[Izulde]

The day after the trade's out in the papers, Scott Skiles calls me.

"Listen, about Dudley?" He wants to play the point."

"...What? He can't pass worth a damn!"

"I know, but he's making waves about not reporting if he can't play point guard."

"...I'll deal with it."

Deal with it by trading him at the first possible opportunity. After I hang up with our new head coach, I hold discussions with other GMs around the league. There's considerable interest in him out there, even when I courteously inform my colleagues that he insists on running the offense.

Nothing definite is established, as we decide to hold off and wait to see what free agency and the draft turn up.

After the player workouts, we've got our draft board pretty much set and we've lined up several possible scenarios. I feel good about what we're going to come out of this draft with.

2018 NBA Draft 1st Round
1. SF Will Baron - Houston Rockets

Georghiois Kairis alreadys plays SF, so I kind of see this as a stupid move on the Rockets' part. But then again, it's my impression that anyone who takes either Baron or Sonny Boxler is taking a gamble with the first pick, because they're both lazy. Considering how under-developed most of this draft class is, that's not a risk I'd take.

2. PG Andre Moore - Chicago Bulls

...Damn. The Bulls just snapped up the best PG in the draft and if he pans out like he should, we won't have as good a shot at a top 3 pick next year as I'd hoped, since we own Chicago's pick. I was also hoping Moore would drop to where we could move up to take him. Count another one off on the list.

3. C Valery Frahm - Golden State Warriors

Nice selection by the Warriors here. With him and Michael Johnson, Golden State's got a good core to work with for the future. I'm not overly fond of Frahm, as he's 6'9, but Golden State took arguably the most skilled center in the draft.

4. C Dontay Williamson - Los Angeles Clippers

The draft is starting to turn precisely how I didn't want it to. I had my eye on a center that I was hoping would drop to us, but with two straight going here and the Trailblazers and Pacers both looking to find a big man, I'm afraid he isn't going to last.

5. SG Sonny Boxler - Portland Traiblazers

Sizzling potential, but an awful work ethic plummeted Boxler from the consensus #1 pick down to 5th overall. If he pans out, Portland's got themselves a steal. Talk about a high-risk, high-reward pick.

6. PG Kelvin Johnson - Atlanta Hawks

There's 3 players left that I really like and there's 6 teams picking before us right now. Our chances of getting any one of them is very slim as things stand, but I'll wait until one of them goes, likely with this pick, before deciding what to do for sure.

7. SG Charles Howard - Washington Wizards

And there goes one of them. Great scorer and good defender, but very, very suspect ballhandling skills, so I'm glad to see him go off the board. Of course, this is making my decision all that much tougher. The Hornets are picking next and they look a possibility to draft the center I have my eye on and I'm not convinced the point guard I'm looking at is worth waiting to see if he falls.

But the Hornets are refusing negotiations and so it's with grim apprehension that I watch and wait for the pick to come up.

8. PF Tim Butler - New Orleans Hornets

Bullet dodged, but the gauntlet continues with the Heat. Sadly, Miami's not willing to play ball either and I'm starting to get the feeling that maybe it'd be better just to keep our picks.

9. PG Cedric Caldwell - Miami Heat

There goes the other PG I was considering, which means our C is going to be wearing a Pacers uniform unless I can convince the Suns to make a deal. Unfortunately, it's not happening. Damn it.

10. SF Shane Holliway - Phoenix Suns

And here come the Pacers, but maybe they can be talked into making a deal.

To that end, I make a trade, followed by a deal with Indiana.

Denver Nuggets receive
Atlanta Hawks 2018 1st round pick (#25 overall)
Atlanta Hawks 2018 2nd round pick (#38 overall)

Atlanta Hawks receive
Denver Nuggets 2018 1st round pick (#22 overall)

Denver Nuggets receive
Indiana Pacers 2018 1st round pick (#11 overall)

Indiana Pacers receive
Denver Nuggets 2018 1st round pick (#13 overall)
Atlanta Hawks 2018 2nd round pick (#38 overall)

What this means for the Nuggets
GM Jestor pairs two trades together to snatch up the player he's been eyeing all draft long, who wasn't going to make it past the Pacers. He also retains a second first round selection and will come out of this draft with two more players.

What this means for the Hawks
Giving up the 8th overall pick in the 2nd round might be a bit steep to pay to move up 3 spots, but Atlanta evidently sees a player it really wants to get in that range.

What this means for the Pacers
Indiana's interior is an absolute wreck, so it doesn't really matter if they pick up a PF or a C. There should still be a decent big man available just two spots later and by picking up a fairly high second rounder in the bargain, they can try their luck at finding a diamond in the rough big man.

Winner: Denver
Jestor knew the player he wanted and found a way to make it happen without giving up that second first round pick. Brilliant work.

11. C Victor Gipson - Denver Nuggets

A Michigan State junior who averaged 23.3 points, 16.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.7 blocks last season for the Spartans. Good scoring potential and a hard-crashing rebounder and shotblocker. Terrible ballhandling skills, but with the slow-paced offense that Scott Skiles plans to run, that's not going to be such a problem. And did I mention he's 7'2, 303 lbs?

The analysts are lukewarm on the pick, which is a little surprising. I think Gipson's going to turn some heads. At the very least, he'll challenge David Jackson for the starting C spot and better our bench depth.

12. PF Andy Sola - Cleveland Cavaliers

Too bad about Sola. He would've been a good fit for the Pacers.

13. C Deon Keams - Indiana Pacers

Well, Indiana needed a big man, but Keams is more of a finesse center. Loves the jumper way, way too much in my opinion. Still, they couldn't get any worse than what they had last year.

14. SG Jermaine Butler - Boston Celtics
15. SF Roby Evans - Sacramento Kings
16. SF Andre Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers

Heh. He won't be Kobe, that's for sure.

17. SG Jason Pettaway - Minnesota Timberwolves

Nice value pick by the T-Wolves here.

18. PF Freddie Tackett - Seattle Supersonics

Ditto, Seattle, who get an excellent bargain here. This guy should've gone way earlier.

19. SG Derrick Young - New York Knicks

I liked Young, too. That's three solid picks right in a row. This draft class has some great depth to it and you can find some real value late in the first. We're hoping to do the same with our 25th pick.

20. PF Damous Price - Detroit Pistons
21. SG Sabit Suker - Dallas Mavericks

Good thing we didn't keep the 22nd pick, because I'd have been absolutely pissed off. I wanted this guy something bad for our second pick. I saw him play in Turkey when I was vacationing there last time and the kid can definitely play.

22. SF Emmett Kincaid - Atlanta Hawks
23. C Lukas Lanoye - Orlando Magic
24. PF Mat Walker - Charlotte Bobcats

The experts are saying we'll take PG Mark Martin out of Cincinnati, C Colin Merriex out of Stanford or trade the pick. I don't know why they say we'd select Merriex. He's a terrible player by all accounts, barely worth a late 2nd round pick, let alone a first round one. Martin doesn't impress me at all. Instead, it's....

25. PG Jon Freeman - Denver Nuggets

Didn't post eye-popping numbers in his senior year at Duke, but he's an excellent team player who works hard and has some good potential. Not enough to be a legit starter probably, but a nice security blanket at reserve guard. I particularly love his stealing instincts and Skiles and his staff rave about the elevation he gets on his shot.

The talking heads call it a nice steal and an excellent value pick for the stage in the draft. While I still would've preferred Suker, Freeman's a good consolation prize, so long as he doesn't turn out a Leroy Freeman-style bust.

26. SG Momsilo Zivkovic - Memphis Grizzlies
27. SG John Benson - Philadelphia 76ers
28. PF William Evans - San Antonio Spurs
29. C Aaron Benson - Chicago Bulls
30. PG Mark Martin - Toronto Raptors

Immediate post-draft impressions are that Jon Freeman's one of the smartest basketball players I've ever met. Even as a rookie, he has a cerebral understanding of the game equal to that of Emeka Okafor, who's been around the league for 14 years. The battle between Victor Gipson and David Jackson for the starting C spot is going to be -intense-. The early money's on Gipson, though, who has a stronger inside shot, better FT conversion, and drastically better rebounding and blocking instincts. He's also much more disciplined than the cocky, hotheaded Jackson.

We're in terrific financial shape after renouncing all our contracts. 9 players signed already and we're over the cap by just $2.5 million. That ensures we've got the room to make a run on a mid-level player who can push Deng for the starting SF spot.

Summer League
PG Jon Freeman
C David Jackson
C Victor Gipson

Although there isn't quite the same buzz as last year when Marcelino Augusto was suiting up, the battle between Jackson and Gipson has a lot of Nuggets fans glued to their TV sets. I'm secretly hoping Freeman will prove a pleasant surprise as well.

We start the summer league with a thrilling, white-knuckle 101-98 victory over the Mavericks. Sabit Suker looks great, scoring 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He shows incredible potential as well, particularly on the defensive end, even if the 18 year old is a little raw right now. On our end, David Jackson and Victor Gipson play to dead heats of 15 points and 10 rebounds and 15 points and 11 rebounds respectively, though it's worth noting that Jackson had 3 fouls to Gipson's 1. Jon Freeman shot 3 of 6 from the field, finishing with 8 points in his Denver debut.

Victor Gibson decidedly grabs the advantage next game with 15 points and 14 rebounds in our 104-90 victory over Golden State. Michael Johnson is the real deal as he scores 29. Bryan Young, one of our non-roster invitees who I'm thinking of signing, scored 22 while Jon Freeman had 18 points and 8 assists in a much improved game. Reserve invitee Nochimas Mahram scored 12 off the bench.

Atlanta kicks our asses 111-87 to give us our first summer loss. Nochimas Mahram has 11 points off the bench and we're led by Bryan Young's 18 points. He's got crummy ball skills for a guard, but man oh man, can he shoot. Great defense, too. He just hasn't been given the opportunity to play much. I expect he'll get a fat deal in free agency. Then again, we've been down this road before with Kyle Smith. On the other hand, Smith has averaged at least 21.8 points a game the last three seasons in a Cavs uniform and is Cleveland's most popular player not named Lebron James.

I think it's safe to say that after our nail-biting 98-97 win over the Bulls, when we fend off a furious Chicago comeback led by Andre Moore of the 29 points, Victor Gipson's won the starting job. He had 14 points and 12 rebounds this game and has outplayed David Jackson all summer long. Gary Burditt and Nochimas Mahram both had 12 bench points, but they don't matter. I have to admire Mahram, a 25 year old Latvian who has yet to even make it to the D-Leagues. He doesn't really have the skills to be a pro basketball, except maybe as a buried depth D-leaguer, but he keeps trying.

We end the summer league with our best game of the hot time, a stifling 88-67 win over the Celtics. Ironically enough, it's the only game David Jackson is the better of our two contenders, with a poor man's double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Reserves Imari Reuter and Gary Burditt pace the second team with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Free Agency

Although I'm not going to sign Bryan Young to a deal, because if he can't dominate summer leaguers, he's certainly not going to cut it against legit NBA players, I'm wanting to pull a Toronto and steal hot young talent on the free agent market.

Unfortunately, what studly young talent is available is all looking likely to re-sign with their teams. That doesn't stop me from pursuing front-line free agents, albeit probably futilely.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see Mike Nooner get a nice 4 year, $8.8 million contract from the Clippers. I always though he was a pretty good player; he just needed more opportunities.

Sure enough, all the best talent is flying back home. Even Dwayne Wade re-inks with the Spurs, putting us in trouble.

But we do make a few small deals, re-signing Lindsey Williamson to a 2 year min-sal, giving the same to Steven Caspers, who we welcome back into the fold and Louis Mertens, who never has gotten the chance to show his stuff that he deserves.

It's unbelievable. Everybody and I mean everybody, who's got even a scrap of genuine star talent to his name, is sticking with their original teams this year. Michael Blunt is probably the most talent player to have moved teams so far, going from the Knicks to the Hawks on a maxed out multi-year mid-level.

I finally give up and decide to just pocket the mid-level for another year. Atlanta's going to be a team to watch this year, but the way. Not only did they get Blunt, who's pretty good, but they snagged Gerald Wallace on a $7 million one year rental. The Spurs get Yao Ming back along with Wade, much to my annoyance. I try to get Joe Johnson to give us another shot on a low-level exemption, but he spurns us for the Knicks on a mid-level, for just one year. Can't say as I blame him.

Michael Redd may be 39, but I still think enough of him to give him the low exemption. He can tutor the youngsters, those that need it that is. That gives us 13 players and I think I'm going to stay with that until we ship out Lannce Dudley for something worthwhile. Then I realize we have no guards that can play defense. Enter Brent Short on a 2 year min-sal, who despite his 5'11 height and appropriate name, has a game that I've always very much admired and wouldn't have minded seeing him in powder blue. He is now.

Toronto signs Pau Gasol to a min-sal one year deal. He's pretty good still for 38 years old, but he's selling his soul in search of a ring.

We're still terribly weak on defense at backup guard and there's other holes to fill as well, so just before training camp, I'm shopping Lannce Dudley again.

Then I run into the nightmare of all nightmares.

Nobody wants him. They say his contract is too long, too uncap-friendly. I'm sick to my stomach. I don't want this jackass on my team. He's messing with my universe.

So what do I do? Bite the bullet and cut his ass. Then I re-sign him and cut him, in hopes there's a loophole where the last contract takes effect. If not, I just put myself another $800,00 in the hole. Oh well, we've the money to burn this year anyway.

Training Camp

Jon Freeman turns out to be more raw than expected, but with a little more promise. Not much, but it's a start. I actually privately prefer David Jackson starting at C to Victor Gipson after watching them in training camp, but Scott Skiles insists on Gipson in a way that rubs me wrong. In fact, I feel like this whole season's starting off on the wrong foot. I miss Larry Brown already.

On the other hand, Marcelino Augusto looks terrific. I mean, -really- terrific. As in Kelvin Moody awesomeness terrific.

I miss Kirk Hinrich, so I go out and re-sign him. Brent Short pitches a fit about it because he's low man on the totem pole, so I trade him to the Bobcats for Tony Parker and Charlotte's 2021 2nd round pick, sign my fellow hometown Racinian Caron Butler and take the rest of the week off.

We're picked to finish 2nd in the West behind Seattle as the press continues to swoon over the Supersonics' studly set of scorers. I like our team now. Sure it's a little guard heavy and we could use some more defenders, but that's perfectly okay.

Biggest joke is the Hornets picked for 3rd in the conference. Yeah, that'll happen. When Mateen Yeaton's wearing another uniform, maybe.

More insanity in the East, outside of Toronto's the consensus pick for a fourth straight NBA title. The Knicks are picked for second, the Bulls for third. New York I can somewhat understand because of all the high picks they've got sitting on the roster, but Chicago to win the Central? Snowball, meet your chance in hell. That's not to say the Bulls won't be improved. They will be and they're probably good enough to end up ahead of the Pacers. But beat out Cleveland and Milwaukee for the division? No way. At best, they place third.

2018 Denver Nuggets Opening Day Lineup
PG Zelipe Gama
SG Mateen Yeaton
SF Luol Deng
PF Marcelino Augusto
C Victor Gipson
6th David Jackson (SF/PF/C)
7th Tony Parker (PG/SG)
8th Emeka Okafor (PF/C)
9th Kirk Hinrich (PG/SG)
10th Louis Mertens (PG/SG)
11th Steven Caspers (SF/PF/C)
12th Michael Redd (SG/SF)

Inactive
Caron Butler
Lindsey Williamson
Jon Freeman (Timberjacks - Starting PG)