While LeBron James decides if he would like to own the Liberty Bell or be Magic Johnson’s boss at the conclusion of free agency, the Nuggets hope somebody will answer their “Manimal, free to a good home” advertisement, allowing Denver to build momentum for 2019.
The Nuggets failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season, are tangled in luxury-tax knots and have been unable to bribe any team in the league to take Kenneth Faried off their hands.
In any other NBA city, the masterminds (president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and general manager Arturas Karnisovas) behind this mess would be sharing a very hot seat.
In Denver, it’s called progress.
OK, some folks might find that comment a little snarky.
Of course, they might be the same folks who believe if Earl Boykins were in charge of the front office and George Karl had been retained as coach, James would already be hunting for a house in Cherry Hills Village and the Nuggets, not the Warriors, would be the reigning league champions.
Truth be told, if Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Will Barton played for the Lakers rather than the Nuggets, there would be zero suspense as to what uniform James would be wearing next season. He would text one of his NBA superstar buddies with the order to hop the next flight to LAX and form a super team that could take down Golden State.
But basketball isn’t any fairer than the rest of life. And the reality in Denver is this: It was bad Connelly bid against himself to give Paul Millsap a $31 million salary to be the 13th-best power forward in the league last season, based on Real-Plus Minus analytics. It’s worse that Wilson Chandler, Darrell Arthur and Faried are three players who combine to make $34 million in salaries, when their cumulative trade value is dangerously close to a net zero.
So the place Denver needed to start in order to regain momentum was Barton. At age 27, he is valuable to this team in many ways, from providing a spark off the bench to scoring 15 points per night to running the offense on a roster lacking in natural point guards. I like Barton because he brings a fiery competitive edge to a team that sometimes also lacks — how does one delicately put it? — guts.
Which is why the Nuggets had to make reaching an agreement with Barton the first order of business during the opening minutes of free agency, even if the cost was in the neighborhood of $13 million per year. If they had let Barton get away, their desire to finish among the top four teams in the Western Conference standings next season would have been a pipe dream.
Connelly is on record that the next step for the Nuggets is making the playoffs. Franchise management firmly believes if Millsap had not been injured last season, that box would have already been checked. It’s a fair argument, but it’s also tougher to fill seats in the Pepsi Center with woulda, shoulda, coulda than with actual results.
Here’s my optimistic take: A year from now, when the current luxury-tax crunch can be greatly alleviated by expiring contracts of players with no long-term future in Denver, Connelly could be in a far better position to not only pursue, but also sign a marquee free agent. If Jokic continues his progress toward all-star status, maybe the Nuggets are regarded as the league’s hot team on the rise in 2019, in the manner Philadelphia is viewed now. If I’m dreaming on behalf of Denver, I’m hoping James surprises folks that have colored him gone from Cleveland with a return to the Cavs on a one-plus-one deal, which would give him the chance to explore free agency again next summer.
Wait until next year?
We’re all tired of hearing the Nuggets preach patience. No matter who’s on the roster, Denver needs to win 50 games and qualify for the playoffs in the upcoming season. Anything less, and coach Michael Malone won’t be the only guy at the Pepsi Center feeling the heat.
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