Offseason Preview: Denver Nuggets

by David Pincus
2006-06-26

The Denver Nuggets in the 1990’s were miserable. The highest they got was the #8 seed (where they beat Seattle) in 1994. After that they lost 71 games and became one of the worst teams in NBA history. Yet it lead to Carmelo Anthony’s drafting three years ago, and since the Nuggets haven’t missed the playoffs.

Denver’s season was marred with injuries. Only Andre Miller played every game. Camby, Martin, Boykins, Nene and Johnson missed a ton of games. Denver actually pursued Shawn Kemp at one point.

Their injuries lead to several transactions. Off-season signee Earl Watson was traded midway through the year for Ruben Patterson. Patterson had come off a successful 45 games with the Trailblazers and played equally well with the Nuggets. Howard Eisley and Reggie Evans were also picked up.

Denver finished 44-38 and would’ve faced the Spurs in the first round had the playoffs been ordered best-team-to-worst. However thanks to a technicality the Nuggets were awarded the #3 seed and faced the Clippers in round 1.

It was one and done for the Nuggets. Denver never looked like a playoff team and got steamrolled by LA through five games. One reason could have been Kenyon Martin, who got suspended for the remainder of the playoffs after a scuffle with coach George Karl.

An eventful offseason is in store for the Denver Nuggets.

Needs:

Manage Kenyon Martin:

When Martin was with New Jersey, he displayed athleticism and an inside presence that rewarded him with a massive contract in Denver. It’s been two years since K-Mart signed with the Nuggets, and so far it hasn’t worked out. Martin has missed considerable playing time due to injury and his statistics don’t justify the $71.9 million contract he’s set to earn over the next five years.

When Martin was at his best with the Nets, he was running with Jason Kidd and getting easy baskets. However his knee doesn’t allow him to dunk or even rebound like he used to.
Having both Camby and Martin in the frontcourt only works on the 100-1 odds that both are healthy at the same time. Martin isn’t reliable and only clogs their ability to sign free agents with his hefty contract. Camby played well in 06 and should be kept for the future. Martin hasn’t helped with the chemistry and is looking for a way out.

The Nets and Knicks are reportedly both in talks to acquire Martin. If Denver can release him without taking on a long-term contract from either team, then they’ll have some breathing room in their salary cap. Either way, there’s no way Martin is sticking around, after being suspended entirely from last year’s playoffs by coach George Karl.

Get some added size

Nene is an unrestricted free agent. He would have spent last year complaining over playing time had he not been injured for all but three minutes. He’s unrestricted and is on the way out. Martin is gone and Reggie Evans doesn’t appear to be returning either. That leaves Eduardo Najera, Francisco Elson, and Marcus Camby to cover the frontcourt.

Camby will undoubtedly miss some playing time. Elson and Najera don’t provide the points or the defense that Camby does. Luckily the free agent market has plenty of bigmen.

One area the team was solid in last year was rebounding, where they finished fifth. Much of that had to do with Camby and Martin taking up the interior. With that interior probably shrinking in 2007, a backup Center like Alonzo Mourning could work.

Sign some three-point shooters

For the most part of last year, Denver was dead last in the NBA in three-point shooting. When double-teams confront Carmelo, he has to be able to dish it to someone who can knock down an open shot. Their best three-point shooter was Earl Watson, who made 11 of 12 threes at one point. However they dealt him to Seattle midway through the year.

Denver has tried several three-point specialists who haven’t worked out. Bryon Russell and Wesley Person couldn’t get in the game, and Voshon Leonard has been injured for the better part of two years.

Several low-key players are out on the market. Anthony Peeler, Fred Hoiberg, Doug Christie and Rodney Rodgers are all available and won’t cost too much money. A perfect fit would be Vladimir Radmanovic. Vladi is 6’10 and can light it up from 3-point range. Signing him will solve both their outside shooting deficiency and their lack of size.

Give Carmelo some money

Carmelo Anthony has one more year left on his contract before he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. Anthony has been tremendous through three years and would’ve received a lot more press had Wade and LeBron not been in the picture.

Anthony will want and deserves a long-term contract. With K-Mart out of the way they should be able to give him an extension. However they should wait and see if they can find a way to clear some more room. Without Martin they’ll have about $10 million a year to manage.

It’s assumed that Anthony will return to Denver for years to come. But with him signing long-term, the Nuggets will be without spending room for a while. Right now Denver is a one-man team when it comes to scoring. It doesn’t help the team win games, but it may want Anthony to stick around.

Work with Andre

Andre Miller makes over $9 million a year to be Denver’s starting Point guard. Last year he averaged 13.7 points to go along with 8.2 assists. Miller is a very good Point guard. However he needs to tweak his performances to justify to his salary.

Miller is a good low-post scorer and has a good midrange game. However he isn’t a very good three-point shooter, which is one of Denver’s biggest weaknesses.

While he gets plenty of assists (like Stephon Marbury) he doesn’t really lead the offense. Often he’ll pass it to a teammate and position himself on the court as though he was a SG or SF. At heart he probably isn’t a Point Guard but at 6’2 he’s heard to position.

Miller is a half-court Point Guard. Any team that makes its home in Denver needs to be able to run. Either the coaches should work on his floor management and get him to run more often, or they should pursue a different PG. Earl Boykins makes considerably less money and can run team almost as well.

Unless Denver gets Carmelo a sidekick and deals with their chemistry issues, they will never be more than a 45-win team. They have to make improvements this July/August; they aren't they far ahead of Seattle and Utah.