[Izulde]

Nuggets Set To Take On Grizzlies In First Round Rematch

What a long, strange trip it's been this season for the Denver Nuggets, which saw a flurry of changes in the most in-season trades in franchise history, a mid-season firing of a highly hyped head coach in favor of one with a sub-.500 record and a topsy turvy record that was more turvy until two late season hot streaks to propel them to the playoffs and the #6 seed.

The last time GM Jestor changed a well-respected coach for one with a career record below .500, George Karl was replaced by Jim O'Brien and we all know how that turned out, with O'Brien leading the Nuggets to three straight championships before he was fired after last season. While it's unlikely that Steve Van Gundy will replicate those results, his slower style brought Denver back to fundamental basketball and suited a veteran team much better than Kurt Thomas's frenzied pace.

Many thought the Nuggets' season was over after the franchise star and face, Mateen Yeaton, went down with a broken toe, but the team rallied to go 8-2 in its final ten games and get new life in the playoffs. They've earned a rematch with the Memphis Grizzlies, who beat them handily last year.

Can Denver reverse course in its first season in years as a lower seed? That's difficult to judge.

Point Guard
Zelipe Gama vs. Bernard Kelly
In, out, in, out, in. It's been a roller-coaster ride for the 33 year old Spainard in terms of his Nuggets membership, but the truth is, nobody's run Denver's offense better in all the years GM Jestor's headed the front office. He may have lost a step to age, but 15.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 10 assists, 1.4 blocks and a steal show that Gama's still got great all-around game.

Kelly is one of the best pure passers the league's ever seen and he led the NBA in assists this year with a 12.8 average to go with his 16.2 points and 1.7 steals. He had a field day against the slower Gama last playoffs and the 27 year old should do the same this year.

Advantage: Grizzlies

Shooting Guard
Charles Arnold vs. Durko Jagr
Once upon a time, Arnold swore he would never come back to Denver after being involved in a sign and trade deal for Rico Wolfe and a slew of picks from the Miami Heat and when he found out he'd been traded to the Nuggets earlier this year, he initially considered not reporting. But report he did and while he won't ever replace Yeaton and has some cold shooting slumps, he's started to win over fans with his ability to score. Unfortunately he's pretty one dimensional as a scorer, but here's a dirty little secret - the 26 year old is a better defender than the 36 year old Yeaton is at this point and he's actually an upgrade on that end of the floor.

Jagr put up 11.2 points, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals in the regular season, but he's never been an accurate shooter and at 34 years old, he just isn't anything more than a league-average starter at this point. Not a stellar defender either.

Advantage: Nuggets

Small Forward
Andrew Bynum vs. Shane Holliway
Seeing the 38 year old Bynum in the starting lineup reminds a lot of people of the year Denver had an ancient and decripit natural SF Antawn Jamison at C, on the surprise team that made a run to the Finals. Like Jamison, Bynum just doesn't have much left in the way of skills and his 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks during the regular season reflect that. On the other hand, he's still 7', 285 lbs and size is one thing that never goes away.

The 6'6, 224 lb Holliway is going to have to rely on his quickness to outfox Bynum if he wants a repeat of last year's great postseason against the Nuggets. Great scoring knack and good ballthief who posted regular-season numbers of 17.4 points, 6 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Our hunch says quickness beats height here.

Advantage: Grizzles

Power Forward
Tim Butler vs. Ronnie Fry
Butler really came into his own this season, developing greater consistency and earning his first ever All-Star bid on his way to 20.9 points and 9 rebounds. Won't ever be a defensive stopper, but is an underrated rebounder and has grown into the team leader after Yeaton went down. One of the only untouchable guys on the roster.

He'll have a tough time of it against Fry, who's emerged as a great defender in addition to being a topflight scorer with 20.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals to his credit. Fry's been rumored to be on Jestor's target list ever since he entered the league, but Memphis rightfully refuses to deal their bright young star.

Advantage: Memphis

Center
Greg Oden vs. Narcyz Malinomowski
Fascinating matchup at the five, featuring one of the great defenders in the league against one of the top scoring centers in the NBA. Oden may be 36, but he's still a top-flight defender, shotblocker and rebounder, posting 12.6 points, 13.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks during the regular season and he's capable of terrific scoring outbursts.

And those outburts he could very well earn against the man infamously nicknamed The Great Polish Sieve for his lack of defense. Malinomowski tore up the Nuggets last playoffs, but he's going up against a brick wall in Oden. Still, one can't wholly discount his regular season 15.5 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. Still a prime-time shot blocker and the third offensive option for the Grizzlies.

Advantage: Nuggets

Bench
Carlton Goree has been a major disappointment after signing a fat, multi-year mid-level exemption in the offseason, but he still put up 7.4 points and 4.2 assists, with good defensive skills. The season's biggest surprise was Ronald King, a trade package afterthought who emerged as the bench's best offensive threat down the stretch and finished with 6.2 points. Like Goree, a good defender, but not the playmaker on that end that Goree is. There's no really good big men on the bench, as Tzvetan Kishishev struggled to find minutes this year and Changa Diarra is still adjusting to Denver.

22 year Deon Sterley is a smaller, poor man's version of Greg Oden. That's still high praise and he produced 8.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks during the regular season as Memphis's 6th man. Dave Linton is the best guard, but he's strictly a passer, terrible on defense and tries to get too fancy at times.

Advantage: Draw

Final Thoughts
Subtract Yeaton and Andy Sola, add Oden and Arnold from last year's playoff matchup and this is suddenly looking much more even, primarily because of Oden. But it only appears that way. Memphis's youth and quickness is going to be too much for Denver's aging lineup to handle and the Grizzlies should match last season's triumph.
Prediction: Memphis in 5

Yeah, whole lot of confidence they're showing in us there. Still, maybe we can thrive in the underdog role.

Game One
Hostile crowd, hostile building, no offense. Charles Arnold was the only Nugget to even break double-digit points with 25. That's all you need to know about this embarassment. For Memphis, Shane Holliway danced circles around Andrew Bynum for 28 points, Ronnie Fry rampaged for 25 points and 15 rebounds and Deon Sterley scored 10 off the bench.
Final - Denver 72 Memphis 99

Game Two
Our offense finally wakes up as Charles Arnold scores 20 and Tim Butler and Greg Oden pick up double-doubles of 17 points and 12 rebounds and 15 points and 13 rebounds respectively. But a poor third quarter, Narcyz Malinomowski's 14 points and 15 rebounds, Bernard Kelly's 22 points and 16 assists and Deon Sterley's 10 bench points are -just- enough to nip us at the wire and we lose probably our best shot to steal one from the Grizzlies in Memphis. Just heartbreaking.
Final - Denver 92 Memphis 95

Game Three
We'll need to win both at home to make a series of this thing. A hard-fought battle in front of a partisan Nuggets crowd turns into our finest defensive effort of the year. Tim Butler leads the charge on offense with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Charles Arnold continues his amazingly consistent playoffs with 23 points, Zelipe Gama snaps out of his slump for 16 points and 11 assists and Ronald King sends out notice that our bench isn't completely cosmatose with 10 points. Shane Holliway and Bernard Kelly each score 23, but it's not enough to preserve Memphis's sweep dreams and we grind out a tough, important win to make it a 2-1 series.
Final - Memphis 84 Denver 93

Game Four
Shane Holliway was frantically determined not to let us back in this series and explodes for 34 points. Bernard Kelly supports him with 17 points and 14 assists, while Deon Sterley heads the Grizzlies reserves with 12 points. But then Charles Arnold adds another chapter to his claim of worthy Mateen Yeaton successorship with a spellbinding 39 points on 14/16 shooting, including 5/6 from long range and Ronald King and Carlton Goree help the bench to their best showing yet, netting 14 and 11 points a piece. We come out on top and we've officially back in the thick of it with a knotted up series!
Final - Memphis 89 Denver 106

The Suns are looking terrific in sweeping Utah, the only series to finish early.

Game Five
This one's the swing match and we blow it with yet another fourth quarter meltdown. Really puts a damper on Charles Arnold's 22 points and Greg Oden's 18 points and 19 rebounds. Shane Holliway lights up for 28 points, Durko Jagr breaks out with 24 points, Bernard Kelly is an assist demon with 10 points, 20 assists and Narcyz Malinomowski cobbles together 12 points and 11 rebounds. Another freaking, stinking 3 point loss in Memphis. Man, a couple bounces here and there and we'd have this thing won right here, right now. Instead, we're down 3 games to 2 and are really up against it.
Final - Denver 94 Memphis 97

Sacramento kicks Portland out in five and the Clippers, who honestly scare me, do the same to the Mavericks. Out East, Toronto dispatches the Bulls in five and everyone else rolls on to Game 6.

Game Six
A spirited home crowd and Mateen Yeaton wearing his best powder blue blazer with yellow tie. It's a winning combination as Charles Arnold gets inspired and scores 30 points, Tim Butler summons up 13 points and 11 rebounds, Zelipe Gama turns in 12 points and 21 assists and Ronald King builds on his growing reputation with 17 bench points. Great effort by Bernard Kelly with 24 points and 14 assists, but we just simply would not be denied as we force a Game 7 with our most emphatic performance yet.
Final - Memphis 96 Denver 113

New York tops Milwaukee in six and Atlanta stuns heavily favored Charlotte in six as well. Celtics/Nets are going down to the wire in Game 7, same as us.

Game Seven
Can we finally get the grizzly bear off our backs? They're amped in Memphis and Bernard Kelly puts on a 26 point, 11 assist show and Deon Sterley scores 14 off the bench. We counter with 26 points and 11 rebounds from Tim Butler, 10 points and 12 rebounds from Greg Oden and the poor man's double of 10 points, 10 assists from Zelipe Gama. But it's not enough as Charles Arnold finally runs out of gas. We lose by 11 and have a long offseason ahead of us to wonder what might have been.
Final - Denver 88 Memphis 99

Boston eliminates New Jersey in the other final game.

Although the Celtics are higher seeded, they stun the Hawks by sweeping them in the second round. Phoenix steamrolls over Sacramento in five, the Knicks upset the Raptors in six and the Clippers need all seven games to put away Memphis. Makes me wonder what would've happened had we gone against the Red and White.

The Suns look unbeatable this year, returning to the NBA Finals by sweeping the Clippers and the Knicks make it a rematch Finals via knocking out the Cinderella Celtics in six games (I know, weird to call a 2 seed a Cinderella, but that's how it is this year).

There'll be no second ring for Paulinho Buboltz, as the Phoenix Suns go from 23-59 to East Conference Champions to NBA Champions in the course of three seasons, sweeping New York in four games.

I've never seen such a crazy turnaround in a franchise's fortunes and it really puts the pressure on GMs around the league.

NBA Lottery
14. Detroit Pistons
13. Houston Rockets
12. Indiana Pacers
11. Cleveland Cavaliers
10. Minnesota Timberwolves
9. Denver Nuggets
8. Washington Wizards
7. New Orleans Hornets
6. Orlando Magic
5. Seattle Supersonics
4. Golden State Warriors (-1)
3. Philadelphia 76ers (+1)
2. Denver Nuggets
1. San Antonio Spurs

Another year of ridiculously minimalist lottery movement. Two Top 10 picks including the coveted #2 pick... and I'm probably going to get fired. Now watch, this'll be a class of great players, too.

NBA Awards

MVP
Marcelino Augusto - Dallas Mavericks - 23.7 PPG 9.7 RPG 3.1 APG 2.8 BPG 0.9 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
Dontay Williamson - Los Angeles Clippers - 13.1 PPG 13.9 RPG 2.2 APG 3.6 BPG 0.7 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Tyrone Capel - New Orleans Hornets - 9.8 PPG 8.3 APG 3.8 RPG 0.7 BPG 1.0 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Filip Svorda - Phoenix Suns - 13.3 PPG 6.5 APG 2.5 RPG 0.5 BPG 1.5 SPG
Coach of the Year
Sam Mitchell - Toronto Raptors

Raise your hand if you're the dumbass GM who traded away the Rookie of the Year you personally drafted. ...Yeah. It was that kind of season.

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Corey Neal - New Jersey Nets
SG Justin Richler - Toronto Raptors
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 Rudolf Zyndram - Phoenix Suns
SF Jeremy Lemons - Orlando Magic
PF Rashard Ferguson - Chicago Bulls
C Terrence Howard - Portland Trailblazers

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Paulinho Buboltz - New York Knicks
SG Jon Ward - Phoenix Suns
SF Will Baron - Boston Celtics
PF Henry Fisher - Utah Jazz
C Tim Davis - Milwaukee Bucks

I know I'm biased, but I totally think Tim Butler got robbed here. But whatever.

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

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Leland Peterson - Washington Wizards
SG Rudolf Zyndram - Phoenix Suns
SF Devone Allen - Dallas Mavericks
PF Henry Fisher - Utah Jazz
C Patrick Riley - New Orleans Hornets

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Tyrone Capel - New Orleans Hornets
SG Vladimir Tupolev - Seattle Supersonics
SF Marcus Reeves - Los Angeles Lakers
PF Dermek Mociler - Miami Heat
C Luke Smith - Miami Heat

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Lawrence Townes - Cleveland Cavaliers
SG David Johnson - Indiana Pacers
SF Chauncey Harris - New York Knicks
PF Matt Mitchell - Atlanta Hawks
C Ronald Smith - Washington Wizards

Second straight season we've been shut out of the awards. Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Mateen Yeaton announces that he plans on coming back for another season. Only one team fires its GM before I talk to Bob Neal and that's the Sacramento Kings.

Our owner's hot to trot to get rid of me and at this point, I'm sick of the whole mess, so I tell Baldy Bob to go fuck himself and quit on the spot a mere half-second before he angrily and half-gleefully informs me that I'm fired.

Of course, Bob won't allow it to be a resignation, so it goes in the papers as a firing. Nuggets fans everywhere are furious and the editorials are all slamming Neal in the press and on the blogosphere.

I call Will Langhi, the Kings owner, and ask him about the GM job. He's all smiles and good cheer, faxing the contract over almost before I hang up the phone. I just as quickly sign it back and send it in, officially taking over one of the most successful, but heartbreaking franchises since I've joined the league.

It's a beautiful situation I step into in Sacramento. A lot of huge contracts are going out the door. To wit:

PG Kelvin Johnson - $10.3 million
PG Kenny Graham - $17.1 million
SG Justin Barnes - $18.9 million

In fact, there's only four players under contract for next year and they're all, except for one, expiring next season.

With just the three big contracts above expiring, we go from being $26.3 million OVER the cap to $20 million UNDER the cap. Can you say re-tooling the Kings? I knew you could!

It's the perfect rebuilding scenario and the ownership and Kings fans are beside themselves with joy that they've landed me to rebuild the franchise. Of course, that probably means Justin Barnes, a career-long King, face of the franchise, 20+ points a game every year from 2017-present, etc, is out the door, so I'll take some heat for that. But you know, I always hated low percentage shooters and Barnes, a career 41.7% converter, is precisely that.

I'm feeling giddy myself about this transition. The Kings have never made the NBA Finals since I've joined the league and in fact, have never made the NBA Finals in their entire history, much less a championship.

It's a chance to take a historically good franchise (at least recent history) and elevate it to unseen levels of greatness.

I try and cut a deal with the Nuggets right off to get Tim Butler to go with me, but the assistant GM, who learned a lot of my tricks, refuses, even when I throw in Jonte Jones, still a great player at 35, so I work out another trade instead.

Sacramento Kings receive
SG Mateen Yeaton
PF Tzvetan Kishishev
PG Zelipe Gama
Miami Heat 2025 1st round pick
Denver Nuggets 2025 1st round pick

Denver Nuggets receive
C Jonte Jones
SF Antwan Carson
SF Travis Hart
Sacramento Kings 2026 2nd round pick
Sacramento Kings 2027 2nd round pick

What this means for the Kings
GM Jestor sure didn't take long to start remodeling the Kings, acquiring Yeaton's Bird Rights and setting up Gama to run the offense just as he did in Denver. It's safe to say that Kenny Graham won't be returning to Sacramento. Kishishev is a Jestor favorite who plays great defense and has underrated scoring ability. While it won't be certain he'll see more minutes with the Kings that he did with the Nuggets the last season or two, his contract is one of the best values in all of sports. The real deal here though, is Sacramento picking up two more first round selections in this year's draft, including the #9 overall pick.

What this means for the Nuggets
Jones returns to Denver, where he guarantees Greg Oden's departure from the Nuggets. At 35, Jones has slowed down a lot and is no longer the elite player he once was, but he's still one of the best centers in the league. Carson is a servicable all-around starter at SF right now and the 25 year old has the potential to develop great scoring instincts and very good rebounding. 23 year old Hart could someday develop into a serviceable reserve, but he's really just a throw-in when you get right down to it.

Winner: Denver
Jestor's first blockbuster trade is liable to blow up in his face as Jones has the type of talent still to carry Denver to a division title next year and the Nuggets won't really miss Yeaton with the emergence of Charles Arnold in this past playoffs. Carlton Goree can finally start earning the big bucks Jestor shelled out to land him as Denver's starting PG and the Nuggets made this deal without surrendering Tim Butler or the #2 overall pick, two things Jestor coveted most. On the other hand, the Sacramento Kings are now poised to have $45.7 million in cap room this summer. Then again, given that Jestor's flameout rate on free agents is almost as high as his draft selections, maybe that's not such a good thing.

To that I say, bah humbug. This is going to be a very, -very- good free agent crop, unlike last year's dud group. I've already scouted the market and if we can land the players I'm targeting and pick up an impact rookie in the draft, we could turn this thing around in a hurry, even if we only have three players under contract right now.

Will Langhi is a guy who likes spending money even less than Bob Neal, but the difference is, he actually enjoys winning as much as the next guy and is willing to give me some time to work my mojo.

He insists that we need to go back to the playoffs and that anything less would be seen as a step back by the fans. I agree with him and tell him that since we have so much freed up money, we should be below $10 million over the cap. Unlike Neal, who would say okay and then bitch when I bumped up near the $10 million mark, Langhi's forthright in saying that he wants it as close to the cap as possible and that if I don't think I need all that money to field a playoff team, I shouldn't spend it.

Am I happy that Langhi's a hardass about money? No, but I can respect it, especially since he doesn't play games like Neal did.

Nobody and I mean nobody wanted the Nuggets GM job after I got fired. As one sportswriter quipped it was like being head coach of the Oakland Raiders. So Neal went out and got a 48 year old nobody in George Haywood who doesn't know shit about basketball. Haywood's in for a rough season. Not only is he a moron, my fast-talking of my old assistant resulted in the Jonte Jones albatross contract and with just 8 players signed, the Nuggets are already $11 million over the cap.

Makes me wonder how many Denver fans are going to switch their allegiance to the Kings.