Denver Post: Nene to Opt Out

[Macho King]

Nene will opt out of Nuggets contract, enter free agency - The Denver Post

Nene is set to officially become a free agent.

The Nuggets starting center will opt out of the final year of his contract and, as a result, become an unrestricted free agent, a source said Wednesday night. It means he can sign with any team he wishes without the Nuggets getting a chance to match the offer when free agency begins after the expected NBA lockout, which should begin on Friday.

Nene had until June 30 to make a final decision.

He was due to make around $12 million next season, which would have been the final year of a 6-year, $60 million contract he signed in 2006.

Nene is coming off arguably his best season in a Nuggets uniform, having averaged career highs in points (14.5) and field goal percentage (.615), and was near career highs in free throw percentage (.711) and rebounding (7.6). He holds the second-best career field goal percentage in Nuggets history at .587.

Nene has been with the Nuggets for nine seasons, since 2002. He's averaged 12.3 points and 6.9 rebounds over his career.

Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com

[Miller4ever]

With what the owners are trying to do, I really have a hard time seeing teams giving him what he would probably want. It puts s at another advantage.

[Starkiller]

I put any price, but what I meant by that was we need to do whatever it takes to sign him, if we can get him cheaper than expected then great, but I won't be made if we pay him a boatload.

[mizzoupacers]

He'd be a great addition. How much will it take to sign him? If it's less than superstar money, then I hope Larry Bird gets it done.

[DWCP2]

The thing that could prove beneficial when it comes to Nene and how he approaches the market is to look at the teams interested in him and see which one's want to have him as their PF and which one's at C.

Knowing he can get a good deal of his playing time at PF might sway him to those said teams vs. C position.

[Wizop]

I put less than 9mm even though I'm sure he is expecting in increase over the 12mm that he opted out of not because I expect that to be possible but instead to say I don't think he can be signed at a value that I'd want to pay.

[mizzoupacers]

He ain't worth $12 million. But maybe what he's after is the security of a long-term deal rather than some particular salary for next season...in that case, maybe he'd sign for something more in line with what I think he would be worth (I voted less than $9 million).

[8305]

He ain't worth $12 million. But maybe what he's after is the security of a long-term deal rather than some particular salary for next season...in that case, maybe he'd sign for something more in line with what I think he would be worth (I voted less than $9 million).

Not sure i agree. He is the perfect fit. How many guys are ever available who can play both the 4 and 5 spots? You can probably count on one hand the bigs who are as athletic as Nene.

[Pistol Pete Vescey]

He really would be a great fit next to Hibbert.

PG: Collison
SG: George
SF: Granger
PF: Nene
C: Hibbert

6th: Hill
7th: Hansbrough

That team might be a Top-4 seed if George develops.

[mizzoupacers]

Not sure i agree. He is the perfect fit. How many guys are ever available who can play both the 4 and 5 spots? You can probably count on one hand the bigs who are as athletic as Nene.

He looks like a good fit, but he's still only a complementary player. He has never averaged as many as 15 points a game, or as many as 8 rebounds a game, or as many as 1.5 blocked shots per game. He's a good, solid frontcourt guy, but he's just not worth the kind of salary you would pay one of your very top players. The Pacers can't afford to pay everyone in their starting lineup $12 million a year. That kind of salary would end up hamstringing them in their efforts to keep guys like Hibbert, Collison, Hill, and Paul George beyond their rookie contracts.

I think anything much more than $9 million a year would be too much for Nene.

[8305]

DaFan334 wrote
"Rebounding, Nene has horrible jumping ability but is probably the quickest guy whos 6'11" in the league which helps that out. As a resault, he doesn't get as many rebounds or blocks, but does accumulate quite a bit of steals for a center through using his quick hands to strip the ball before the big he is guarding is able to get up a shot. This seems like an attribute learned from Kenyon Martin. He use to take a lot of charges but doesn't nearly as much since he came back from knee surgery. He does show a bit of toughness down low, but it can come and go throughout the season. The same can be said to an extent about his offense. There are game you see Karl Malone in him, there are other games you wonder where he was the whole game.

As for his ability to play power forward, if the Nuggets had a better Center the past several years, he would probably be a 4 instead of a 5. He has the speed and size to be a big and quick power forward, but in a league where there are few quality Centers, he has been forced to play Center primarily. A move to power forward would probably help his rebounding numbers and he could take advantage of smaller match ups on both ends of the floor which would probably be for the best with Nene. He is also one of the best passing bigs around at the moment. He is at times far too unselfish actually.

If the Nuggets can work out a deal to bring him back, Nene will probably be moved to the 4 with Mozgov getting significantly more playing time and Kenneth Faried taking the left over minutes from KMart's departure backing up Nene. If the Pacers are able to bring Nene aboard, I see him mainly playing the 4 as well next to Roy Hibbert however it may be tough to play with two players that are predominantly post players. Neither has enough of an outside jumper to spread the floor enough for the other to work which might cause some serious problems. They would however have easily the biggest front court in the league." End quote

Nice assessment from a Denver fan who's probably seen a lot of him. The rebounding issue is a little troubling and so is the soft label that you see when reading Denver fan's assessments. On the bright side it sounds like there may be some growth potential to his game and he could definitely play the 4 effectively. As to a contract this would be the perfect application for a contract reducing in value over its term.

[patrol345]

according to the Denver post article he turned down 4 years for 50 million dollars, and his wife is from denver If yall wanna pay him 13-14 million a year for a 14/7 guy more power to you. I doubt the nuggets offer more than that especially if the new cba has a hard cap. I am highly suprised he turned that down personally.

[Gremz]

I doubt that anyone would be offering Nene 13-14m per year. It's just far too much money.

Perhaps Denver offered that, perhaps not. Seems like a very odd deal to turn down considering the current uncertainty of the CBA.

[LadiesLuvPGs]

I thought I read that the holdup with Denver and Nene had more to do with length of contract than $.

Either way, depending on what the max is next year, we have the advantage of being able to front load a contract (a la Paul Milsap's offer sheet from Portland). Just as an example, 16, 14, 12, 10 is 4 yrs 52M, but because we take an extra hit early on, his contract would seem so bad towards the end of the deal. You could take this more to the extreme (18, 15, 12, 9 is 4 yrs 54M)

I know this strategy is normally used to keep a cash-strapped team from matching an offer for a RFA, but I still think we should be offering contracts like this to whichever player we go after.

[PR07]

I'd pay him 12-13 million, but any more than that, and I think you're looney.

He'd be a very nice fit though. I'd like to see the rebounding up, but he can score some and is really that big strong body to pair next to Hibbert.