Nuggets Open To Dealing J.R. Smith

[geeman]

Denver is look at losing Melo, maybe a Marvin Williams for J.R Smith deal could be made. Would this make sense for us. Maybe playing JJ a SF during somtime with J.R. Smith at the SG.

[azuresou1]

No, doesn't make sense for us at all. We already have a ton of SGs and a lack of forwards.

[theatlfan]

Honestly, I don't think that we've got enough strong personalities in the locker room to take on a case like JR Smith. Put someone like that in "da ATL" without a heavy handed vet to keep him in line is just asking for trouble.

[HMFFL]

This sig sums him up.



He won't fill a need for us and the last thing we need to do is trade Marvin for him. I want to see Marvin under our new HC.

[MaceCase]

Yet another cheap available SG... Man oh man. I will have to admit that I fell a bit for the "Hawks are doomed without Joe" schtick. Had the Hawks waited all summer like they usually do to make a move I'm sure they could of done something with a TPE and some picks

[azuresou1]

Hate to say it but... told you so.

[theatlfan]

Not sure I get the comps between the JJ signing to JR Smith. If we're going to try to topple ORL, BOS, and now MIA, then we've got to spend some $$ somewhere. Sure, JR could give us 2/3 the production of JJ @ less than 1/2 the cost this year, but JR Smith isn't going to take us somewhere that JJ already has. Like anything in life, you pay for the extra 20% that takes something from "good enough" to "excellent". JJ prolly falls a bit short of "excellent" (so, yes, the contract was a bit much), but he's definitely better than "good enough". I wouldn't say the same about JR Smith.

If anything, the only reason to not sign JJ was to pull the plug on the current incarnation of the team and rebuild. It wouldn't have been a bad plan per se, but part of that plan would not have been to go out and get JR Smith. It would have been to give minutes to Teague and Jo Crawford to see if they're more boom than bust and also to see what other parts we'd need to eventually contend.

Make no mistake: without JJ, we're simply not contenders this year. I really couldn't care less about how well "No Playoff" Crawford played last year, he isn't going to step into JJ's shoes and lead us deep into the playoffs. The only shot we've got at that is with JJ. Is it a good shot? I'm as pessimistic as the rest of you, but we'll just have to wait and see if we're right or not.

[azuresou1]

We're not contenders WITH JJ either, and signing him to his bigass contract essentially prevents us from making any real additions to the team, barring a drastic trade that Sund and the ASG are unlikely to make.

[theatlfan]

We're not contenders WITH JJ either, and signing him to his bigass contract essentially prevents us from making any real additions to the team, barring a drastic trade that Sund and the ASG are unlikely to make.

Nah, we're still in the mix for 4th in the East. Last year, we were literally 12 Ws from an NBA crown. Now, I agree that those 12 W's are a lot, but I don't agree that it's completely impossible. A lucky break and/or a breakout performance at the right time could put us into the mix for Championship Contenders. If Teague turns out and becomes Rondo with a jump shot, or Jo Crawford is Vinny Johnson reincarnate, or if one or more of our rotation players (with the only exceptions being Bibby and Zaza really) have a 4 week run of playing out of their mind in the playoffs, or if our team can just gel at the exact right moment, or if we can take advantage of a key injury, then yes, we could make some noise at the end of the season. These things really wouldn't be possible if JJ were not here. The only ? would be: would it have been easier to achieve those 12 W's eventually by not resigning JJ than it would be immediately or eventually by resigning him? No one can ever really know that answer, but, yes, I'd side with those that would say that playing the salary cap game instead of the luxury tax game would have put us in a better position to win eventually. But I would also willingly admit that my thoughts have more to do with the fact that I still see the imprint of Bill Knight on this team and I don't think anything with his imprint can be anything more than a total disaster.

[azuresou1]

Did you see how badly we got curbstomped by Orlando? I mean, I think we would have beat Boston and done well against the Lakers, but against Orlando AND Miami this year, we're severely outgunned, and that's with JJ.

I mean, I love Teague and Jordan Crawford to the degree that my rose-colored homer glasses think they could be Kevin Johnson and Michael Redd, but realistically they will be at best very good NBA players (think Jason Terry), and that will be in a few years. And even then, I still don't think we'd match up with Orlando or Miami.

[ATL DirtyBird]

Hes such an enigma. Between Josh and JR I think Hawks fans heads would explode. If I didnt believe he was a crazy person, yes. Too bad he is. Also, havent we all seen the videos of his attitude swings and blatant disrespect towards Karl and his teammates? Lets stay away.

[Skyhawk1]

It's amazing what a backup SG can do around here. He can't drible or create for anyone else, launchs 3 after 3, has a bad attitude and has had problems everywhere he's been. STAY AWAY.

[NWO4Life]

I dont want him.

[theatlfan]

Did you see how badly we got curbstomped by Orlando? I mean, I think we would have beat Boston and done well against the Lakers, but against Orlando AND Miami this year, we're severely outgunned, and that's with JJ.

I mean, I love Teague and Jordan Crawford to the degree that my rose-colored homer glasses think they could be Kevin Johnson and Michael Redd, but realistically they will be at best very good NBA players (think Jason Terry), and that will be in a few years. And even then, I still don't think we'd match up with Orlando or Miami.

Yeah, I saw all that... at least that which I could stand to watch (I think I mowed the lawn during one of the games because I just HAD to do something else). But you still miss the point: what if Howard gets injured? Or if the "superfriends" trio ends up not meshing (it's one thing if you're on an All-Star team against teams with (at most) 2 or 3 NBA players so forth stars - quite another when the depth doesn't match up)? Would those teams still be able to "curbstomp" us? Doubtful. What if, say, Marvin one day in the playoffs decides that he'll be a 30 ppg scorer and no one will be able to stop him from doing that? It'd mean that our top 4, top 5, and prolly top 6 would be the best groups in the NBA - LAL, MIA, ORL, and BOS included; our top 3 would be able to at least rival MIA's. Will any of these happen in such a way that we'll be champions? Doubtful, but possible. With JJ, we would have a chance to capitalize in any and all of these scenarios; without him, quite simply - we don't.

As mentioned above, I think I'd side with your stance that it's highly improbable that we'll all the sudden overcome our absolute futility in the 2nd round of the playoffs. That much isn't in question (although, yeah, I can see why the GM's decision in a case like JJ's would be much more complex). But what I don't get is what JR Smith has to do with the decision. It'd be one thing if not signing JJ would allow us to absorb, say, 'Melo or CP3, but JR Smith wouldn't be someone I'd want here regardless of the cost...