Nuggets Arrivals and Departures

The Denver Nuggets continue to baffle me and screw with my emotions. After a summer of beating my head over and over with a stick, they pull off a great trade to begin the season. SG Allen Iverson to Mo-town for PG Chauncey "Night Train" Billups, F Antonio McDyess, and C Cheikh Samb.

Bravo!

We screwed a team! CELEBRATE! REJOICE! Or did we?

And the Answer is...

We dealt an expensive piece, a piece that didn't fit our puzzle, to another team for parts that actually work. Since AI's arrival in the wake of Andre Miller's departure, the Nuggets have lacked a point guard. We once had a trio of points in Miller, Earl Boykins, and Earl Watson and ended up with Anthony "Willie" Carter and Chucky "I'm always injured" Atkins. In between those lineups we've brought in numerous has-beens and never-will-be's in at point guard but has never found an answer until now. Well...we found an Answer, but it was to a question that no one asked.

Iverson is a shooting guard, a scoring machine. I'll give him that. In his year and a half plus, he scored 3,461 points in a 135 games. That translates into 25.6 pts per game. He dished out 965 assists (7.1 ave). Not bad. I thank him for his services and his 51 pt game last year I went to, but he didn't fit the system.

Before the incident in New York, JR was turning out to be a good, young shooting guard. JR and Melo were accounting for about a combine average of 50 pts a game. And then the brawl happened. Panic button was pushed and Miller shipped to Philly for AI. They brought in an aging Hall of Famer shooting guard in Iverson and shipped out an experienced, solid point guard in Miller.

They didn't give a sh*t about JR developing into something special. Instead they pushed JR to the end of the bench by doubling up on shooting guards, thus leaving a void on point guards. Over a year and a half later, they like JR back at the shooting guard. To me, it's a waste of a year and a half, and a loss of a good point guard.

Sitting on the bus with Chauncey

Night Train is coming back to Denver! Chauncey grew up in Colorado, he is a George Washington High School grad and an alum of Colorado University. And more importantly, a bus ridin' buddy of mine! Yep. Night Train and I go way back (although he doesn't know it)! Ever since we sat next to each other on the bus a dozen years or so ago, we've held a special bond.

This is Night Train's second stop in Denver. Back in 1999, the Nuggets sent G Bobby Jackson, C Dean Garrett and a 1st round pick (Jonathan Bender) in a 3 team trade for Chauncey and the draft rights to G Tyson Wheeler. Chauncey averaged 12.7 pts per game and dished out 212 assists in his brief 58 game career in Denver. Later shipped out in a deal to Orlando along with Ron Mercer and Johnny Taylor for Chris Gatling, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Omar Cook in 2000. A trade that will haunt us for years to come.

Trading for "Night Train" brings back a true point guard to the Nuggets. Someone to actually distribute the ball to our stars like Melo, JR, K-Mart and Nene. Someone who isn't a ball hog and shoot first player. Someone who was a NBA Finals MVP. Someone who brings leadership and winning experience. All for a player who has spent more time ranting about practice than actually participating in it.

A brief reunion

Third times a charm! Dice coming back to the Mile High City for the third time. Originally a 1995 second pick overall of the Los Angeles Clippers and dealt to Denver on draft night for Rodney Rogers and Brent Barry, Dice started his career with the Nuggets. Named to the NBA's 95-95 All Rookie 1st Team, Dice was set for greatness in Denver. After two good promising seasons, the Nuggets dealt Dice to the Phoenix Suns. A year later, Dice happily rejoined the Nuggets as a free agent and his second stint was under way.

Dice was chosen for the 2000 Olympic Dream Team, winning the gold medal thanks to Dice blocking a shot at the end of the game to seal the deal. In 2001, he became an All Star with the Nuggets. He ranks 10th on the Nuggets All-Time scoring list, averaging 18.2 pts in 361 career games.

Four years and numerous injuries later, Dice asked for a trade which sent him packing to New York on draft night along with the 25th pick of the draft, Frank Williams, in exchange for Nene Hilario, Marcus Camby and Mark Jackson. Probably the last successful trade the Nuggets have done. After splitting that season in New York and Phoenix, Dice signed in the off season with Detroit and has been there since, winning a championship and coming off the bench as a key player.

Now the Iverson trade has landed Dice back in the place where it all started. The Nuggets gain a valuable bench player with winning experience. A chance to deepen the bench.

Bench + Nuggets = doesn't exist

But now it can.

And now, the bad news. They are going to buy out the remainder of Dice's contract. What!? Are you F*ckin' kidding me? Why!!!??? Can we not have a bench and co-exist at the same time?

The Headbanger

Why does the Nuggets continue to screw with me? Simple. The Nuggets sole intention in life is to f*ck with me and it's fans emotions. An organization that is too financially strapped with the NBA luxury tax, pulls out another salary dump trade. They intend to buy out the remainder of his contract without gaining any service from him. In turn, most likely, Dice will resign with the team that just traded him, Detroit.

I heard about this trade late in the morning and by early afternoon, the air in my balloon deflated a little bit. The trade essentially becomes AI for Billups. Let's be honest, Cheikh Samb is just a throw in for dollar matching purposes. He'll be cut. Dice, is also a money thing, but why not keep him?

Final Thoughts

Why do I have the feeling that this some how is going to bite us in the butt? Could this be too good to be true? Are we pleased with a short term fix rather than looking at the whole picture? Iverson's $20.8 million contract is coming off the books at the end of this year. Was he really the piece that we should have traded? After all, we just dumped $20.8 (for one year) and took on another $57 million hit over next three years (including Dice's buyout and Samb's contract). Don't go poppin' the champagne bottles yet.

In Detroit they're rejoicing in dumping the salaries to make way for two big free agent classes in the next two summers. In 2009, Carlos Boozer can opt out, Marvin Williams and David Lee are free agents. In 2010, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd enter the sweepstakes world.

Aren't those the players Nuggets could have went after. Subtract Iverson's $20.8 million, another year or two of K-Mart's huge contract...and possibilty of dumping that in a trade is more attractive...off the books, and the Nuggets might have been players in these sweepstakes.

Overall, I'm pleased with the trade. But I feel like I've just been hooked up with a friend's hot sister only to find out that she has Hep-C.

Victory.

Yes.

But a little disappointed.