I need to come back on here this morning and finish what I started writing yesterday about the Denver Nuggets retool for the next NBA season. Executive Vice-Presidents of the Denver Nuggets, Ben Tenser and Jon Wallace (recently added from the TWolves operation), were basically just getting started on the 1-6 part of the Denver roster.
Shame on MJ, he was so excited about hitting the mountains with the ‘fam’…he wrote too quickly. This is a different kind of templet the Nuggets have put together since they fired both Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth. Both Tenzer and Wallace will work jointly under Josh Gronke to retool the Nuggets to championship status.
Houston and Atlanta have both done some interesting things so far, but by far what the Nuggets have done tops the charts.
So ignore some of what I wrote yesterday in regards to the 8-11 portion of the Nugget roster next season.The two undrafted rookie free agents will most likely become two-way contract players, and if DeAndre Jurdan remains on the roster it will be as an emergency third center and a leadership type in the locker room.
What the Nuggets did was trade Dario Saric to Sacramento for 33 year-old center Jonas Valeniunas. What this means is Jokic will now have a legitmate backup center behind him. One who can come out on the floor and handle 12-14 minutes a game and give the team a quality backup center.
The Tenzer-Wallace combo then added another quality wing to their rotation by adding free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. into the mix. To me…Hardaway will now become the Nuggets’ version of Aaron Wiggins coming off their bench to provide instant offensive spark.
As a 38% 3-point point shooter this past season with the Pistons who averaged 11 points a game…. I would not hesitate writing I’d take Hardaway over Isaiah Joe, and on the nights when Aaron Wiggins doesn’t show up…. over Aaron as well. Aaron needs to address this part of his game…that being, becoming a dependable pro who does his job every night.
The Nuggets in my mind still have two dead weight pieces left on their roster who I would try and deal into another viable bench piece. The two dead weights I’m referring to are Vlatko Cancar and Zeke NNaji. Again, you can never have too much shooting, basketball smarts, and mental toughness on your roster.
I would look for maybe that one last bench piece. And I would also add, I love Jamal Murray, but Jamal… what we have here is a very clear message…get Nikola back to the NBA Finals. Know what I mean?
MJ