Leigh Nash
Denver Nuggets 2013 1st round pick (#24)

What this means for the Nuggets
Hinrich has a horrible contract through his age 36 season, but that doesn't matter. He's a pass-first PG with some scoring punch and good defensive skills who instantly turns into Denver's 6th man. They haven't had this kind of luxury on the bench since Chauncey Billups. Green's on the books for $3.6 million a year for the next 4 years and is roster filler, but the Nuggets just moved up 6 places in the first round.

What this means for the Hawks
Let's face it, Atlanta, their surprise run to the 2nd round and taking the Celtics to 7 games last seaon aside, aren't going to be title contenders any time soon, which played a big role in Hinrich's demanding a trade. Thornton may be $9 million a year for the next 4 years and a bench player, but the Hawks still shed on average $3 million a year the next four seasons thanks to dumping both Hinrich and Green. Nash is an end of the bench player and a min-sal expiring contract.

Advantage: Denver
GM Jestor is in Win Now mode and the pressure to deliver a title has only been heightened by the recent change in ownership and Larry Brown's hiring. Giving them a safety net at the guard spots goes a long, long way to filling that aim. Besides, who plays PG for the Hawks now?

I still need an improvement in bench big men and I'm still searching for that superstar... but at least I've got my starting PG now, so I can make a choice about Gordon or Buboltz. Noah and Wright are still there for the dealing as well.

There's still a lot of thinking to be done, but I like where we're headed.