Nuggets sign Nate Robinson

[ujirifan]

I'd like someone to explain two things to me.

First, even assuming Andre Miller is gone and Green is sent to the NBDL, just how who is/are the odd man/men out in the back court? With Lawson figuring to get 34-35 MPG and, HOPEFULLY, not seeing many minutes when he and Nate are on the court together, which would be disastrous defensively, that leave 61-62 total minutes for Robinson, Foye, Fournier, who supposedly would be seeing more PT this year as well as Hamilton, who was also expected to get more time. One would have expected that they gave Nate theimpression that he'd could get at least 20 MPG and Foye must be expecting at least that much as well, which leaves very little for Fournier and Hamilton and I don't know of any teams that rotate 3 SGs on a game, in game out manner.

Secondly, how does anyone makes sense of the logjam the braintrust has created at PF combined with the lack of
real depth at center.

Kroenke must not have any faith in Faried improving his D and developing a mid-range jumper because they now have Arthur who is supposed to be tougher physically and a better defender with a decent J and Hickson who, if McGee works out at center figures to get some minutes at PF, as well as Randolph who looked good in several games toward the end of last season plus 2nd year man, QMiller.

And, if McGee DOES NOT work out as a capable starting center - at least 30 MPG - the 6'9" Hickson as his backup leaves the center position as a BIG downgrade defensively from this past season.

[corona]

for one, injuries always create more minutes than expected when just looking at a roster to start a season. there will be times when lawson goes down and nate plays 40 minutes which will boost his mpg average. and vice versa.

i expect miller to be traded before the start of the season.

i think we'll see situational stints with robinson & lawson in the backcourt together. yea...it may be bad defensively against opposing SGs that can post up. but imagine being a defense trying to slow down two of the quickest pgs in the league at the same time. they'll pose their own problems for the other team to overcome.

foye and fournier will split the remaining SG minutes. hamilton will play backup SF.

cross the bridge of gallo coming back and (slowly) needing minutes when the time comes. if hamilton's proved himself to be legit, then maybe it makes chandler or gallo expendable in a package deal to upgrade a position or get a high draft pick.

we're still probably signing mozgov. so it's not all on mcgee/hickson at the C position yet.

randolph didn't look good at the end of last season. he and arthur are insurance bigs at this point.

[DenverNugs]

This pretty much guarantees andre miller is on the way out.

[ujirifan]

First of all, do you think that Nate signed with the expectation of getting BIG minutes when Lawson is injured and not many when he is healthy?

Secondly, answer me these questions. Will Lawson averaged AT LEAST 32 MPG when he IS healthy - he averaged 34.4 last year, while Nate averaged 29. I don't believe that Shaw will be dumb enough to play them both with ANY frequency but even if he does give them 6 minutes together, that will work out to 22 for Nate and 42 combined for Foye and Fournier and 14 -16 for Jordan behind Chandler.

That would make for 6 rotation guys for the PG, SG and SF positions. Do you realize that, unlike Karl, the majority of NBA coaches with good teams prefer to settle on 9 man rotations with maybe a 10th player getting a few minutes here and there. So who are the 3 guys who get the lion's share of the 96 PF?C minutes?

Kid Kroenke obviously is counting on McGee to come through for them, which would mean a good 30 MPG. That would presumably mean that Hickson would get the remaining 18 at center, leaving 48 for Faried and Arthur, not to mention Randolph plus a few more minutes for Hickson at PF.

Assuming that they don't trade Faried, which I would not count on, there is a bigger logjam at PF than at guard.

Finally, just WHY do you still think Mozgov is coming back? Because the Post writers say the Nugz are still trying to get him to? Why would he, to be 3rd string again behind Hickson? IF he did and, quite possibly, beat out Hickson for backup center what would that do to the PF logjam?

[corona]

First of all, do you think that Nate signed with the expectation of getting BIG minutes when Lawson is injured and not many when he is healthy?

Secondly, answer me these questions. Will Lawson averaged AT LEAST 32 MPG when he IS healthy - he averaged 34.4 last year, while Nate averaged 29. I don't believe that Shaw will be dumb enough to play them both with ANY frequency but even if he does give them 6 minutes together, that will work out to 22 for Nate and 42 combined for Foye and Fournier and 14 -16 for Jordan behind Chandler.

i think nate signed here because we were one of few to offer a contract, not under expectations of big minutes. with most teams using up their caproom and exceptions on other players and not picking him up he didn't have a whole lot of bargaining room for money or minutes or demands.

he didn't average 29 last year, he averaged 25 despite the bulls being without their all-star pg the whole season. and most seasons he's been a shade over 20 (with the exception of when he played for dreadful knicks teams). he should probably get around 18-20 here, with more if lawson winds up injured at some point....or if shaw finds success in playing robinson & lawson together.

Do you realize that, unlike Karl, the majority of NBA coaches with good teams prefer to settle on 9 man rotations with maybe a 10th player getting a few minutes here and there. So who are the 3 guys who get the lion's share of the 96 PF?C minutes?

we aren't a typical team. don't have a star player that eats up 38mpg. it's okay to play a few more guys and let them fight for minutes until someone emerges as deserving bigger minutes than the rest for a playoff push.

Kid Kroenke obviously is counting on McGee to come through for them, which would mean a good 30 MPG. That would presumably mean that Hickson would get the remaining 18 at center, leaving 48 for Faried and Arthur, not to mention Randolph plus a few more minutes for Hickson at PF.

randolph is terrible and should be a practice/insurance player.
arthur is also an insurance/garbage time big at this point.
and i wouldn't be surprised to see faried used more sparingly to keep his energy higher, unless he develops more of a post game, midrange game and/or better defense.

so the PF/C minutes go to mainly mcgee, hickson & faried....with chandler as a possibility to go smaller. and hopefully mozgov to take some of mcgees minutes if he needs the incentive or we need the size if hickson can't handle the backup role.

i think mozgovs back because we gave him the QO, tim connelly's seemed very interested in keeping him and has some ties with russian basketball. and i don't think another teams gonna sign him away from us at this point at a price point we won't match....because the fact remains we still need some size at backup C and we're below the tax. if he was unrestricted it might be a different story. so at the least he should stay here until he becomes unrestricted next summer.

[Powder Blue]

I like the addition of Nate more than the possible addition of Mike Miller. That being said I have no idea how it will play out. Been so long since we've seen a Nuggets team NOT coached by GK I think we're all grasping at straws trying to determine how the roster and PT will shake out.

Miller is on the hook for $5 Million this year and at least half that next year. I see no trade market for him right now until a contender has a PG injury.

[Strange Clouds]

Great pick up