Nuggets Front Office - Good/Bad?
Posted: Wed Mar 1, 2017 1:47 am
All of our regulars know I have some issues with our front office. But how far out of perspective do you think I am?
Here's my view of some key points. You're allowed to add any areas I didn't cover.
A+) Draft
B) Trades
C) Free Agent Signings
A-) Building a team
D) Coaching Hires
D) Advertising/Promotionals/etc.
** Draft: I don't always agree with their selection, but I can't argue with the results. (Usually better than my choice anyway.)
** Trades: The trades they make, they seem to do very well. My complaint here is that they are not aggressive enough (for me).
** FA: They have not done very much here, but I'm not going to give them a lower score just because FAs don't want to sign here. Nationwide, Denver's a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, but that's about the best point Denver has. So do FAs not want to sign here because of the city or because of the team? Perhaps a better team will bring some FAs and I think most of us believe that. If the team improves as we all hope and we still sign no FAs, this might need reevaluation.
** Build: There are three aspects that I think are important in building a team. 1) Talent and the Nuggets have done well there but not great. That's based on Draft/Trades/FA. 2) Fit players together - always tricky and I think overall they've done a great job at this. This includes the right mix of veterans and youth. They've done fairly well there too. The "fit" aspect that I think they have not done well with is playing styles. But that's also a factor of time. when a unique player such as Jokic shows up, it takes time to replace existing players with new players. 3) Perhaps the most important aspect of building a team IMO is having quality individuals. By that I mean avoiding lockerroom cancers and such. They have done an outstanding job of doing that and that is very, very difficult. Sometimes talent is too tempting to resist.
** Coach: They fired a coach who had that very season led the Nuggets to the best record since the Nuggets joined the NBA. There were reasons for a change but hiring Shaw proved to be a mistake and unfortunately, it will be difficult for Shaw to get a second chance. Hiring Malone was and in my mind, remains questionable. He may very well develop into a good coach, but that is a topic for a different thread.
** Advert: Worst attendance in the league but it goes up when the team gets hot. Hmmm, if it's just based on team play, why are teams with worse records averaging more in attendance? Some say, "bigger markets" but remember that those bigger markets often have not only the NBA but also NFL, MLB, NHL, and multiple lessor professional sports events plus more college events than Denver as well. Many franchises engage their fans in a very effective manner (some are worse than the Nuggets too).
Here's my view of some key points. You're allowed to add any areas I didn't cover.
A+) Draft
B) Trades
C) Free Agent Signings
A-) Building a team
D) Coaching Hires
D) Advertising/Promotionals/etc.
** Draft: I don't always agree with their selection, but I can't argue with the results. (Usually better than my choice anyway.)
** Trades: The trades they make, they seem to do very well. My complaint here is that they are not aggressive enough (for me).
** FA: They have not done very much here, but I'm not going to give them a lower score just because FAs don't want to sign here. Nationwide, Denver's a popular destination for outdoor enthusiasts, but that's about the best point Denver has. So do FAs not want to sign here because of the city or because of the team? Perhaps a better team will bring some FAs and I think most of us believe that. If the team improves as we all hope and we still sign no FAs, this might need reevaluation.
** Build: There are three aspects that I think are important in building a team. 1) Talent and the Nuggets have done well there but not great. That's based on Draft/Trades/FA. 2) Fit players together - always tricky and I think overall they've done a great job at this. This includes the right mix of veterans and youth. They've done fairly well there too. The "fit" aspect that I think they have not done well with is playing styles. But that's also a factor of time. when a unique player such as Jokic shows up, it takes time to replace existing players with new players. 3) Perhaps the most important aspect of building a team IMO is having quality individuals. By that I mean avoiding lockerroom cancers and such. They have done an outstanding job of doing that and that is very, very difficult. Sometimes talent is too tempting to resist.
** Coach: They fired a coach who had that very season led the Nuggets to the best record since the Nuggets joined the NBA. There were reasons for a change but hiring Shaw proved to be a mistake and unfortunately, it will be difficult for Shaw to get a second chance. Hiring Malone was and in my mind, remains questionable. He may very well develop into a good coach, but that is a topic for a different thread.
** Advert: Worst attendance in the league but it goes up when the team gets hot. Hmmm, if it's just based on team play, why are teams with worse records averaging more in attendance? Some say, "bigger markets" but remember that those bigger markets often have not only the NBA but also NFL, MLB, NHL, and multiple lessor professional sports events plus more college events than Denver as well. Many franchises engage their fans in a very effective manner (some are worse than the Nuggets too).