…and we’re back! Saturday a friend’s dad asked me if I thought the Denver Nuggets would be well-advised to trade Carmelo Anthony this off-season. His take is that Carmelo was ineffective in Game Six against the Jazz, when it really counted, and I presume he meant ’Melo cannot be considered reliable in the future. I almost blew up at the poor guy, and threw in some unwarranted criticism of Chauncey Billups, but I still believe trading Anthony would be a huge mistake.
Game Six was the only game I saw of the playoffs this year, owing to my savvy decision to cancel cable just before the postseason started. (Hey, I still get House and Community; what else is there?) I ended up going to someone’s house where they watched the game on ESPN 3, or in other words over the Internet, where I probably could have watched the whole freaking series at my own place. (Note to self: edit out this part because it makes me look like an idiot.) Anyway, that game was a nightmare to watch: the refs were awful, Deron Williams was overly pleased with himself, and we couldn’t catch a break. Worst of all, though, the Nuggets each refused to step up and make a difference, including Carmelo. (Chauncey hit a few shots in a row where it looked like we might make a run, but it fizzled out just as quickly.)
Doesn’t matter or, rather, it doesn’t matter if you take the long view. Carmelo Anthony is the best thing to happen to the Nuggets in the last decade and a half and we’d be insane to trade him. After years of puzzling playoff ineptitude, he finally put it together with some huge games last season, including a game-winner over the Mavericks. (His struggles made no sense because he carried his Syracuse team to the national championship as a freshman, which is amazingly impressive and cemented his status as a prodigy in the sport. Compare that to your freshman year.)
The point is, we waited so long for him to put it together, and now we can stick by a guy who had one bad series. And did he? Numbers don’t tell the whole story, but Anthony, who scored 28.2 points and grabbed 6.6 rebounds per game in the regular season, scored 30.7 and grabbed 8.5 in the playoffs in just a few more minutes while improving his shooting percentages. He’s fine. So’s Chauncey, for that matter, though his age makes me think the Nuggets need to move yesterday to contend while he can still star.
So who deserves the blame? The obvious target is J.R. Smith, whose tweet after Game Four quickly became infamous. I hate piling on J.R. because everyone already is and because he was indispensable in last year’s first two rounds. He kept the Nuggets dialed in against New Orleans and Dallas whenever Chauncey was resting, particularly in the fourth quarters of games. However, he was pretty bad against L.A. last year and Utah this year.
What about Nene? The powerhouse interior man has had a star-crossed career, but isn’t it time his play starts to resemble his considerable potential?
And Kenyon Martin? Believe it or not, I think the Nuggets really did put a last year in his contract…and it’s next year. That excites me.
The problem with the Nuggets is, we’ve got a superstar scorer (Carmelo), a brilliant point guard and his understudy (Chauncey and Ty Lawson), and a ton of head cases who sometimes, but not always, play up to their potential, and probably can’t be traded for more reliable players unless we’re willing to take a talent drop-off in return. That said, I think the Nuggets need even more talent, particularly down low, to be title contenders. So perhaps it comes down to what we can get for K-Mart during next season. Your thoughts?
Comments
I would hate to see the Nuggets trade J.R., especially after all the time and energy the organization has put into him. But, I suspect that will be the first Nugget to be moved.
I just hope the Nuggets do SOMETHING! The window to win a championship with Billups and Melo is small and they need to take advantage NEXT year.
The problem in the series and last part of the season for that matter was not the talent on the floor, there wasn't a team we didn't beat in the regular season, we had a great record against the best teams. Something was up with AD as the coach, I got the suspision that Chauncey didn't respect him and that was causing chemistry problems. Also, JR didn't show up against Utah partly because at some point no one wanted him to have the ball. That's a problem whether he's got talent or not, if the rest of the team doesn't trust him he's not good for Denver. Besides I'd take someone who gives a consistent 18 points per game over 26 one night and 4 the next.
Nene stays cause there's really no one better to pick up with the peices we have to trade. Nene still has a great upside, just need some more intensity. A health Bird would be nice, the only guy on the team rolling his ankle every game and coming out the next night, you could tell it was wearing on him.
Go Nuggs.
LT
And yep, we gotta move quickly.
John, I'm all about canning Nene depending on the offer...but I guess that goes without saying.
LT, your consistent 18 comment is sort of my point: I don't think we could get a consistent 18 in exchange for J.R., who put up a career-best 15.4 this season. I think we're more likely to get a consistent 13-14, in which case, are we really better off? Guess it depends on the guy, but I doubt we'll be able to get someone with J.R.'s ability to change a game, even though that ability can be good and bad. But you make a great point about team chemistry.
I think K-Mart has a ton of value as an expiring contract in a league full of teams looking to save money. Question is, will we be one of them? I look back on the Marcus Camby trade and I don't know what to expect.