[Izulde]

We have a problem.

Bob Neal called my cell this morning and angrily demanded that we reduce our player salary bill. This season. The sooner, the better for my job.

"If you can't cut the wages, I'll cut you, championship or no championship."

Those were his final words before he hung up.

It really, really sucks having an owner who doesn't give a damn about winning.

So, now what?

I'll review the previous month's trades before looking at our own situation.

Indiana Pacers receive
SF Steven Feaster

Miami Heat receive
SF Rick Smith
SG Chauncey Thomas
Indiana Pacers 2023 2nd round pick

What this means for the Pacers
Feaster has good scoring instincts and an accurate shot. The 23 year old 4th year man is also a nice big 6'10, 223 to throw in the three spot with average rebounding and defensive skills. As he develops more faith in himself and takes more shots, he should become the offensive weapon Indiana needs after Nigel Abel retires. He's also extremely consistent and doesn't care about playing for a winning team, just so long as he gets his minutes, which he will as a starter for the Pacers.

What this means for the Heat
Smith is an average defender and a terrific FT shooter, which are the best things that can be said about the second year player. He's strictly an end of the bench man, even on as bad a team as Miami. Thomas is a great defender with some scoring pop off the bench, but he's 33 and never lived up to the hype that made him a Top 10 pick (7th overall - 2011 - Seattle). In fact, he was a full-time starter for just one season, in 2017 with the Clippers.

Winner: Indiana
Pete LaBraggio continues the Pacers' rebuilding project and he pulls a brillant trade here, giving up scrubs for a player who should be a valuable part of Indiana's feature. The dysfunction continues in Miami, with no hope of respectability in sight any time soon for the Heat.

Philadelphia 76ers receive
C Daniel Wilder

New York Knicks receive
PF Yi Jianlian
Philadelphia 76ers 2023 2nd round pick

What this means for the 76ers
Wilder's a respectable scorer and a pretty good shotblocker, but his strongest attribute is as a rebounder. On the other hand, some might say that luck is his biggest strength, because he keeps managing to find starting gigs despite not being all that talented a player. He does it again here and takes over as the five in Philly.

What this means for the Knicks
Yi's strictly a financial flexibility acquisition, as he's a $7.2 million expiring contract. The second round pick isn't worth much.

Winner: Philadelphia
The Knicks are going to miss Wilder more than they appreciate the $7.2 million coming off the cap next summer, I think and indeed, the Knicks are 5-9 as of December 1st. Contrast this with the 76ers, who, with their new starter, are 9-5. Early in the season, yes, but noteworthy nonetheless.

Houston Rockets receive
SG Derrick Young

Chicago Bulls receive
C Damon Fuhs

What this means for the Rockets
Houston tacks on a guard, which is at least slightly different than their glut of swingmen. Young's got the potential to develop into a solid offensive option off the bench, but the 26 year old is still a little raw yet, even in his 5th season.

What this means for the Bulls
Fuhs, 24 and in his second year, could turn into a role rebounder, but that's it. He's also buried on the end of the Bulls bench.

Winner: Houston
Despite the fact that this adds more small players onto a roster lacking in bigs, there's a lot to like about Young's potential, particularly as a 6th man/borderline starter type. The trade makes no sense from Chicago's perspective. But when the Bulls are off to the hot start they are, I suppose it doesn't matter.

Now for an examination of the Nuggets.

We're $18.2 million over the cap. I might be able to save my job if we can get it under $15 million. Our three biggest contracts are Paulinho Buboltz, Mateen Yeaton and Jonte Jones.

Naturally I'm not trading Yeaton. I'll trade for him if I get fired, but there's no way in hell I'm dealing him out. This brings us down to Jones vs. Buboltz.

Buboltz has the best trade value, but our fans are absolutely loving the Buboltz/Yeaton backcourt. Jones, on the other hand, is our most consistent player, even if he's been notoriously injury-prone during his two years here and a month here.

They're both fan favorites and their contracts are roughly equal. I really don't see any other options than those two that wouldn't also affect our efforts to try and transistion into a youth moment after our Big Three move on.

It's the ogre's choice before us.

Fortunately, we're able to strike a deal.

Denver Nuggets receive
C Patrick Riley
SG Mark Lyles
Sacramento Kings 2024 2nd round pick
Sacramento Kings 2025 2nd round pick

Sacramento Kings receive
C Jonte Jones
Dallas Mavericks 2023 1st round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
Injury-proneness and rumblings from the Denver ownership about wanting a lower cap number led to Jones's departure after just over two seasons in Denver. Riley, 27, is a phenomenal shotblocker who's finally beginning to grow into his mammoth offensive gifts in his 8th season. He's a terrible passer and ballhandler out of the post, but he's younger and he'll provide the Nuggets greater force on the defensive end along with some pretty good rebounding hops. 25 year old Lyles is decent at everything with no real standout parts of his game. He's precisely the kind of all-around player you want on a bench and at 6'7, 206 lbs, the third year man fits the big guard prototype GM Jestor loves so much and can also play the 3.

What this means for the Kings
Sacramento now has some explosive firepower in the lineup between Jones, Kenny Graham, Justin Barnes and Kelvin Johnson. Jones also provides terrific rebounding and the type of consistency that every GM and team dreams of. Even at 32, he's still one of the top players in the league. The first round pick of Dallas's looks to be a lock for #29 or 30.

Winner: Draw
Everybody and their mother's uncle knew a trade was coming. Jestor faced immense pressure from the ownership to cut salary and he did extremely well to get the pieces he did under that scenario. While Riley won't make anyone forget Jones any time soon, he's a 4-star caliber player who fills in some weaknesses that Jones had and Lyles was a nice bonus pickup. The Kings, on the other hand, finally have the type of proven Finals MVP player who can get them over the hump and challenging for the West title after coming up short so many years. In short, this is a win-win deal for both teams's situations.

Other moves may be forthcoming, but I got the most painful extraction out of the way.

Patrick Riley makes a huge splash in his Nuggets debut with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 8 blocks and a steal in our 108-91 victory over the Heat. Mateen Yeaton scores 22, Paulinho Buboltz comes up with 14 points, 14 assists, Carlton Goree scores 14 off the bench and Winston Smith adds yet another 14 with 14 points and 10 rebounds. I think this may turn out better than I thought. Then again, it's only Miami.

We destroy the Magic 120-78 on Mateen Yeaton's 34 points, Kevin Bradford's 17 points and 10 rebounds, Paulinho Buboltz's 17 points and 14 assists and a second straight, 14 point, 10 rebound outing from Winston Smith, who's quickly turning out to be our biggest surprise early in the season.

101-94's the final in our win over Washington, Paulinho Buboltz leading the way with 24 points and 13 assists. Kevin Bradford double-doubles with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Patrick Riley adds 16 points and 19 rebounds and Tzvetan Kishishev scores 10 off the bench.

Game two of our seven game road trip is a 102-78 whipping by the Raptors. Mateen Yeaton and Paulinho Buboltz just miss the 20 point mark with 19 a piece, but we flat-out got our asses handed to us in Toronto and that's all there is to it.

The Knicks smack us around 99-87 despite Mateen Yeaton's 25 points and 15 points and 12 rebounds from Patrick Riley. We just really struggle at the forward spots right now and Vinston Henry needs to pick it up or he's going to earn himself a ticket out of here.

We narrowly escape Philadelphia with a 111-110 win powered by Paulinho Buboltz's 36 points and 12 assists, Vinston Henry's 21 points and 14 bench points from Tzvetan Kishishev. But then we come out flat in Boston and the Celtics beat us 108-96, nevermind Mateen Yeaton's 28 points or Patrick Riley's 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Our last hope for a winning record in this brutal road trip comes in a doubleheader against the Heat and the Magic. Miami obliges by falling 96-82 to our three-headed backcourt of Paulinho Buboltz (28 points), Mateen Yeaton (20 points) and Carlton Goree (13 bench points), but Orlando exacts revenge for the earlier loss, beating us 124-114. Nice outing by Mateen Yeaton with 34 points and Paulinho Buboltz and Carlton Goree tried with 14 points and 11 assists and 14 points off the bench respectively, but it just wasn't enough to prevent the 3-4 road record.

Home sweet home sees a relaxing 110-96 throttling of the Suns. Mateen Yeaton's on fire for 39 points, Paulinho Buboltz chips in 15 points and 13 assists and Carlton Goree again leads the reserves with 12 points.

We really suck at playing on the road this year. Seattle just straight rapes us 115-92, even though Mateen Yeaton continues to play his heart out with 26 points, Paulinho Buboltz issues 14 points and 20 assists and Patrick Riley puts up 11 points, 12 rebounds and 6 blocks.

But what a sweet Christmas Eve it is when we outpoint Dallas 109-104 in front of the home crowd. Mateen Yeaton scores 24, Paulinho Buboltz adds 21 points, Vinston Henry shows up for 16 points and 12 rebounds and Carlton Goree plays an early Santa with 10 points and 13 assists as our 6th man. We win on Christmas Day too, California oh so sunny and bright on Christmas night as we trash Golden State 105-84. Paulinho Buboltz is at the forefront with 24 points and 10 assists, but Mateen Yeaton's right behind with 23 points and 11 rebounds and Kevin Bradford breaks through for 22 points. Patrick Riley gets a double-double as well, good for 11 points and 18 rebounds.

We host the 76ers and unkindly beat them 115-102 on Mateen Yeaton's 31 points and Carlton Goree coming to the rescue after Paulinho Buboltz's foul trouble with 21 points and 15 assists. Talk about being the calvalry!

Sadly, the year ends in ice, snow and misery as the Lakers crush us 118-82, 17 points and 13 assists from Paulinho Buboltz and 12 bench points from Winston Smith too meager consolation on New Year's Eve and nothing can salve the pain of losing 95-93 to the Clippers on New Year's Day. 21 points from Mateen Yeaton, 19 points and 10 rebounds from Patrick Riley and Carlton Goree's 13 bench points fall just short of completing the rally against one of the West's best teams.

Despite our difficult December, we still cling to a half-game lead over Utah at 19-12. But Portland's only a game back and Minnesota's lurking a game and a half behind to complete the Northwest staircase.

Dallas is 26-4 and holds a ridiculous 13.5 game lead in their division already. The Clippers lead the Pacific by four games over the surprisingly .500 Kings at 18-12.

Chicago cooled off in December's chill, but they're still 23-5, enjoying a 3.5 game lead on the Bucks. Toronto's firmly returned themselves to the Atlantic throne at 25-7, 6.5 games ahead of the Nets, as the Knicks have completely imploded so far this year and are 13-17. Charlotte's returned to Southeast dominance after a few years of disappearing from the title scene. They're 18-10, 2.5 up on the Hawks.

I'll do comparisons next month. I suppose it doesn't make sense to do Jonte Jones/Marcelino Augusto anymore, though I should mention that Jones broke his hand after 7 games with the Kings and is out another 36 days to boot.

Talk about a tough last few seasons for Jones. But at least he has his ring and Finals MVP award with Denver to show for it.

Talk about me making the smart decision in choosing which of the three to trade.