RealGM

Off-season Priorities
Under Contract
Kenyon Martin- PF
Carmelo Anthony- SF
Chauncey Billups- PG
Nene- F/C
J.R. Smith- SG
Renaldo Balkman- SF
Sonny Weems- SF
Steven Hunter (career ending injury? & Exp contract)- C

Free Agents
Johan Petro
Linas Kleiza- RFA
Chris Andersen- No Bird Rights
Anthony Carter
Dahntay Jones
Jason Hart

2009 NBA Draft 34th pick overall

Players who could fall but unlikely to be on the board
DaJuan Summers SF
Sam Young SF/SG
Taj Gibson PF
Darren Collison PG
Marcus Thornton SG
Patty Mills PG

My list of top available talent at 34th overall
PG Rodrique Beaubois
SG Jerel McNeal
SF Vladimir Dasic
PF Jonas Jerebko
C Josh Heytvelt

Nuggets Cap Situation
7 players actually fit to play under contract. Hunter is the 8 and expiring next summer.
Including Dice the Nuggets will be at 69 million in terms of payroll. Early estimates put the luxury tax next year at 70 million.

The Nuggets where handicapped in what they were able to do this year in terms of deals by the luxury tax. How far over 70 million will the Nuggets go?

MLE
Camby Trade Exception
LLE
& Min. Level Contracts

These are what the Nuggets have to work with. If the Nuggets sign Birdman to the MLE they will be at 74.5 million with only 8 players available to play and 9 on the roster.

We need a super-big that is not afraid to dunk. A 7 footer that is not soft and has good hands.

A role player would be fine, but the idea would be to prevent situations like tonight. We need someone who has no inhibitions and will flat out compete no matter what.

I like Nene, I like Andersen, but neither showed up tonight and that's a huge liability.

1. Re-sign Birdman to the MLE.
Must be the first priority. The obvious fan favorite, provides energy hustle and great defense off the bench.

2. Get a new backup PG
AC is hopeless... plays average defense, is a turnover first PG. When Billups isn't playing well, AC can't really make up for it at the point. I get a feeling that he WILL be back next season though... and if it is, hopefully as a 3rd stringer.

Anyway, target guys like Sessions (doubtful), Dre, Pargo, or draft a PG like Patrick Mills with #34. One that can hit the 3 ball as preference.

3. Another scorer off the bench
LK for Azubuike please? Charlie V? This is so that JR can start. A big that can board and hit jumpers like DICE would be nice as well.

and re-sign Jones for the minimum again, LK to the qualifying offer, target veterans like Anthony Parker, Chris Wilcox.

let go: AC, Hart, Petro

TE trade target: Emeka Okafor, Caron Butler

eathy wrote:1. Re-sign Birdman to the MLE.
Must be the first priority. The obvious fan favorite, provides energy hustle and great defense off the bench.

2. Get a new backup PG
AC is hopeless... plays average defense, is a turnover first PG. When Billups isn't playing well, AC can't really make up for it at the point. I get a feeling that he WILL be back next season though... and if it is, hopefully as a 3rd stringer.

Anyway, target guys like Sessions (doubtful), Dre, Pargo, or draft a PG like Patrick Mills with #34. One that can hit the 3 ball as preference.

3. Another scorer off the bench
LK for Azubuike please? Charlie V? This is so that JR can start. A big that can board and hit jumpers like DICE would be nice as well.

and re-sign Jones for the minimum again, LK to the qualifying offer, target veterans like Anthony Parker, Chris Wilcox.

let go: AC, Hart, Petro

TE trade target: Emeka Okafor, Caron Butler

Where to start. If you give birdman the MLE how do you fill out the rest of the roster. You cant do it for 80 million and I dont think the Nuggets go any higher than that. Mills is not likely to be around at 34. Jones is not likely to be around for the vet min. or possibly even LLE?

Low post players can play through Birdman. Birdman goes after every even slightly possible block which let Pau get easy rebounds and put backs. You bring back birdman you still need a big strong 7 footer.

Birdman is not taking the full MLE... i'd say he takes around 3 mil of it.

If Mills is not available, then there are other PGs that we can take as well. Hell even if the PG depth is dried up, Danny Green seems like a decent player who'd fit in well (solid defender + can shoot).

If Jones thinks he's worth more than the minimum then he can **** off... because realistically that's all he's worth.

Any backup pgs that are good with the lob pass?

Jason Kidd, Dre, AC

eathy wrote:Birdman is not taking the full MLE... i'd say he takes around 3 mil of it.

The rumblings suggest they'll ask for the full MLE and maybe get 4 to 5 million for some team. There are plenty of teams that would match or beat 3 million.

With Jones possibly gone and Mills off the board who do you draft? What if Kleiza won't be back?

Take a C? SF? SG? PG?

Nobody predicted the Camby trade last summer... could we be in for another surprise? The Bulls do need an enforcer type PF.

Could they trade Hinrich and Jerome James for K-Mart and Balkman? I could see the Nuggets doing this just to fail Jerome James with his physical.. then waive the physical requirement in a Mobley type move (insurance covered some of his salary).

reading draftexpress i like these players in our draft range:

Sergio Llull, PG
Pros: Good playmaker, and can shoot 3. Also has a cool name 'lawl'. Big body PG as well.
Cons: Defense

Victor Claver, PF
Pros: Can shoot 3, and rebound.
Cons: Potential, defense, soft.

Danny Green, SF/SG
Pros: Can shoot from the 3 ball, solid defender.
Cons: Potential, athleticism

Let's hope this economy limits Birdman's opportunities, because in all honesty, he wasn't a factor against the Lakers. You have to design your team to make the playoffs first, and beat a specific team secondly. The Spurs seem like the only other threat to the Nuggets in the West, so our next priority is beating the Lakers. Birdman is too predictable for skilled big men like Pau, and a rapidly improving Bynum.

Honestly, we don't do any better than we did this year. This was it. We let Birdman walk, let a year pass and trade Kenyon and Billups expirings and look to 2011. Depressing, but there is no way to quick fix this team for a Championship, short of a Lakers collapse.

I don't know. We impressed a lot of people this year.

That reaps dividends. AI was the first, Billups was the next.

All the rest of the pieces we need can definitely see how we place in a championship mode and how many different players see that we just need X whatever to get to the next level.

I don't think the build up is over. And if it is, oh well, we'll find out I'm sure. This team isn't done.

pickIBL wrote:Nobody predicted the Camby trade last summer... could we be in for another surprise? The Bulls do need an enforcer type PF.

Could they trade Hinrich and Jerome James for K-Mart and Balkman? I could see the Nuggets doing this just to fail Jerome James with his physical.. then waive the physical requirement in a Mobley type move (insurance covered some of his salary).

Actually if you read this board last year you would know that plenty of us were sure that Camby was going to be traded, while none of us knew the return, to act as if it was a total surprise he was gone is just plain false.

James's contract is covered by insurance regardless, if he cannot play do to injury insurance covers a major portion of the salary, just like we currently have with Hunter.

Another thing I would like to ask, is when is the last time any team won a championship without a very good big man? Not a single team without good big men have ever won the championship. This focus on adding huge money to the wings will only burn the team in the end. I never see the Nuggets front office being dumb enough to spend $9-10 million more on the backcourt, while ignoring the front court. Jr and Billups is more then enough for 35 minutes a game, the last 26 can be covered by Weems (who has torn up the D-league) and a couple of $3 million a year or less backup combo or Pgs. At SF Melo plays 36 mpg, no team in their right mind would spend more then a 2-3 million on that slot either. If they can keep Kleiza for something around there then I would bet he is back, if not I am sure they can find someone who is servicable for 12 minutes a game. especially with Balkman being able to play both forward slots.

As for bringing back Andersen, you are out of your mind if you think they let him go at this point, they will pay to keep him as he helps sell tickets, and does all the little things the other bigs don't do. While his game may decline in a couple years, the fact of the matter is that even if he signs for the full MLE the team more then makes that money back in ticket sales not to mention the things he adds overall to the team.

Overall the Nuggets must do something to improve their rebounding, and get a young backup Pg. Without those we will have a hard time repeating even close to what we did this year. I would love to see them use their TPE's to go out and get a couple of players to do it, however I also know that realistically the front office is going to have to cut down on future payroll to do anything. I would not be surprised to see Kmart on the move to accomplish that.

As for bringing back Andersen, you are out of your mind if you think they let him go at this point, they will pay to keep him as he helps sell tickets

I keep hearing this argument, and I don't doubt that it's true, but does anyone honestly know how much money we make off of each contract, or how you even allocate that across our roster? If you take average home game attendance money and give Melo and Billups a percentage, do you say that Birdman is the third largest share?

I only point this out because it's obviously been brought up by our front office, but if you can't empirically prove it, is it REALLY a viable point? (maybe you take a percentage of birdman related paraphernalia sales and apply it to an average ticket... just thinking out loud.)

pickIBL wrote:Could they trade Hinrich and Jerome James for K-Mart and Balkman? I could see the Nuggets doing this just to fail Jerome James with his physical.. then waive the physical requirement in a Mobley type move (insurance covered some of his salary).

That would be awful. Balkman could somewhat stand in at PF. This move leaves the team without a PF.

Here would be the great deal to make. Pretty sure it won't be possible though:

Bulls: Kmart.
Denver: Hinrich, Troy Murphy.
Pacers: Tim Thomas, Hunter, Cha 1st.

Eh.. would save the Pacers money, if they are in a pitch?

The Rebel wrote:

pickIBL wrote:Nobody predicted the Camby trade last summer... could we be in for another surprise? The Bulls do need an enforcer type PF.

Could they trade Hinrich and Jerome James for K-Mart and Balkman? I could see the Nuggets doing this just to fail Jerome James with his physical.. then waive the physical requirement in a Mobley type move (insurance covered some of his salary).

Actually if you read this board last year you would know that plenty of us were sure that Camby was going to be traded

Another thing I would like to ask, is when is the last time any team won a championship without a very good big man?

The Camby comment was directed at what was obtained in return.

As per one of my articles I suggested Rasheed Wallace as a possible short term option for next year. The question is what will Kroenke budget for next year?

speaking of chatter on the message boards. this guy looks appealing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLG2bYlrrY

legendarywalton wrote:Let's hope this economy limits Birdman's opportunities, because in all honesty, he wasn't a factor against the Lakers. You have to design your team to make the playoffs first, and beat a specific team secondly. The Spurs seem like the only other threat to the Nuggets in the West, so our next priority is beating the Lakers. Birdman is too predictable for skilled big men like Pau, and a rapidly improving Bynum.

Honestly, we don't do any better than we did this year. This was it. We let Birdman walk, let a year pass and trade Kenyon and Billups expirings and look to 2011. Depressing, but there is no way to quick fix this team for a Championship, short of a Lakers collapse.

Wow I understand being down right now, but I would say it was a little premature to write off the team for the next two years. I think with a couple of upgrades at backup point and a big, this team can more then compete for the title next year, and even the year after.

AS for Birdman, sure on defense he looked silly at times, but he did a solid job grabbing rebounds, and playing a role, which is what you can expect from a guy like him. overall we all knew that our PG and bigman depth would come back to haunt us, and in this series it did. All the Lakers had to do was get Nene to commit fouls and send him to the bench, and they destroyed us on the inside.

If Tyson Chandler is healthy, I would love to make some kind of trade where we send out Kmart and end up with him and another piece or two.

pickIBL wrote:

The Rebel wrote:

pickIBL wrote:Nobody predicted the Camby trade last summer... could we be in for another surprise? The Bulls do need an enforcer type PF.

Could they trade Hinrich and Jerome James for K-Mart and Balkman? I could see the Nuggets doing this just to fail Jerome James with his physical.. then waive the physical requirement in a Mobley type move (insurance covered some of his salary).

Actually if you read this board last year you would know that plenty of us were sure that Camby was going to be traded

Another thing I would like to ask, is when is the last time any team won a championship without a very good big man?

The Camby comment was directed at what was obtained in return.

As per one of my articles I suggested Rasheed Wallace as a possible short term option for next year. The question is what will Kroenke budget for next year?

speaking of chatter on the message boards. this guy looks appealing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfLG2bYlrrY

I disagree with adding Wallace to this team, the last thing they need is another head case who gets lazy at times. They do not need the big names, they need guys who can come in and play, without egos getting in the way.

Rebel, I appreciate your optimism, but I just feel like we're working with finished products outside of JR. Melo may improve some more, but the output from Nene, Billups, and K-Mart will only level off or decline. We didn't get enough easy post baskets when it mattered, and NO overseas talent can step in and demand the ball when it counts. It will take years to develop that chemistry, and there are no dominant big men to be had.

AC cost us maybe 20 points over the course of the series, which would equate to 3 1/3 points a game, a huge amount, but you don't know if the rest of the team can sustain the level of play-- there's too many variables.

The Rebel wrote:

legendarywalton wrote:
AS for Birdman, sure on defense he looked silly at times,

If Tyson Chandler is healthy, I would love to make some kind of trade where we send out Kmart and end up with him and another piece or two.

I'd bet they will look to move Kmart. Still way overpaid obviously so we shall see what happens there.

As for Birdman in this series he looked pretty silly a lot. You definiately can't discount his impact to the team and what a value he was. But he's 31 in July and will be asking for a long term deal at or near the MLE. Now Sheed is a headcase but he's still got game. What if Billups talks him into the MLE for a year?

Even Bourousis is 6'11 250. He's a body that you just cant go through and tall enough to hopefully give Pau more trouble when he turns baseline on the block.