Tag Archives: Denver Nuggets

Most Watchable Players – Carmello Anthony

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Carmello Anthony has always been an exciting player to watch. He is a unique offensive talent and one of the most potent scorers in the league. In seasons past he has been the franchise cornerstone for the Denver Nuggets who are always competitive out in the Western Conference.

For those of you following the NBA last season would have been very aware of the Carmello Anthony Saga. A contract extension had been on the table for him for quite some time. Anthony was not willing to sign it or make any comment on it. After seeing the devastation that Lebron James left in Cleveland the Nuggets knew they had to act. After trying to get a commitment from him he ended up requesting a trade. Ultimately the two main suitors were New York and New Jersey. It would later be revealed that Carmello was not interested in New Jersey at all.

He got his wish and took his talents to the Big Apple with Amare Stoudemire. It happened at the cost of half the Knicks roster. The Nuggets ended up doing better without him and the Knicks got swept in the playoffs.

Carmello Anthony had a very productive year and was once again among the top scorers in the league. Despite all the drama at rumours surrounding him he played great. It did not seem to affect him the slightest. Unfortunately the same could not be said for his team mates. He also created an air of uncertainty in both New York and New Jersey.

With all the drama and disruptions that were caused by the saga last year, he got his wish and is playing where he wants to play. Lets see if he can produce the goods. New York just got its first playoff berth in a long time, so lets see if that was just a fluke, or a sign of more to come.

 

In Retrospect – Denver Nuggets

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Result: Lost in the first round of the playoffs to Oklahoma

Record: 50 – 32 (5th in Western Conference, 2nd in Northwest Division)

Denver were one of the better teams in the league this past season. They actually went better after they traded away Carmello Anthony. They were in the thick of the Western Conference Playoff race. They had a great regular season and for the most part they were consistent, no overly large winning or losing streaks.

They lost in the playoffs to the younger and more athletic Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder were just quicker up and down the court and took advantage of the mismatches they created to get them easier points. The Nuggets needed to play to their strengths which was to share the ball around and keep it moving to get open looks, instead they got too bogged down in what the Thunder were trying to do which was to isolate Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook so that they could create a shot for themselves or sometimes another player.

The Nuggets are a well coached group behind coach George Karl. He has a nose for working well with whatever he is given in what ever circumstances are present. For most of the season the big story in Denver was that Carmello wanted out. Front office seemed busy for most of the earlier part of the season trying to strike a deal with another team, namely New York and New Jersey. This, as you could imagine, was very distracting for the organisation. Give the organisation credit for overcoming all the distractions and sticking to the game plan.

The Nuggets were able to get some decent players in the Carmello Anthony trade including: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Raymond Felton. Some may argue that the Nuggets got the better end of the deal as they had a better record after the trade than the Knicks and also cleared off a lot of salary room.

The Nuggets have a large number of free agents this summer. It will be interesting to see who they decide to resign and who they decide to let walk. The Nuggets could decide to stick with a number of them and look to move forward from there, or they could let a large number of them walk and bring in some fresh faces and look to progress from that point.

At this point the Nuggets appear to be at cross roads. With Carmello Anthony now gone, do they pick up the pieces (well its not really pieces as such, keep in mind they did manage to get to 5th in the West without him) and look to solidify and tackle a couple existing issues (Small forward, front court depth) or do they scrap what they have and look to remodel the team. This summer is a very important one for the Nuggets and the lockout would not be helping them at all.

The ‘Other’ Free Agents – Kenyon Martin

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The former number 1 overall pick in the 2000 draft. Has been injured for much of his career. He was at one stage a great leaper who was on the receiving end of many alley oop passes from Jason Kidd in New Jersey. Signed a huge contract with the Nuggets and has been injured for most of it. He will likely not see a contract the same size (or even close) to the one he just had but he can still be very effective. He averaged just under 9 points and 6 rebounds a game in about 25 minutes of action.

Martin is a hardnosed, physical defender. He will not back down from anyone and is often jawing off with a player from the other team. He brings toughness, defence and rebounding. His main defensive assignments are against other teams power forwards. He is on the glass on both ends and was a leader for the Denver Nuggets this year. At 6’9 and 240 pounds he is a big body for a power forward.

Kenyon Martin is somewhat limited offensively. He started off as a great leaper and then suffered many serious injuries. This has not allowed him to properly develop an offensive game. He takes an outside jump shot but seems to have limited success. He does not have the ability to create his own shot. With that being said he runs the floor well and can still get up for alley oops and put backs. Martin also has a fiery temper which tends to get him in trouble at times, he is prone to picking up tech fouls as well as a high number of personal fouls. He is also 33 years old and his best years may very well be behind him.

Kenyon Martin would make a great role player. He is a career starter but if he is after a championship he may need to be open to a role off the bench. This may very well be his last contract, especially if it is a multi year deal.

It is yet to be seen whether or not Martin is going to stay at the Nuggets. Neither party has indicated what they plan on doing.  Here are a couple of teams that Kenyon Martin could fit in with quite well:

Orlando Magic: Would make a great compliment inside to Dwight Howard. If Howard is double teamed he would not only have a bunch of shooters to pass out to he would have Martin cutting to the hoop. Would not hurt if he could develop that outside shot a little more.

Indiana Pacers: They need a legit power forward. They have two under developed players in Tyler Hansbrough and Josh Mc Roberts. Kenyon would likely start in place of both of them and his defence and his physical presence would be needed.

New Jersey Nets: Would it be wrong for him to go back to New Jersey?

Regardless of where he goes Kenyon Martin is going to have to take a huge pay cut. He will likely be a complimentary role player and may even have to accept a role off the bench.

The Winner of the Draft Day Trades (At the Moment)

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There already appears to be some winners and losers of the draft day trades, others will be revealed later in the year and for years to come.  To me, at this very point, the biggest winner from the draft day trades appears to be Raymond Felton.

Felton spent his first five season as a member of Charlotte Bobcats. While he was always considered a solid player who puts up consistent numbers he was consistently averaging about 12-14 points and 5-7 assists.

Felton was traded to the Knicks last summer to compliment Amare Stoudemire. He played and started 54 games with the Knicks averaging 17 points and nine assists per game. Those who watched him play know that he was very capable of sustaining those numbers and even increasing them.

He was then traded to Denver. Denver already has a young point guard in Ty Lawson who they are moulding into their future at the point. Felton did not seem to be a part of the Nuggets plans, he became a bench player and put up a career low 11.5 points per game in the 21 games he played there, he did not start a game.

As a member of the Portland Trailblazers Felton should be the starting point guard. He has many capable options on offence including Brandon Roy, Gerald Wallace and LaMarcus Aldridge. Nobody caught more alley oops in the league last year that LaMarcus Aldridge and Felton will most likely be on the passing end of a majority of those. With Rudy Fernandez now playing for Dallas, Portland lack a spot up shooter from deep so now would be a great time for Felton to work on his 3 point shot. He should see many open looks from distance this season as both Roy and Aldridge have the ability to draw double teams. If he can push the Portland tempo a little bit he would be able to find some easy fast break points for Gerald Wallace and himself.

Raymond Felton has been presented with a great opportunity to improve his own game as well as that of his new team. I can expect to see Felton’s numbers go back to where they were when he was in New York but I would not be surprised to see this guy become a 20/10 player for the Blazers and become an all star “snub”.

My Thoughts on Draft Day

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Everybody is now out evaluating the draft picks and how they will impact on their new team, so today I will not be doing that. However I will be looking at some other parts of draft day 2011.

We had a large number of draft day trades, more than usual, or so it felt like it anyway.  Trades that involved veteran players going to new homes. Some of the main players moved were:

Raymond Felton to Portland

Andre Miller to Denver

Stephen Jackson and Shaun Livingston to Milwaukee

Rudy Fernandez to Dallas

Corey Maggette to Charlotte

John Salmons to Sacramento

George Hill to Indiana

There were also a number of other trades involving draft picks and other players but that is all to be expected on draft night. Despite all these trades Josh Smith is still in Atlanta, Tony Parker is still at San Antonio, Steve Nash is still a Sun and so is Vince Cater. Well for now anyway.

I’m curious as to how much time and thought goes into these draft day trades, a lot of them seem like they are made at the last minute.

I think its pretty cool that the Morris twins were selected one after the other with Markeiff going to Phoenix (13th) and Marcus going to Houston (14th).

I know they took a guard (Corey Joseph) with the 29th overall pick but the Spurs now look very thin in the back court after trading away George Hill. With trade rumours forever surrounding Tony Parker and Manu’s health always being a concern for this team it will be interesting to see what they do with the rest of this offseason.

 I know he has had the job for a while now but it only just hit me that Mark Jackson will not be commentating next year. He was very entertaining. Mama there goes that man.

Portland have drafted another player from Ohio State (Jon Diebler, 51st pick overall). Lets hope he goes better than the last guy they picked from that school.

Speaking of which, neither Portland or Houston drafted a centre in this draft, a position both teams needed filled. This goes to show that both teams are still relying on a come back from their often/ always injured centres.

 Why is it that the Knicks are always critical of their draft picks? They booed Iman Shumpurt when his name was called. I bet you half the people booing did not know a thing about him. It was the same case with a guy named Landry Fields last year and he turned out to be quite a steal for them, so give this guy a chance.

I will be keeping a close eye on both of the Spurs draft picks. They seem to be good at getting quality players from later on in the draft. It would go a long way towards explaining why they have been so competitive for so long.

This draft will make or break the next few years for quite a few teams (namely Cleveland, Washington, Utah and Minnesota). We will see if these organisations get dividends from its latest investments or if they end up back to the lottery. Building through the draft is a great way to build up a solid core (see Chicago, Oklahoma and possibly Memphis). A couple solid draft picks can have you contending with the best in just a few short years.

Some Thoughts on the Upcoming Draft

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With the NBA draft fast approaching I am curious to see what team will pick what player. Today I will be listing the teams in alphabetical order and stating what kind of player they will need in the draft. This is not a mock draft as you will soon find out. I will check back at this post after the draft is all said and done I will evaluate whether or not the teams picked a player to match its weaknesses.

Atlanta: (Picks: 48) Atlanta need a proper starting centre so they can move Al Horford into his natural power forwards spot.

Boston: (Picks: 25, 55) They definitely need to think about the future. The Celtics have two picks. Maybe they can bring in a centre to learn off Jermaine O’Neal and Kevin Garnett for a year or two. They could also use some depth at shooting guard behind Ray Allen.

Charlotte: (Picks: 9, 19, 39) Which three picks in this years draft Charlotte needs to capitalise as it does not have much in the way of tradeable assets. They need a presence the paint on defence, they need a secondary scorer to compliment Stephen Jackson who is a threat taking the ball to the basket and they need a shooter to stretch the defence……among other things.

Chicago: (Picks: 28, 30, 43) The one glaring weakness for this team in at the shooting guard position. They need a shooting guard who can be a scoring threat as well as a half decent defender. I say draft three shooting guards and if none of them work out then package them up and trade them for a shooting guard with about 3-7 years NBA experience. It sounds crazy I know but it just seems as though Chicago are only a quality shooting guard away from an NBA title.

Cleveland: (Picks: 1, 4, 32, 54) Yes, they have four picks in the upcoming draft, but I believe they should have gone after more. Cleveland need to have a big off season and start over. The only player I believe they should hang onto is JJ Hickson, a power forward. Cleveland should try to land itself a point guard, shooting guard, a small forward and a centre. Cleveland should trade away most of its current roster for younger more athletic players. This offseason could very well shape the Cleveland franchise for the next 10-15 years.

Dallas: (Picks: 26, 57) Dallas has quite a few of its rotational players as free agents this summer (well their rotation was pretty close to 12 deep anyway….) including Tyson Chandler, Caron Butler, JJ Barea and DeShawn Stevenson. With the new bargaining agreement more likely to lower the salary cap than raise it, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to resign them all. So I think whoever Dallas cannot hang onto they need to find a draft replacement for.

Denver: (Picks: 22, 52) Denver are in a similar situation to Dallas where they have a lot of free agents this summer. They should look to draft a shooter and a big man and perhaps let JR Smith and Kenyon Martin walk.

Detroit: (Picks: 8, 33) Like Cleveland, I think the Pistons should look to start over. They need to scrap a lot of players and move them on. I think the pistons are in need of some inside help on both ends of the floor as well as a small forward.

Golden State: (Picks: 11, 44) Defence. Golden State needs someone who can play defence. Defence is the main thing the Warriors lack. They are a run and gun, up tempo offensive team. If they want to run and gun the playoffs they will need to draft someone who can play perimeter defence, and someone who can play defence inside. Have I mentioned that they should draft someone who can play defence?

Houston: (Picks: 14, 23, 38) They traded away Shane Battier during the season. Not a smart move. They need to draft a blue collar workhorse like him who plays hardnosed defence and can spot up and hit open shots. They may also need to find replacement for Yao Ming who has a habit of breaking something in his foot every year. They also need some depth behind Kevin Martin at shooting guard.

Indiana: (Picks: 15, 42) They need some help on the boards, a rebounding focused 4 or 5 man could really help them out. They could also use some depth behind Danny Granger.

LA Clippers: (Picks: 37, 47) They need a back up point guard. A back up point guard who can push the tempo and pass the ball. They also need some offense out on the wing to relieve some of the pressure from Blake Griffin who will very likely be seeing more double teams this year and Clippers have to make their opponents pay. A quality spot up shooter couldn’t hurt this team either.

LA Lakers: (Picks: 41, 46, 56, 58) The Lakers need a point guard. The Lakers need a back up point guard. The point guards they have are too old and too slow. They also need some perimeter offence to put into play when Kobe Bryant is on the bench. The Lakers should also look to draft a big and start looking building outwards to the future so they can extend their current championship window.

Memphis: (Picks: 49, 60) Memphis needs some front court help. If they are going to take steps forward this year they cannot afford to be out rebounded and outworked inside when their starting frontcourt of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph is on the bench. Memphis should also look to draft a long range shooter to stop the defence from collapsing or making them pay if they do.

Miami: (Picks: 31) Anything but a superstar or a spot up shooter. Miami have enough of those. They could use some help inside and on the glass. This will free James and Wade up so they can run the lanes.

Milwaukee: (Picks: 10, 40) Pretty much the opposite to Golden State. They need someone who can put the ball in the hoop. They need to pick up a scoring small forward and a scoring power forward.

Minnesota: (Picks: 2, 20) They have a young core which is starting to take place. Now that Kevin Love has found his groove, Michael Beasley is still developing and Ricky Rubio has arrived the wolves need to add in some pieces around their young core. I’m thinking they could use a centre with a reasonable amount of athleticism to contest shots at the rim and get up and down the court quicker than most centres. He would also make a good alley oop target. They could also use a shooting guard with good range and a solid defensive game.

New Jersey: (Picks: 27, 36) New Jersey needs someone to back them up in the front court. A running mate in the shooting guard position would be great too as it would give Deron Williams a target on the outside which would create more room for himself.

New Orleans: (Picks: 45) Chris Paul needs a back up. New Orleans may even need a replacement at the end of this season.

New York: (Picks: 17) New York needs a shooter to open the floor up so the Amare and Carmello have room to operate. If he can defend then it will only make the Knicks better as their depth has been cleared out by the Carmello Trade.

Oklahoma: (Picks: 24) They need a potent wing scorer who can do damage off the bench as James Harden almost has to become a starter next season for the Thunder to improve. Either that or some offence inside would help them a lot. They have 4 great interior defenders in Ibaka, Perkins, Collison and Mohammad but none of them are great offensive players.

Orlando: (Picks: 53) Whatever Dwight Howard wants…… Ask him because it seems as though he wants to see the roster overhauled (again) if he is to stay in Orlando.

Philadelphia: (Picks: 16, 50) Philly needs help on the glass. They should draft a physical defensive minded rebounder. They should also look to employ a slasher who can cut to the basket while Iguodala is on the bench.

Phoenix: (Picks: 13) The suns could use a wing player who is quick up and down the court and can finish at the rim. This will go well with Steve Nash and is something the suns have been lacking since the departure of Shaun Marion. They need someone very similar to a Shaun Marion, someone they do not need to run plays for and who still scores a good amount of points anyway.

Portland: (Picks: 21, 51) The Blazers should be looking to draft a centre and stop hoping and wishing the return of Greg Oden. Even if he does play he wont be able to jump like he did at Ohio State and he will be playing with so much caution that he will not be the aggressive player the Blazers are after. When I did watch him play when he was healthy he seemed to pick up more fouls than points. Having 15 year veteran Marcus Camby, who has had an injury plagued career himself, as both your primary and secondary option at centre while banking on yet another recovery from Greg Oden is dangerous business. They also need to find a back up for LaMarcus Aldridge just so that moving Gerald Wallace to the four spot isn’t the only real option when Aldridge is on the bench.

Sacramento: (Picks: 7, 35) They need a true point guard. They need to move Tyreke Evans over to the shooting guard spot. I think if this happens his game is going to take off. I believe he is better off playing off the ball. If Samuel Dalembert leaves, which he has hinted that he could, the Kings will look very thin up front and will need the rebounding and shot blocking that Dalembert brings.

San Antonio: (Picks: 29, 59) The Spurs have a thing for getting some great late round pick ups. I would be looking for them to add some players on the wings to eventually replace the aging Manu Ginobilli and the largely ineffective Richard Jefferson.

Toronto: (Picks: 5) Toronto needs help at every position. If Ed Davis can become that defensive anchor in the middle then Toronto should look to bring in some perimeter scoring. At least that way they will have a starting point and can slot in Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozan.

Utah: (Picks: 3, 12,) With two very good picks Utah could turn themselves around very quickly especially if they can hold onto Derrick Favours and Devin Harris. They could bring in a defensive/ rebounding centre and some perimeter offense.

Washington: (Picks:6, 18, 34) With a young core in place the Wizards just need to add the next few pieces in around John Wall, JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Andray Blatche. They need to draft a small forward to complimet Nick Young on the wing. With a solid starting five in place they can then move onto drafting a backup player for the both the front court and the back court.