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With Kleiza going elsewhere, Denver just got weaker. He was a key backup for Denver. I also don't see K Mart, lasting very well. If this is the case Denver could be weaker than most imagine.

Health, as always will be there biggest foe.

Is Kleiza really an above-replacement level player?

I think Denver will be just fine without him. Balkman probably should've been getting Kleiza's minutes anyway.

I agree with HappyProle. Klieza has had one great game in his career, and that just happened to be against the Jazz. Balkman is the better player.

HappyProle wrote:Is Kleiza really an above-replacement level player?

I think Denver will be just fine without him. Balkman probably should've been getting Kleiza's minutes anyway.

Yeah, I don't think they will be a worse team at all. They'll be in trouble if Melo gets injured. But if he stays healthy, losing Kleiza won't make much of a difference. Plus, IMO Afflalo will be an improvement over Jones and Lawson can't be any worse than Carter. On paper, Denver has stayed pretty much the same team as last season.

Balkman is a better defender and hustler, but he's not draining 3's like kleiza did.

CAE15 wrote:Balkman is a better defender and hustler, but he's not draining 3's like kleiza did.

Shooting 32.6% from downtown is respectable but it's not what I'd call "draining 3's".

Babyjax is right on the money: Kleiza's career game came against the Jazz so we have an over-inflated sense of his worth. Let's call it the John Amaechi effect.

nghedman wrote:With Kleiza going elsewhere, Denver just got weaker. He was a key backup for Denver. I also don't see K Mart, lasting very well. If this is the case Denver could be weaker than most imagine.

losing LK will actually help us. way overrated outside of denver.

If Utah stays healthy they've got the Northwest locked up.

I think Portland will win the Northwest. With all the questions our team has surrounding Boozer and AK, plus their addition of Andre Miller, I don't think we have a chance.

hmmm, just looked at his stats and he (Kleiza) was a 4 rebounder and 10 pts per game with only 22 minutes played per game.

Didnt Balkman come from New York? I don't think he is better than Kleiza, Kleiza just wants to be paid now that he has paid his dues cheapo Denver doesn't want to give it to him.

Balkmans stats are 4 rbd, 5 pts in 14 minutes per game by the way.

they can still beat the jazz

62245 wrote:they can still beat the jazz

Well, with the others being on drugs or something thinking Balkman is better than Kleiza or just a bunch of bandwagon jumpers joining the ride, I don't know. But Kleiza is clearly better than Balkman. We will see about that! Don't let the others influence you.

The Jazz definitely didn't get any worse keeping all of their top 10 players.

I think the Jazz have a shot. They have the parts, they just need to click. Doesn't mean I consider them the favorite however. Losing Kleiza means little to Denver.

HappyProle wrote:Is Kleiza really an above-replacement level player?

I think Denver will be just fine without him. Balkman probably should've been getting Kleiza's minutes anyway.

Balkman will get his minutes but he will not amking the impact as Kleiza did.

One nice thing about Kleiza being gone is that another 3 point shooter is gone from their team. Granted he's not a Kopano by any means out there but the Jazz always seem to have a problem with a guy who can hit a 3 every now and who then parlays that into a huge night.

Blackman can't do that.

He did, however, have a 9 pt/14 reb (in 22 min) game against the Jazz last year. That's the biggest thing....shooting isn't really what the Nuggets need(although it's not like a guy who shoots 32% from three while doing absolutely nothing else is too hard to replace). Rebounding, defense, and hustle are what the Nuggets needed/need from a backup forward. That's exactly what Balkman gives you.

Not to say Kleiza is a terrible player by any means, but he certainly wont be all that missed on the court. Although if the Nuggets end up signing Wally Szczerbiak, they'll have essentially the same player anyway....adding the fact that Wally can actually shoot pretty well, unlike Kleiza.

I'm glad to see him go just because I hated him. I don't think the Nuggets are any weaker by seeing him go but Billups is a year older and there's always the injury bug to worry about. They could have a year like the one we just had and we could be in contention with Portland for the division.

well denver just got a little weaker again.. well..temp.

JR Smith suspended 7 games. It's like the guy is trying to get kicked out of the NBA now.

Isn't this from the same incident from 2007 that he just served jail time for? The one where his friend died?

How does that add up to him "trying to get kicked out of the NBA?"