In lieu of a recap of the triumphant defeat at the hands of a short-handed Los Angeles Clippers team this evening, I've decided that my first post of the season, coming on this, the 20th day of Nuggvember, will be an attempt to sum up my feelings on the Nuggets moves that lead up to this day.
I was afraid that the Nugs' fast and successful start to the season would serve to diminish my optimistic opinions in the eyes (ears? brains?) of the readers, so maybe tonight's performance against LA's Other Team is a blessing in disguise.
Without further ado, my thoughts are as follows: (in somewhat, but not really chronological order)
2009 NBA Draft
Denver Trades Charlotte's 2010 (Lottery Protected) First Round Pick for Ty Lawson
- My belief that Lawson will become a great NBA Point Guard is pretty in-line with what everyone who follows the NBA thinks at this point.
- His ability to totally change the pace of a game much like Earl Boykins has been much written about, however, the fact that he's half a foot taller than Lil Earl makes him much less of a defensive liability.
- Approved.
- Considering the Nuggets past with drafting international talent (with a few exceptions), I think I'll take the 2.25. And let's not forget the fact that he only has 4 letters in his last name, 3 of which are "L".
- The only true rumblings of disappointment I heard surrounding this move were about the fact that Dejuan Blair was still on the board. There's no question that Blair is a talented rebounder, and that rebounding is the one area that this current Denver Nuggets roster could improve on the most, but I doubt he would make much of an impact in that area behind Nene, K-Mart and Birdman. I also have trouble believing that a 6'6" Power Forward not named Charles Barkley could be successful in the NBA today.
- Approved.
Denver re-signs the Birdman
- Priority #1 for Denver this offseason was to get the Birdman under a long-term contract. While some might argue giving guaranteed, long-term $ to a guy with his track record is a mistake, they're probably not the ones who were counting up the receipts from his t-shirt, jersery, tattoo sleeve sales. Birdman is a uniquely gifted player, and one that understands and accepts his role. His past troubles, I predict, will only serve to drive him to become a more successful, team-oriented player. He doesn't have the opportunity anymore to play selfish ball, he's already been given a huge second chance, so I think he's exactly the type of player a team needs coming off the bench in order to win a championship.
- Very Much Approved.
- It seems most Denver Nuggets fans have grown to despise the contributions of Anthony Carter. He's old, not athletic, doesn't have very good range and really doesn't bring a whole lot to the table. I would argue that as a 3rd point guard, and an insurance policy for Ty Lawson, AC is a great fit. While he's by no means a game changer, he's also a pretty good ball handler who you can trust to take up some minutes with minimal mistakes. He doesn't shoot the ball a whole lot, which is nice, considering the Nugs' firepower coming off the bench. With the emergence of Lawson early in this season, it's not a huge signing, but he'll be nice to have around as a mentor and as a backup option should Lawson hit the "rookie wall" down the stretch.
- Approved.
- Johan Petro rarely sees time on the court, and hopefully won't see much this season either. That being said, I'm still intrigued by his skills. He's a 7-footer who can move at least as well as our old pal Francisco Elson, but I've seen him consistently drain 3-pointers in pre-game shoot-around as well. I don't know if it's a mental thing or what, but it seems like he could end up as a decent back-up big in the league. At the very least, he's 6 extra fouls at the end of the bench. Besides, he's clearly the Nuggets' best French player since Yakhouba Diawara.
- Approved.
- Somehow, NBA sportswriters managed to turn this into a negative for the Nuggets. Obviously, many of these writers only truly paid attention to Denver during their post-season run (Dahntay Jones), and their career stats (Linas Kleiza).
- Jones, for 90% of the season, was a serviceable role-player who played good perimeter defense and managed not to screw things up until it was time to bring in JR or Kleiza off of the bench for some scoring. It wasn't until he played a handful of games as the Chris Paul/Kobe Bryant pest that he earned his reputation as a lock-down defender. I heard a commentator say over Indiana Pacer highlights that Jones is "making the Denver Nuggets look stupid for letting him go." Ironically, it was the commentator who sounded stupid to me because he thought that Jones' 16 points per game (this season) were somehow missed by the Nuggets. Denver doesn't need another athletic, slashing shooting guard, they need a hard-working, role-playing, decent 3-point shooting guard to take up the minutes until Chauncey or Melo needs a breather and they found one for a whole lot cheaper, which I'll get to later on.
- Kleiza, while certainly talented in a few areas, was just as, if not more frustrating than JR Smith. He had the ability to score 40 points if he was feeling it from the outside, he had the size and speed to be a good defender, he was arguably at his best when he would take the outlet pass and drive to the hoop, but for anyone who had watched the entire 2008/09 season, there were very few times that any of that came together. Kleiza was like a black hole when he came on to the floor for most of last season and had a knack for launching 3's in crunch time, despite the fact that he had been cold all year. While he still could develop into a very good NBA player (Denver still retains his NBA rights), he wasn't worth paying a premium for with the Nuggets' current financial situation.
- Approved and Approved.
- I liked Afflalo at UCLA, I liked him with the Pistons and I like him even more now that he's on my team. He's basically Dahntay Jones and Linas Kleiza combined as far as his defensive ability, 3-point shooting prowess and athleticism. What I've always liked about Double-A (to borrow a nickname from the boys at Denver Stiffs), is that he just works hard no matter what. He's not putting on a show, he's not playing for a big payday, it seems like the guy just plays as hard as he can at all times. And considering he's taking the place of Kleiza and Jones (and arguably out-performing them) for just a fraction of the price, this move is clearly a no-brainer.
- Approved to the highest degree.
- Ummmmmmm, approved?
- Joey Graham reminds me of a smarter, bigger (fatter?), less athletic version of Sonny Weems. Weems was clearly redundant as he was JR Smith 4 years ago and didn't bring much to the table for a team looking for a championship. Graham at least brings a reasonably athletic presence to the bench for when Melo needs a breather or finds himself in foul trouble.
- Approved.
Earl Smith the Third, the 6th Man
- From this point on, I will be referring to the player formerly known as "JR Smith" by the name he briefly requested to be referred to as, which is his given name, Earl Smith III. Other possible variations are ES3, ESIII and Big Earl. The reason for this, other than honoring a man's request, is that I want to believe that ES3 has finally become the man and player that we've all hoped for. It's time for the flashes of greatness to give way to some consistency, because if they do, the Denver Nuggets will have by a long shot, the most talented 6th man in the league.
- Speaking of the bench, can any team boast a trio of bench players more exciting than Birdman, Lawson and ES3? I can't think of any. Each one is a unique player that can absolutely dominate a certain facet of the game, and fortunately for the Nuggets, each of those facets is different, so there's hope that these dynamic bench players could even make each other better. I think this is the most overlooked factor in the Nuggets potential success for this season.
- And finally, while I think I believed this all along, I'll admit that it wasn't until reading a few NBA Previews that I realized just how good Carmelo might be this season. Some guys pointed to his unusually poor shooting percentages from last year, some to his experiences on Team USA, but I think that unquestionably, the biggest reason Melo has launched himself into the MVP debate this year is because he finally got a taste. He fought toe-to-toe with the Lakers for 4 games before they shifted it into another gear and went on to all the glory. Carmelo has won at every level and considering where the Nuggets were when he came to Denver, it's hard not to think that just getting them to the playoffs every year was a "win". But getting so close to winning on the biggest stage could only make him hungrier, and judging by the early season performance, he's clearly playing at a different level than he ever has before. In the past, Melo seems to have developed his game as the season progressed, but this year, for the first time, we're seeing him with his entire offensive and defensive repertoire. If the Nuggets win the Championship this year, and I think they have as good a shot as anybody, it will be because Carmelo Anthony wouldn't have it any other way, and he has the perfect cast of characters to take him there.
...
(unless, of course, they have to play the Clippers to get there)
Anyway, I hope this post isn't too late to be interesting, and I hope that tomorrow night's game against Chicago proves to be a more interesting affair than this evening proved.
In addition to Post-Game Nuggetz and potentially Game Previewz for some of the bigger games, I plan on strengthening my position on the Nugz' championship chances by an occasional post titled: "Why (Insert Championship Contending Team Here) Will Not Win the 2009/10 NBA Championship." Creative, I know...
Until next time, good night, and Go Nugz!
A most righteous post, John. Most righteous indeed!
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