Friday, January 11, 2008

Reading Between Bobby’s Lines

(Boulder-CO) Recently, the Denver Nuggets waived Bobby Jones, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t capable of still shedding some light on the situation in the Mile High City. In today’s article in the Rocky Mountain News Jones is quoted saying, “Some of it was money and some was so they could have some open roster spots” for what Tomasson hints at could be for, “Possible future moves”.

And now that Chucky Atkins is basically all but a loss for the rest of the 2007-08 season, I think that Tomasson may know more than he is letting on.

It’s no secret that the Nuggets are way over the salary cap at $79.9 million and with the league’s third highest overall payroll, but what isn’t known is how Stan Kroenke and the rest of Nuggets brass intends on handling the situation at hand that looks strikingly similar to last year’s. The Nuggets are once again shallow at point guard and if management wants more out of their money than the most recent run of first round bounces they are going to have to make a move to solidify the Denver backcourt.

So, does that mean a trade is imminent? Hard saying, not knowing, but if there were to be a trade made I have some ideas as to who may be shipping out of Denver.

For starters, let’s talk about Eduardo Najera. From a marketing stand point it would be insane to trade this guy, but from a winning perspective it’s not that crazy of an idea. He is in a contract year, meaning that his nearly five million dollar salary could be easily dealt to a team that is either A) looking to rebuild or B) looking for a relatively productive power forward that would be willing to negotiate a new future contract. And back to that perspective of winning, especially in late April, Eduardo is only averaging 6.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and about a steal per game; which is not all that spectacular when considering Denver’s most dire needs and crowded frontcourt. Now, I know he’s a fan favorite, but which would you rather have as a fan? A fun to watch hustle player that doesn’t really show up consistently in the box score or a deeper run in the playoffs?

Next up on the seemingly obvious trading block is Linas Kleiza. Granted, Linas has been coming on strong lately, but the fact still remains that he is a small forward with a limited and streaky shooting ability on a team with quite possibly the best small forward in the game. Karl has tried to use LK as a big shooting guard, but it seems to disrupt the tempo of the game when Linas has the green light to shoot at will and he is unable to create for himself off the dribble unless he is slashing to the cup from the wing. Plus, defensively Kleiza has not been the most successful in his showings against quicker, smaller shooting guards. Furthermore, LK has a high trade value and a relatively low salary making him a likely candidate for a trade if one should go down.

Next on the list of potential trade stock is J.R. Smith. George Karl has all but said he dislikes J.R. despite Smith’s reports of trying to work things out man-to-man with Karl and desire work on areas of his game that are struggling. The sad thing, and what makes J.R. a tasty piece of trade bait, is how Smith could have a tremendous upside if placed in a situation and with a coach that is willing to cultivate his abilities. But it doesn’t seem like Denver is the place for either of those two things to happen, thus making J.R. a potential piece of any trade that may go down in or around the All-Star break.

And last, but certainly not least, is Yakhouba Diawara. Where the Yak fits in with the Nuggets is a bit of a mystery. He has been a starter, and he has been lost at the end of the bench. He’s contributed solid minutes, and he has looked completely lost out there. But, when it comes down to trade considerations, Yakhouba Diawara is a hybrid between Eduardo Najera and Linas Kleizas’ situations. At just barely over $600,000 a year in salary, and in the last year of his current contractual situation, a team could either A) take the Yak in a trade because he is worth next to nothing in the payroll department and waive him next year in their rebuilding process or B) use him in their rebuilding process knowing that he could easily be negotiated a new contract at a relatively limited cost. Now, is he the same kind of talent as J.R. Smith? The answer is obviously an emphatic, “NO”, but that doesn’t mean that his potential upside couldn’t mean he gets packaged into some kind of deal that would solidify the Nuggets backcourt situation.

Ultimately, it is of my opinion that the Nuggets need to do something to stabilize and solidify their backcourt as soon as possible. As to who management is willing to pay for, and who is realistically available is a another article’s focus, but unless the Nuggets want to be yet another first round lamb for a complete Western Conference contender something has to happen. Otherwise, the elite teams in the Western Conference (who by the way all have elite point guards) are going to once again dispose of a four-piece Nuggets team that will once again enter the off-season looking for a point guard.

2 comments:

larksteel said...

releasing Bobby Jones looks better if it opens up the options for making a trade but if not its a shame he left instead of Von Wafer, obviously Stan Kronke saved a little flow waiving Jones instead of Wafer but Bobby was closest to the 2 talent guard we need, possibly being best at talent #1 that we need 3pt shooting and showing real promise at talent #2 we need, perimeter defense other than shooting passing lanes. Then again we need a 5th starter and most like Bobby Jones wasn't going to fill that role.

Najera is loved all through out the league but many of those teams either don"t need a veteran big or don't have a perimeter player to give up. one team comes to mind but i'm not sure they would trade with us as we are fighting for the same spot is New Orleans, they could really use a veteran back up at the 4 or 5 and they may have an expendable wing player in Rasual Butler who could be a strong addition to the Nuggets.

Melo has showed good potential at playing PF which could open us up to moving either Nene or Martin but i can't see either of them having trade value until next year and that is only if both can stay healthy for the rest of this year.

i think its clear the Nuggets need another piece and unless there is another Kalenna Azabuki sitting in the D-league then we'll have to trade.

Unknown said...

I say, fire George Karl.