Nearly every available well-rounded "shooter" has been swept off the market.
Every top free agent has been signed.
Your Denver Nuggets, aside from … whatever the Andre Iguodala pursuit was … have shown little to no indication that they will either pursue, sign, look at or even kick the tires on available free agents to plug holes on the roster. In fact the Nuggets haven’t even moved quickly on signing their own free agents – Timofey Mozgov (restricted), Corey Brewer (unrestricted) – or even their second round draft picks (Erick Green and Joffrey Lauvergne) before Summer League starts next week (Friday, July 12th). We, additionally, have heard nothing about Brian Shaw’s new coaching staff or even whom he is looking at hiring.
Such a strange summer, such upheaval.
Who would have thought, coming after the best regular season in franchise history that the Nuggets would be facing such uncertainty. New GM, new coach, new support staff coupled with losing Iguodala has left Nuggets fans thinking in-unison whats the plan, Stan?
I’ve never been one of those who thought that Iguodala was the be-all and end-all of wing players. In fact, his random turnovers were infuriating to me, and his free throw shooting was so awful you could say it legitimately lost the Nuggets some victories during the season (I guess Warriors fans will find that out next season). However, what is most concerning is that the Nuggets apparently rejected a sign and trade proposal from Golden State before Iguodala signed. This left many people scratching their collective heads. At least get something in return right?
Yesterday news leaked out (from Bay Area reporters) that the Warriors wanted to re-engage the Nuggets in a sign and trade to help THEM out (not the Nuggets). Potentially netting the Nuggets a trade exception and maybe some future draft considerations/cash. As we have learned in the past, the Nuggets don’t frequently use the trade exceptions they have (an exception from various deals totaling $10 million “Big Bertha” by Mark Warkentein and a $13 million one from the Nene Hilario trade to the Wizards both went to waste) and have only used tiny slivers of other ones they have received in the past (from the Melo trade). So essentially, unless players are involved, doing a sign and trade AFTER Iggy already signed is like receiving a condescending pat on the back for a job well done.
All of this has to make Nuggets fans wonder about the future. What direction will this team go in with a new coach and new general manager … with Josh Kroenke unquestionably at the helm? Right now fans are left with a confusing hodge-podge of feelings from “trusting the young guys” on the roster to an unquestioned amount of anxiety of what the future holds after so much upheaval. What is the plan exactly? The only thing we know is they want JaVale McGee to start and helped facilitate that by trading out Kosta Koufos on draft night for Darrell Arthur. Well, JaVale was going to start anyway so that trade pretty much acts as confirmation bias.
And that's the point, really. The lack of clear plan, coupled with the curious decision to not do a sign and trade for Iguodala has left everything up in the air. Are we to prepare for a total rebuild? Are the Nuggets going to work out a miracle trade to put them in contention? Or, are the Nuggets content to sit on their hands and "trust the young guys"? The latter approach is very Colorado Avalanche from 2009-2013. Which is frightening in itself.
Who's to say? With no idea what the team is doing all we can do is sit here and speculate. Wonder where the hell we are going and what to expect for the coming year. The Nuggets lack of urgency in free agency and the lack of sign and trade for Iguodala (before signing) are two things that leave you with kind of an empty feeling. Do you trust the young players enough to kinda wave your hand and accept things as they are? Or, does the lack of actual activity make you worry for the upcoming season?
Truth be told, I just wish I knew. If there was a straw I would grasp onto it … yet the Nuggets have left us with nothing.
Just give us something Nuggets. If we have a direction, we as fans will follow. Show us the way and please don't leave things as confusing as they are now.
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Twitter: @jmorton78 https://twitter.com/#!/jmorton78
mortonagency@juno.com
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