Nuggets trade Kosta Koufos for Grizzlies' Darrell Arthur

[DaFan334]

Nuggets trade Kosta Koufos for Grizzlies' Darrell Arthur and #55 pick in the draft

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_23 ... -him-later

[eathb_au]

This trade is disgusting.

[pickIBL]

get ready to play McGee

[DaFan334]

I guess we will be trying to bring back Mozgov, but I don't get how we couldn't find more value for Koufos. Not the best first move for Connelly IMO, but we will see I guess.

[pickIBL]

probably means they are looking at muscala... or not lol... wth

[The Rebel]

Not a good way for Connelly to start off his Nuggets career, I do think the Nuggets may be going after Colton Iverson or Muscala with their later 1st.

Looks like Eric Green is the 1st of the 2nd round picks, don't know much about him but seems some were high on him.

[DaFan334]

Looks like Eric Green can shoot, which is nice and needed (if he makes the roster).

Arthur will probably provide better depth at the 4 than Anthony Randolph and allow Wilson Chandler to play more 3 while Gallo is out, but I'm definitely not sold on the value for Koufos, even if he didn't show up in the playoffs.

[eathb_au]

Well trying to look for the positives.

Arthur has a nice midrange jumper and we haven't had a big that can make those shots since... Al Harrington I guess.

I'm hopeful that his terrible advanced statistics stem from playing in Lionel Hollins' system.

I am told that he's also a good defender which is always nice.

[Shemy]

Harrington isn't a good comparison, sorta like a Taj Gibson I'd say with injury concerns

[ferk]

As a mem fan this is steal for us.

[The Rebel]

Even after sleeping on it over night, I am still a little pissed off about this, I can understand the idea of getting McGee more minutes and bringing back Mozgov to backup center. I can also understand wanting a 4 that can spread the floor and allowing Chandler to play his natural position, but the best Connelly could get was a late 2nd round pick and Arthur? IF that was the best offer why not wait until free agency when you could have done better then that?


Also Brandon Krystal has never broken a story about the Nuggets in his career, but he was tweeting that the Nuggets offered Faried for Oladipo, I can see the reasoning for the deal, but something just seems strange with that rumor on top of the KK trade. Why trade your starting center for a backup PF just after trying to trade your starting PF for a rookie SG that may have good upside, only thing that says to me is that Igoudala may be gone, and they think they can get another good big either through trade or free agency.

[denvers_finest]

Ehh, i'm not too upset about this trade, though I'm not as high on Koufos as some. He has been the starter for the last year and a half, and in each of the last playoff series was benched halfway through as he was getting completely owned on both occasions. He is a servicable big, but is better served as a quality backup than a starting center. Average player on a good contract, not exactly hard to replace. In fact, it could mean they like Mosgov more and wanted to make room for him.

That being said, It does seem as though a team would have given up a late first for Koufos if that was the route we wanted to go.

My guess is the Nuggets have more moves planned.

[eathb_au]

I'm all for trading out players who continuously fold in the playoffs, just can't help but think you can get more for a starting big on a team that won 57.

Mind you losing Koufos doesn't make us a worse team.

Hopefully Hess can get Arthur back to his pre injury form. A midrange shooting PF is huge for a team that needs to get better in the half court offense.

[Exec76]

It makes Memphis better...Frontcourt depth and opens up minutes for Ed Davis. Showing your hand with Mozgov plus what they got in return are my issues with the trade

Teams wanted to trade for Mozgov last year so I'm sure his value is higher than the 3 million Koufus is making

[RRFB]

Here's Connelly's explanation of the trade (not sure how to embed the video):
http://www.nba.com/nuggets/video/2013/0 ... ov-2523930

If you consider that they were trying to trade for fit rather than to maximize Koufos' value, it makes a bit more sense. I don't know too much about Arthur but if he's really the elite post defender that they think he is, this could be a good trade. His ability to spread the floor with the midrange game should help with our spacing problem from last year too. He's also only 25, I had thought he was older than that, hopefully he can run.

Sucks to lose Koufos but he has been horrible in the playoffs and Mozgov should be able to produce similar numbers.

[MCoster]

Lawson / Miller / Green
Fournier / Hamilton / Stone
Gallo (hurt)/ Chandler
Faried / Arthur / Randolph
McGee / Mozgov

?

[scottcarman]

There is not much spin to put on the trade. It doesn't really help us financially. It hurts us talent wise. It doesn't make us younger. It's one of those 'what the hell were you thinking?' trades.

I'm guessing that Mozgov is gone also, and they plan to run AR as the backup Center.

[DaFan334]

Here's Connelly's explanation of the trade (not sure how to embed the video):
http://www.nba.com/nuggets/video/2013/0 ... ov-2523930

If you consider that they were trying to trade for fit rather than to maximize Koufos' value, it makes a bit more sense. I don't know too much about Arthur but if he's really the elite post defender that they think he is, this could be a good trade. His ability to spread the floor with the midrange game should help with our spacing problem from last year too. He's also only 25, I had thought he was older than that, hopefully he can run.

Sucks to lose Koufos but he has been horrible in the playoffs and Mozgov should be able to produce similar numbers.

When healthy Arthur is rather athletic and as long as his injuries haven't drastically slowed him down, he can run with the team. Arthur is probably a better fit next to McGee than Faried or Randolph with his floor spacing. Still not in love with this deal, but Arthur could be a good fit.

[DaFan334]

There is not much spin to put on the trade. It doesn't really help us financially. It hurts us talent wise. It doesn't make us younger. It's one of those 'what the hell were you thinking?' trades.

I'm guessing that Mozgov is gone also, and they plan to run AR as the backup Center.

Not sure why you would think Mozgov is gone. He is a restricted free agent, didn't do anything last year to make him worth a contract that we couldn't match, and it already sounded like Connolly wanted to give him a chance to see what he has. If anything, this move puts less faith in AR15.

[peja_the_legend]

Koufos is the first player in history who actually gets punished for playing well and doing his job.