When Denver jettisoned all-defense center Marcus Camby to Los Angeles for nothing more than cap space this summer, most figured the presence of several big-minute big men in Nuggets powder blue was at least a minor factor. Kenyon Martin nor Nene will be going anywhere soon; as Camby held solid trade value, it (almost) made sense to move him as a way of freeing up space for the others (and cash for owner Stan Kroenke).But backup center Steven Hunter has been knocked out of play by recurring knee problems; George Karl believes Hunter may never play again. No Camby, no Hunter ... no Antonio McDyess. There's no one left behind K-Mart (who might miss a third straight game with a sprained wrist) and Nene but Cheikh Samb (more raw than steak tartare) and The Birdman, Chris Andersen (who has a broken rib and won't play until roughly Thanksgiving). The Nuggets aren't happy about it, writes Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News.
"We don't have no big men," the 6-foot-8 [Carmelo] Anthony said. "I was the big man (Tuesday at Charlotte when the small forward played some center). Why not (acquire another post player)? If there's somebody out there we can get, why not?"Tomasson reports Karl asked permission to reacquire , who was released to make room for the three-for-one Chauncey Billups trade. Since McDyess is gone, there's an open spot. Howard would cost only a few hundred thousand, even assuming Denver stays over the tax line this season.But Kroenke rejected the plea. He wants his team to get under the tax line (hence, the McDyess buyout). Never mind that Denver looks suddenly competitive in an odd West, or that the chances of slipping under tax line without giving away another good player for nothing are slim. It's cost-cutting mode, baby. Ta' hell with wins ... or any sort of faith from your players, at least one of which I'd assume you'd like to keep happy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-13-2008 @ 8:05PM
Giles said...
OOps! No Denver fans? All busy talking about Shaq passing John Havlicek for 10th on the nba-only scoring list (they really should include aba and nbl stastics with the abl/nba statistics)? Maybe New York will pick up McDyess and Howard, and Luke Jackson who has been waived again, last I heard from Portland, and release James, Jeffries, and Marbury, to Denver? Curry isn`t coach`s style, but would he keep Jeffries and waive Curry?
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11-14-2008 @ 11:54AM
Dave D. said...
Denver may seem like it doesn't have a plan, but it could be that they're just looking for the status quo -- stay under the luxury tax, but make the playoffs.
This is why you get both cost cutting moves, like the Marcus Camby salary dump, and the taking on of long term contracts, like Iverson-for-Billups. The extra income from those post season 4-to-7 games and the fear of the luxury tax could both be working as motivators in opposite directions.
The only problem with this theory is that the Nuggets have seen a (rather large) bump in road attendance since Iverson has been there -- he's clearly a ticket-seller -- so there's a potential loss of income there. At home, however, sales have been flat. It may make sense, then, that the difference in road ticket sales from having Iverson would not be enough to make up for the financial hit of missing the playoffs, and that was the motivating factor.
What it seems to boil down to, then, is that the Nuggets will improve their frontline if it's a) necessary to get them into the playoffs, AND b) doesn't keep them over the luxury tax.
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