So what now?

[Beefsicle]

Do you guys think the roster is set, or do you think we use a TPE or the LLE to bring in somebody? I think we need at least somebody to fill some minutes at the 3,4, and maybe 5. It would be nice if the Brandan Wright rumors were true and they gave us a Bellineli type deal for a TPE, but that's probably a pipedream. What do you guys think?

[RRFB]

If LK re-signed, I think we would have brought back AC and called it an off-season. Now, I'd like to think our FO is looking to make some kind of a move. We're only sitting at 10 players locked in, so we have to sign at least 3 more. I hope we don't just fill it out with minimum salary guys.

Chauncey / Lawson
Jr / Afflalo
Melo / Balkman
Kmart / Allen
Nene / Birdman

[J Smitty]

Considering only 10 players are currently signed, yes we kind of have to sign a few more players, as you have to have 13 players on your roster no matter what.

And I think that's the thing people bitching about us "not doing anything" keep forgetting. We've improved our team already, and still have a few more guys to add. And I imagine it'd be pretty tough to do any worse than Jason Hart, Sonny Weems, and Steven Hunter.....even if all we do is sign guys to minimum contracts.


I don't know what you people expect. Going into the summer we had our starting unit locked up already(not many teams could say that, even contending teams). We had one vital free agent to bring back in Birdman, and we got him re-signed. It sucks we didn't have Bird's bird rights, causing us to use most of our MLE(our only true resource), but we got him back(for a pretty decent price) and that's what matters. We didn't have a draft pick, yet were able to get one of the best players in the draft. We traded nothing for a great young player in Arron Afflalo. We chose not to vastly overpay an inconsistent backup forward in Kleiza.....which I know everybody would have been bitching about if we did re-sign him for that kind of money, yet some of you are still bitching that we didn't.

I know everyone is going to scream about using the TPE.....but on who? A 8 mill per backup? Yeah maybe. But again, who? And do you realize when you're talking about trades....you kind of need to have both parties agree? It's easy to say go use the TPE to go get someone, but unless you can actually provide some examples and answers, your bitching is mindless.

The fact is, we had a great team already and very minimal resources to improve it....yet somehow we've managed do that already, and the summer isn't even over yet.

[Beefsicle]

I'm not bitching, nor do I think we'll use all of our TPEs, but I know there are some teams out there looking to save money so if we could add a 3mil dollar player for part of a TPE I was trying to get a gauge on what you guys think could possibly happen. Or if we add 3 minimum salary guys, or use the LLE, who you guys would like the FO to target. I brought up Wright because Bellineli was just dropped for nothing and there was a rumor Wright was on the block.

I thought we were improved before we lost Kleiza, but now I see the offseason thus far as kind of a wash assuming AA and Lawson pan out like we're expecting them to.

[J Smitty]

I wasn't referring to you, just the overwhelming majority of this board who are all up in arms about us not using our entire TPE(which is the only real way we could bring in anybody other than a low salary free agent). And it's not like we haven't used any of it either.....did we not just use part of it to get ourselves a starting SG in Arron Afflalo? Some try to make it seem like the FO simply won't spend money....that's not the case at all. We traded nothing to bring in Afflalo and Sharpe. We made a move to get Lawson, a guaranteed salary we otherwise wouldn't have had to pay. We re-signed Andersen to a pretty sizable deal. We will spend money, we're just going to spend it in a worthwhile fashion. Paying Steven Hunter nearly 3.7 mill plus another 3.7 in tax, just to sit on the bench? Not good value. Paying 6 mill per for Kleiza? Not good value. 3.7 mill for Birdman, 1 mill for Afflalo, and 1.4 mill for Lawson? VERY good value. We will spend money, we're just going to spend it wisely(unlike some teams out there). That's how you run a successful business, and like it or not the NBA is a business.



I don't see us using it to bring in a big salary guy around 6-8 mill. The only guys we could realistically get in that range probably aren't worth that salary, which would be the only real reason the other team would be looking to dump them anyway. We could trade for someone in the 2-5 million range....but again, I think the same principal applies. If a team would be willing to just dump that guy for straight cap relief, he probably isn't worth his contract either.

That's what makes it so hard, and I think a lot of you don't realize that. Just because we have a big TPE and a lot of teams would like to get rid of salary right now, that doesn't automatically mean we can just go get any player in the league making under 8.7 million that we would like. It's not that easy. I'm sure there are some options out there, but I can guarantee you there aren't that many actually worth acting on. If a move that will make us substantially better comes along, and the value is there, you better believe we're going to make that move. You can't just expect those kind of deals to happen every single day, whenever you would like them to.

[zygis17]

If LK re-signed, I think we would have brought back AC and called it an off-season. Now, I'd like to think our FO is looking to make some kind of a move. We're only sitting at 10 players locked in, so we have to sign at least 3 more. I hope we don't just fill it out with minimum salary guys.

Chauncey / Lawson
Jr / Afflalo
Melo / Balkman
Kmart / Allen
Nene / Birdman

that's one powerful lineup.

i expect nuggets to win around 40-45 with that. kleiza might not seem such an important role, however inconsistent he may seem, but his bench points were crucial.

balkman will be flushed out by bigs and wont help to spread the floor either.

lawson is a mystery as of now, no matter the college player he is, he's in the nba.

anyway those players are small, i don't see nuggets repeating the same type of gameplay as they did this year.

that's my opinion and i've been a nuggs fan for a while.

[J Smitty]

You're a clown. Let me guess, you've been a Nuggets fan since 2005? Wow long time indeed.

Attack the post, not the poster.

[zygis17]

You're a clown. Let me guess, you've been a Nuggets fan since 2005? Wow long time indeed.

Attack the post, not the poster.

so assuming i am a fan from 2005 until now, do players and staff and the team in general not change?

[J Smitty]

The only player you care about has been here since '05. Now that he is not, I will assume you are going to leave now....just like all those AI bandwagoners who tried to call themselves Nuggets fans did. No true fan who cares about the team first would ever say "I want to see the win total drop," just to "prove" how good their favorite player is.

[MHZ]

You're a clown. Let me guess, you've been a Nuggets fan since 2005? Wow long time indeed.

Attack the post, not the poster.

so assuming i am a fan from 2005 until now, do players and staff and the team in general not change?

I think the point is that you seem to be a Linas Kleiza fan, not a Nuggets fan. From what I can tell, you've spent almost all your time at RealGM bashing JR Smith and the Nuggets' attitudes, talking about how the Nuggets will win less games next year if they lose Kleiza, and bouncing around to other boards suggesting they bring in Linas Kleiza, as he's the piece they're missing. You're more than welcome to your opinion, but you're coming from a completely different place than those of us who are trying to rationally look at the team. You're completely biased. Just like the AI fans who only cared about AI and not the team, you're hoping the Nuggets are worse off without Kleiza.

[wang000hk]

if the team just finish with signing the minimum scrubs to fill the spots,and not using TPE at all
i will be really disappointed

[Teens On Acid]

LK's playoff production was 6 points and 4 rebounds per game.
sounds like a scrub to me.

thank god that the FO pulled the 25mil offer off the table last season.

we'll be fine.
i remember how much our FO were critisized by people of these boards for trading Camby and letting Najera go.

Kleaiza is in the same category as those players...expendable, inconsistent SCRUBS.

[J Smitty]

We already used the TPE....well some of it. So your point about not using it "at all" is already moot.


And again, I ask you to come up with a realistic trade we could make with the TPE. I asked that a few weeks ago and the only thing anybody could come up with was some kind of s&t for Brandon Bass, that Dallas would never have accepted anyway.


It's not some overly simple task to turn a TPE into a quality player, especially if you don't plan on including some other sort of decent asset as well(something we really don't have). Look at the Bobcats a couple years ago. They were able to get Jason Richardson for their TPE, which is decent....but they also had to include the #8 pick in the draft to get it done.

Like I said before, if you think you're going to go get a top 8(rotation guy) player for nothing more than a TPE, you're sadly mistaken. And if you are able to get that done, I guarantee you he is going to have a horrible contract coming along with him. It's amazing how overrated the idea of having a TPE has become recently. It's like going into a draft with the 25th pick and fans expecting to come away with a stud....and then being mad when it ends up being Frank Williams. There is a reason why of the many many TPEs that there have been in the league, only a very few have ever turned into anything more than low salary, end of the bench guys.

[J Smitty]

And why would you be so pissed about filling out the roster with minimum salary players? It's not like we have any real money available. We have like 2 mill or so left of the MLE, the LLE which is only about 2 mill, and then minimum contracts(which depending on the player can be around 1.5 mill themselves). That's not a lot to work with...and at the same time, there aren't too many guys left out there worth much more than the minimum.

There is a difference between bitching with a purpose, and then just mindless bitching. You sir are complaining for no reason.

[eathy]

3 roster spots...

Steve Novak/WallyWorld/Rodney Carney
Coby Karl
Joe Smith/Sean Marks

done.

[shrink]

Also, I think you're at $73.8 mil with only 10 contracts, and that's already $3 mil over the luxury threshold. You've got to add three players, but straight out signings will each cost you double.

Is it possible you'll trade any of your big contract guys in a 1-for-3 deal that saves money? I just can't imagine it, but a deal that takes back $3 mil less (and mutliple players) would save $9 mil.

[The Rebel]

I could see them looking at a 3 for 1 type deal, however I don't think they are going to take a major downgrade to do it. The thing people are missing with the loses is that they were all minor role players in the grand scheme of things, the Nuggets still have their top 6 players under contract and coming back, plus upgraded in other key areas. So if a deal came aroudn with someone like Kmart going out for a decent starter and a couple of young filler or something I think they would do it, if it is just a couple of end of the bench scrubs then I don't think they touch it.

[TheNewEra]

The Nuggets bench is what put them over the top to disregard them is far from wise. Martin is a nice fit for the Nuggets but his vaule does not equal a starter and 2 young bench players. You can;t trade Smth, Billups, Melo, Lawson, Birdman and AA which leaves the team with Balkman, Allen, and Martin, NeNe. The first two want fill the needs and the last two being traded only patch a need and create another one.

[Nuggninja]

The Nuggets bench is what put them over the top to disregard them is far from wise. Martin is a nice fit for the Nuggets but his vaule does not equal a starter and 2 young bench players. You can;t trade Smth, Billups, Melo, Lawson, Birdman and AA which leaves the team with Balkman, Allen, and Martin, NeNe. The first two want fill the needs and the last two being traded only patch a need and create another one.

The bench put them over the top because J.R. Smith was coming off of it and added major fire power, and Birdman came off it adding energy. Kleiza was not a major contributor last season. When he got opportunities, he didn't really distinguish himself and really became an afterthought toward the end of the season and into the playoffs. Until the Lakers series.

The other guys the Nuggets have "lost" are Dahntay Jones who the Nuggets replaced with Arron Afflalo. Johan Petro (who they could still resign for significantly less than they paid him last year), Jason Hart, Steven Hunter (who did nothing but rehab), Sonny Weems (who spent most of the season in the D-league) and Anthony Carter (who has a vet min salary on the table). The only one who made significant contributions to the team is Carter, and he'll likely be re-signed for the vet min.

The Nuggets will have its core back, it's mostly just a matter of adding warm bodies at this point.

[Nuggninja]

if the team just finish with signing the minimum scrubs to fill the spots,and not using TPE at all
i will be really disappointed

Who do you propose they sign in lieu of "minimum scrubs," or what trade could they realistically make?