[Izulde]

An Uncertain Offseason Ahead For Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets have been one of the league's most successful teams over the past fifteen plus years, thanks in large part to GM Jestor's shrewdness. But the man who built and re-built three championship teams around Mateen Yeaton may soon be out of a job after Denver's second consecutive first round playoff exit.

Even if owner Bob Neal keeps Jestor, Yeaton isn't certain to come back either. He's 35 and was last seen walking off the court in Memphis with a broken finger. Starting C Andrew Bynum is 37 and could retire as well. Then there's David "50 Ninja" Jackson, who complained about losing his starting spot after Jestor acquired Andy Sola at the trade deadline. Jackson's growing discontent and high salary for a reserve could see him moved from Denver for the second time.

The Nuggets also need to figure out if they believe Justin Cherry really is the next Yeaton. If they do, then they need to use their two upcoming lottery picks in the draft on a young C to replace Bynum and a young PG to eventually step in for Zelipe Gama. If they don't, then SG becomes another position they need to get younger at this offseason.

***End Article***

That's about right. Good writeup.

NBA Lottery

Thanks to my wheeling and dealing, we've got picks #4 and 5 currently, courtesy of the Heat and the Spurs. Big, big draft for me if I avoid the axe.

14. Philadelphia 76ers
13. Miami Heat
12. Minnesota Timberwolves
11. Houston Rockets
10. Detroit Pistons
9. Utah Jazz
8. Milwaukee Bucks
7. Indiana Pacers
6. Washington Wizards

YES!!!! Nobody beats the odds!!! We're guaranteed two Top 5 picks!!!

5. Denver Nuggets

Okay, I'm fine with that.

4. New Orleans Hornets (-1)

Success! We've crashed the Top 3!!

3. Denver Nuggets (+1)

2. Indiana Pacers
1. Seattle Supersonics

I really hope I stay on. It's going to be a hell of a fun draft from the fans of the two teams Mateen Yeaton's played for, as both we and the Pacers have two Top 10 picks.

Now if only the draft class doesn't suck like the last several have.

The most inactive lottery I've ever seen, by the way. Just one change in the pattern and it was us flip-flopping with the Hornets.

NBA Awards

MVP
Oswaldo Apolonario - Atlanta Hawks - 20.3 PPG 13.6 RPG 3.4 APG 1.0 BPG 0.8 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
Dontay Williamson - L.A. Clippers - 14.8 PPG 14.3 RPG 2.1 APG 3.9 BPG 0.9 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Michael Woods - Phoenix Suns - 12.3 PPG 6.9 RPG 2.2 APG 0.7 BPG 0.7 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Roger Bohm - Golden State Warriors - 10.3 PPG 7.9 RPG 1.7 APG 2.1 BPG 0.6 SPG
Head Coach
Jim O'Brien - Denver Nuggets

Remember, we weren't expected to even make the playoffs this year and O'Brien led us to the #2 seed for the second season in a row. Great honor for him, though I'm sure he'd take further advancement in the playoffs over it.

Apolonario, you may recall, was someone I remarked in his draft as having franchise player potential, but extremely raw. He's certainly developed that potential and is a deserving MVP as he carried the Hawks to the Southeast division title and the second round playoffs, giving Atlanta its first true star since... well, Dominique Wilkins. Wow, that was a long time ago.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Corey Neal - New Jersey Nets
SG Filip Mikulic - Houston Rockets
SF Devone Allen - Dallas Mavericks
PF Marcelino Augusto - Dallas Mavericks
C Oswaldo Apolonario - Atlanta Hawks

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG Kenny Graham - Sacramento Kings
SG Charles Seegars - Chicago Bulls
SF Kevin Durant - Portland Trailblazers
PF Rashard Ferguson - Chicago Bulls
C Jonte Jones - Sacramento Kings

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Bernard Kelly - Memphis Grizzlies
SG Jon Ward - Phoenix Suns
SF David Anyan - Toronto Raptors
PF Henry Fisher - Utah Jazz
C Narcyz Malinomowski - Memphis Grizzlies

Strange to see an All-NBA list without Mateen Yeaton anywhere, but a case can be made for all three players who finished ahead of. Justin Richler should've made it too, as the NBA scoring champion, but he got screwed over.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Corey Neal - New Jersey Nets
SG Jon Ward - Phoenix Suns
SF Devone Allen - Dallas Mavericks
PF Marcelino Augusto - Dallas Mavericks
C Dontay Williamson - Los Angeles Clippers

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Paulinho Buboltz - New York Knicks
SG Sonny Boxler - Portland Trailblazers
SF Brian Brown - Golden State Warriors
PF Kelvin Moody - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Patrick Riley - New Orleans Hornets

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Scott Miles - Boston Celtics
SG Wendel King - Cleveland Cavaliers
SF Jarod Jones - Milwaukee Bucks
PF Michael Woods - Phoenix Suns
C Scott Costello - Seattle Supersonics

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Chris Blackmon - Minnesota Timberwolves
SG Georgi Dimov - New Jersey Nets
SF James White - Philadelphia 76ers
PF Ryan Bush - Houston Rockets
C Terrance Frey - Miami Heat

King over Dimov for the first team? That's bullshit. Now, King over Justin Cherry I can understand, but there's no way in hell Dimov shouldn't be on the first team. I swear, the voters hate pointscorers.

Really illustrates O'Brien's rightful selection as Coach of the Year when we're shut out in the postseason awards outside of him for the first time since I've come to Denver. I'm glad to see Buboltz pick up a 2nd Team Defense award, though. Caps off a perfect season for him, in my opinion.

The day after the awards are announced, Bob Neal and I meet for a tense dinner at the local Italian restaurant.

He congratulates me on our playoff season, but informs me over our post-dinner wine that $9.8 million over the cap is not considered being close to the cap and that it's time the team goes in another direction, especially with my draft record and two Top 5 picks coming up.

I ask him for a little more time, because I really don't want to miss out on this opportunity. He agrees, but orders me to fire head coach Jim O'Brien as the price of my staying on.

It's going to be a public relations bloodbath, firing the Coach of the Year, but my hands are tied. I reluctantly agree to do it and while the news causes as big a furor as I expected, it's overshadowed by the Phoenix Suns firing their GM after an NBA Finals appearance one year removed from a 23-59 season.

Jim O'Brien accepts the news calmly, understanding that it's the owner, not me. I'm sure he'll end up coaching somewhere next season with his pedigree.

Carmelo Anthony retires, no doubt disappointed that the Knicks finally win a title after he's gone. He's a Hall of Fame inductee this year, along with Chris Bosh and Lebron James, who retire their jerseys with Toronto and Cleveland respectively. Evidently Chris Paul retired last season and made the Hall as well, but I missed it in all the hubbub surrounding my fired, re-hired saga.

Anthony decides to enter the Hall as a Knick after a week or so of speculation that he might don the Denver hat. I'm glad he chose that route, because I want our first retired jersey to be Mateen Yeaton's.

To give things a clean slate, I fire the rest of the coaching staff as well.

Bob Neal unfortunately doesn't sell the team, so I once again repeat the playoffs, about the cap line. He warns me to keep it truly near the cap, though just how we're supposed to do that with two top 5 draft picks and an unmoveable contract in Andrew Bynum, I don't know.

I engineer a three way trade to try and give us some cap room while upgrading the team.

Denver Nuggets receive
PF Clifton Snyder
SG Eric Bass
PG Waldemar Althusser

Miami Heat receive
PG Zelipe Gama
C David Jackson

Washington Wizards receive
PF Jeremy Bellairs
Minnesota Timberwolves 2025 2nd round pick

What this means for the Nuggets
26 year old German import Althusser has a game similiar to that of Louis Mertens, an electrifying passer with poor defensive skills. If Denver doesn't go for a PG in the draft, he's the probable starter, though GM Jestor would prefer him in the bench role that Mertens did so well in when he played for the Nuggets. Snyder is another 26 year old, a great all-around player with beautiful technical defensive skills, whom Jestor's been eying for quite some time. He'll slot in Jackson's old 6th man role and be more effective than 50 Ninja in some ways. Bass is roster filler that will never see the court.

What this means for the Heat
Miami now has 3 30+ ex-Nuggets slated to be starters in Gama, Jackson and Mike Vines. In terms of talent, the Heat improve dramatically, as Gama's passing and defensive skills make him a winner no matter where he goes and 50 Ninja is a fiery, solidly balanced player who can have big games from time to time. They've also got Mertens on their roster, making this team Denver South. The Heat are going to see a dramatically improved record next season, though it may not be good enough to challenge for a playoff spot. As a bonus, Jackson's an expiring $8.5 million contract after this season.

What this means for the Wizards
Ron McPherson is still out with a torn Achilles and it's not certain when he'll be able to come back. Bellairs is a respectable all-around 27 year old, but he never developed the killer instinct and go-to ability that some thought he would be when he was taken 6th overall by the Warriors in 2019.

Winner: Miami
The Heat take advantage of the Nuggets' desperation to slash payroll and pick up two players who will instantly make Miami competitive and Gama and Jackson's popularity, along with the better on-court product, will draw fans back in. Denver got pretty good return on this three-way deal, but Miami made out better, while Washington is going to miss Althusser's passing off the bench more than they realize and the Wizards no longer have an heir apparent to Leland Peterson.

That pair of deals brings us to just a hair over $3 million over the cap, which should give us just enough room to absorb our two draft picks' salaries and give us 13 players for the year. It means we won't be signing anybody in free agency and really puts the pressure on me to hit well in the draft, if not outright homeruns.

Coach Hiring

We jack one out of the park in landing Kurt Thomas as our new head coach at 4 years, $5 million a year. He's an excellent strategist and a far better scout and developer than Jim O'Brien ever was. The offense is going to look a -lot- different with him in charge, as he believes in speed, speed, speed.

Patrick Ewing returns to our staff for the third time, this time as the 1st assistant. Newcomer Bob Bender takes over as the 2nd assistant and Frank Vogel, another former Nuggets assistant, comes in as the 3rd man.

Jim O'Brien lands on his feet in New Jersey, where Tim Duncan shows off his shrewd GM skills again by snapping up O'Brien at just over $4 million a year for 5 years.

Mock Draft

We're picked to take SF Marcus Reeves, an Arizona senior at #3 and C Luke Smith, a junior from UConn at #5. Reeves doesn't impress me all that much, but Smith is 7'2, 278 lbs and I love 7 foot centers. In fact, if my inital impressions are correct, I could take Smith with the third pick.

There's a couple good point guards here as well---Tony Johnson, yet another Indiana Hooser, only he was a one and done. Tyrone Capel, a junior from Gonzaga, intrigues as well. Johnson's tabbed to go 7th to the Pacers, Capel 8th to the Bucks.

I'll also probably be taking a look at Michigan State freshman C Patrick Weston, who weighs in at 7'5, 290 lbs. Although he's picked to go the Rockets at #11 in most mocks, you can't teach size and that's one thing I'm really looking for, even though size might not be the best thing for the speed offense our new coach is looking to implement.

There's two fantastic 19 year old players at the top of the draft in SG David Johnson, a one and done UNC Tarheel, and Russian SG Vladimir Tupolev. They're both undersized 2s, but with the spate of successful small PFs in the league recently, most teams don't care about short players.

Lot of thinking to do. Like I said, I need to have the draft of my life here, or I'll be heading to the unemployment line.