The State of The Denver Nuggets - A Diehard Fan's Perspective

The Denver Nuggets have concluded there 2009-2010 Season with last week's Game 6 and eventual playoff series loss to the Utah Jazz. This marks the sixth 1st round playoff exit for the Nuggets in the past 7 years, can you say underachieving. The two only real bright spots to the team's whole season was that for the first time in franchise history they won back to back northwest division titles, and had a 50+ win season for the third straight year. Besides that there wasn't anything to be real happy, excited, or optimistic about as a Nuggets fan this season. You can blame many factors on the Nuggets poor second half of the season, and 1st round exit such as Head Coach George Karl being unable to coach as he battles cancer, horrible officiating, injuries, etc... to be honest though as a diehard Denver Nuggets fan I blame the players themselves for not only being selfish, and for lacking focus but, for being what many people would call a "headcase" of a team and a roster that needs to be somewhat revamped after this season's 1st round playoff exit. The Nuggets now enter a offseason filled with disappointment, what if's, uncertainty, and problems needing to be solved. First order of business for the Nuggets, renegotiate Franchise Player and recent All-NBA 2nd Team selection Carmelo Anthony's current contract ASAP!!!. Most of us Nuggets fans know that Anthony's current contract will expire next year if he chooses to exercise his player option, and we all know if he opts out Anthony will be the crown jewel of the 2011 Free Agent Class. The Nuggets front office needs to hammer out a new deal with Melo so that come next summer were not in the same predicament currently as the Miami Heat & Toronto Raptors are with there franchise players Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Speaking of the Nuggets front office possibly the Nuggets two biggest Free Agents this summer are Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Mark Warkentien and Vice President of Player Personnel Rex Chapman. Both of these men have been instrumental in the re-building of this team from mediocre, barely getting into the playoffs type of team, to now being somewhat of a title contender. The unfortunate news for Nuggets fans like myself is both Warkentien and Chapman's contracts are up, and the Nuggets need to hammer out a new deal with both guys sometime this offseason. The Nuggets also have several players who will be Free Agents next year such as Joey Graham, and Johan Petro(Both men in my opinion deserve a contract for next season), the team also has to make some decisions on the future of players such as J.R. Smith, Nene, Kenyon Martin, and possibly even Chris "Birdman" Anderson. In the case of J.R. Smith personally I want him out of Denver he plays no defense, is inconsistent, takes bad shots, and lacks the mental toughness this team needs, he more so brings down the team emotionally at certain points than he does help them. Now given Smith's recent struggles in the playoffs against Utah, and his on court poutfest with some of the Nuggets assistant coaches, Smith should have all but punched his ticket out of Denver. While given Smith's on court talent, and his immense potential, he no longer fills a need or want for this team, his talent and numbers alone will make him good tradebait. Moving on to K-Mart and Nene, now while I don't see both men being moved nor do I want to see them moved, there names should and will come up in trade discussions. Martin has been the heart & soul of the Nuggets defense but, he isn't giving the Nuggets what they need and that's a offensive low post presence. Martin also has a huge expiring contract for next season which will be attractive to a lot of teams come this summer. Nene on the other hand is one of the best C's in the league but, just can't seem to live up to his potential and sometimes lacks that mental toughness this team needs to be a serious title contender. I could easily see the Nuggets keeping both men or trading both to try and acquire a all-star caliber player potentially Toronto PF Chris Bosh, or New York Knicks F/C David Lee. The Nuggets will have some serious decisions to make this offseason but, all us fans know with the way this team currently is constructed there going no where near a NBA Championship anytime soon, and while that maybe a little harsh, it's true. Regardless of what the Nuggets do this offseason we are definitely in for some change around here Nuggets fans, and I expect this team to have a very active, and potentially championship building or lottery bound offseason. I'll be back here on whotheman.com giving my take on all things Nuggets and what they do this offseason, oh and one last thing GO NUGGETS!!!.

Blog – 1 year, 9 months ago by MMAInsight to Basketball. 710 views, 1 comment.