[Izulde]

The next night, I'm in Denver eating at an Olive Garden with the Nuggets owner. A franchise middle-class family restaurant. This can't be good.

We discuss light topics through dinner, such as our respective favorite football teams (Broncos, Dolphins) and the merits of Italian wines versus Spanish. I hold forth for Miami and sing the praises of the Spanish reds, while he counters with Denver love and a deeply-held conviction that Italy holds the best reds.

After dessert, we settle back and sit quietly for a few moments to let things digest and collect our thoughts.

"So, welcome to the Nuggets", he says with a smile after that short while.

"Thanks. I'm glad to be here." And I am. Denver's not my favorite city in the world or even in the US, but it's passable and I have fond memories of the University of Wyoming.

"Good, good. All right, Mr. Jestor. Here's the deal. We already won a title two years ago, so I don't care about a championship. I just want this run as a profitable business and to me, a profitable business means only spending money if it'll generate more money. We're over the salary cap now, but we've got a few expiring deals, so you should be able to bring it under control. Nobody's signed through any later than 2012, so you'll be able to get our finances in good shape pretty soon, yes? I want our budget to be more or less balanced by this year. Not next year. This year."

...Great. A penny-pincher. I -knew- it as soon as he told me Olive Garden.

"Right. I can handle that, sure."

"Good. Now then, here's some papers for you to look at illustrating our financial situation as well as Iverson's medical report."

...What did he just say?

"Iverson's medical report?"

"Yes. He blew up his knee three games before the playoffs. The team doctor says he might be able to come back sometime late next season."

...Are you fucking kidding me?! One of our top stars and we're losing him for almost the entire next season?! Ugh, I should've known there was a catch to all this.

"Tough blow, but I think we'll manage to cover it and still make the playoffs."

"That's fine. Playoffs will give us more money. And as for the salary cap?"

Here the owner fixes me with a look and I know I'd better answer right. The problem is, we've got some monster contracts on the team and I don't know how moveable any of them are going to be. So the best policy is to be honest.

"Well, I know you want us to have a balanced budget, Mr. Crenshaw, but that's just not going to be possible this season. What I can guarantee you, however, is that we'll be no more than $10-15 million over the cap."

From his frown, I can tell I've answered wrong.

"That's too much. Make it lower."

"I'll see what I can do."

"See to it that you do, if you would please."

So things didn't end the best way, but at least I've got a better feel for how things are going to go.

I spend the next few days going over the team roster and plotting how to remake this team. What immediately jumps out at me is that we need to get a legitimate-quality PG and a studly scorer to ease the pain until Allen Iverson's ready to come back so Carmelo Anthony doesn't have to do it all himself.

Luckily, there's a perfect match out there and I'm able to execute a painless deal to solve our problems.

Denver Nuggets receive:
PG Chauncey Billups

Detroit Pistons receive:
PF Nene Hilario
Denver Nuggets' 2nd round pick 2010 Draft (#44)

What this means for the Nuggets:
Nene has never developed into the franchise player Denver hoped for and with Allen Iverson to miss most of next season, the Nuggets needed a scorer to go with Carmelo Anthony. Enter Billups, an excellent shooter and textbook passer who brings veteran savvy and postseason experience to the roster. He also fills a huge position void with the Nuggets, who needed a true PG. Yes, he's 34, but Denver just won the title two years ago and they have the talent to be contenders in the short-term still.

What this means for the Pistons:
The rebuilding project had to begin sometime and the 28-year old Nene is now one of the youngest players on Detroit's roster. The 2nd round pick will give another young body as well. Is Nene the type of player many thought he would turn into? No. But he's the best big man under contract on the team right now and will give the Pistons a safety net at C if they have no other luck in the offseason.

Advantage: Slight edge to Denver
Both teams benefit, but the Nuggets look to have a better level of improvement than the Pistons.

I'm thrilled with the trade, as the salary shaves off another million off our cap number. It's nickel and diming and yes, Billups will more than make that up when he earns $14 million next year as opposed to $12 million now, but with Kenyon Martin's $16.5 million coming off the books next season, I can afford a slight increase.

Signed Players and State of the Roster

Point Guard
Chauncey Billups (34 years old/13th season)
-Just acquired and I see him as a Mike Bibby type of difference-maker for us. He'll be a lot better than Marcus Williams was last year, that's for sure.

Shooting Guard
Allen Iverson (35 years old/14th season)
-Out for most of next year with the torn knee tendon. In the last year of his contract and could potentially be gone after this season, even though he's one of my favorite players.

Small Forward
Carmelo Anthony (26 years old/7th season)
-As much as I hate to admit it, he's the face of the team. I despise 'Melo, but the fans love him, the team loves him, he scores 20+ points a game and he's been an All-Star Reserve and All-NBA 3rd Team the last two seasons. I'd love to trade him and I still might.

Donte Whiting (23 years old/2nd season)
-Roster filler, to be quite honest. Another candidate to get shipped out. Late 1st rounder last year and All-Rookie 2nd Team, but I think he sucks and is overrated.

Power Forward
Kenyon Martin (33 years old/10th season)
-Makes way too much money and K-Mart is nowhere near as good as he once was (and it's questionable just how good he really was in the first place). Still, he's a sweet, sweet expiring deal and plays defense. We could do worse for a starting PF. Sad thing is, he's our best big man right now because Marcus Camby is out of contract.

Blake Evans (23 years old/2nd season)
-Last year's 2nd round pick and a real scrub. Averaged less than a single everything last season in the 17 minutes a game for the two games he played. Zero work ethic, but he's loyal and a great team guy, who's paradoxically motivated. Motivated but no work ethic. Yeah, interesting isn't it? Still, I might keep him around to see what he can do.

Just six players under contract and one of them is out for most of the year. Ouch. As you can see, I'm going to have to go into quasi-D-League team building mode. Maybe that's another reason why Crenshaw hired me. That said, I think we have a chance to be really a pretty good team.

Ah, yes. That reminds me. Coaching staff.

Oh look. All the assistants are working for free! (The $0,000 assistant salary bug has reared its head here. In fact, only a handful or so of assistant coaches are actually officially drawing a salary, meaning everyone else is being paid under the table.)

That's the good news. The bad news is that George Karl, who I hate even more than 'Melo, is the head coach and he's earning $6.6 million a year for the next 3 years. Crenshaw's tightfisted, so we're stuck with Karl for the duration of his contract unless a new owner comes in.

I console myself by firing every one of Karl's assistants. Take that, baldy fatass.

Over the next couple weeks, heavy-duty discussions start cropping up surrounding 'Melo and the press is alive with rumors that he's possible going to be dealt, because, as one scribe put it, "This is the Lottery GM, notorious for ripping out the foundations of teams and putting in wholesale changes."

The fanbase is nervous and my office gets flooded with calls and e-mails begging me not to deal Carmelo.

They're right to be afraid, to be honest, as I've been involved in talks with a lot of teams about a blockbuster deal. One rumoured trade won't be happening, though. Cleveland absolutely refuses to part with LeBron James and laughed in my face when I suggested that something could be worked out.

And then it happens.

An ironic deal that shakes the league to its very foundations and changes two franchises forever.

Denver Nuggets receive
SG Ben Gordon
SF Jared Jeffries
PF Joakim Noah
New York Knicks 2010 1st round pick (#6)
New York Knicks 2010 1st round pick (#29)

New York Knicks receive
SF Carmelo Anthony
SF Donte Whiting
PF Blake Evans
Denver Nuggets 2010 1st round pick (#17)
Denver Nuggets 2012 2nd round pick

What this means for the Nuggets:
Goodbye, Melo. The Lottery GM has struck again, acquiring his favorites in Gordon and Noah, which actually make work out in Denver's favor. Gordon's contract is much more cap friendly ($10.9 million is the highest it gets for the same number of years), he's only a year older at 27 and is a much more balanced player than Carmelo. With him and Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets have arguably the best backcourt this side of the Chicago Bulls. Noah keeps improving with each passing year and he represents a young, major boost for Denver's frontcourt, allowing them to slide Kenyon Martin to SF or possibly have him come off the bench. Jeffries is an expiring contract. The real key to this deal will be what GM Jestor does with the #6 and #29 picks. Make the right choices and he'll be hailed as a legend, a real genius. Fail and he'll probably wash out of the NBA.

What this means for the Knicks:
The glittering lights of New York have been starved for a legitimate star for years and now, at long last, the Knicks once again have one of the league's best players. Not since Patrick Ewing was here has there been this eletric a talent. They won't miss Noah, not when they have Ronny Smith and Rudy Braun as emerging youngsters. With 'Melo as the star and a promising young cast, including All-Rookie 2nd Team member Whiting, the return of the Knicks to the NBA elite should be soon forthcoming. At the very least, they've turned themselves into playoff contenders.

Advantage: New York by a mile
So much is dependent on Jestor's draft selections and he has a very spotty record there. The Knicks got exactly what they needed, the Nuggets not so much.

Well, screw 'em. You don't get much when you ship off a superstar in the NBA anyway and I'm happy with the choice I've made.

Coach Hiring

Oops. I may have erred in firing the assistants. Very weak crop here. Jeff Van Gundy is still signed to coach Austin through to next season. Joy.

Rejection, rejection, rejection.

Nobody wants to come coach for us.

So what do I do? Go for the sexy hires, the name coaches. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signs a four-year deal to be our 1st assistant and one of my favorite players of all time (and Gabriel Arcadia long-time starter[) Detlef Schrempf signs on as the 2nd assistant, Lionel Hollins the 3rd man.

All to four-year deals, longer than I'd like, but nobody would take anything shorter.

The news of the hires generates a lot of buzz around the country as everyone is curious now as to just how these new-look Nuggets are going to be on the court.

Mock Draft

Speaking of new Nuggets news, the mock drafts have us taking 19 year old C Adrian McKay out of Stanford. Interesting kid, but I'm not sure how much I like the looks of him. One's thing for certain, none of the projected top players in the mock draft are guys I have any intention of trading up for.

Although a big man is our biggest need, I initially really like the looks of 18 year old PG Paulinho Buboltz, a Brazilian kid who's short (5'11") but who appears to have an awesome game and we could use some youth at the point spot. 21 year old PG Brian Metcalfe out of Oklahoma State looks interesting as well. Overall, the PG position looks really deep in this draft.

At our #29 pick, the mocks have us taking Metcalfe's teammate, 23 year old SF Kyle Acani, who looks like a nice player for that late in the draft.

Poor class of big men, despite four Cs mocked to go in the top 10, though of the ones that could fall to us at #29, 23 year old PF Leroy Wright out of Michigan State is going to get a longer look.

Big decisions to make at any rate, but I'm really enjoying being back in this NBA game and loving this draft research.