The Denver Nuggets had a great season and they have a bright future building around their talented core players, Carmelo Anthony, Nene Hilario, and Andre Miller. The Nuggets will look to add to this trio in the off-season by trying to re-sign Marcus Camby and by finding a long-term replacement for Voshon Lenard. Lenard was a nice role player for the Nuggets, but his inconsistent offense and age have made it a priority for the Nuggets to upgrade at shooting guard. The Nuggets found out first hand in the playoffs how important it is to have another player who can create shots off the dribble. Carmelo Anthony was the only player in the starting lineup, who was capable of creating his own looks, but once the TWolves clamped down on him the Nuggets struggled to score. Lenard has 3 years left on his current contract, but the Nuggets have the option to buy him out over the summer. With a free agent class loaded at shooting guard, what would be the best situation for the Nuggets, and what would be the most realistic one they can pull off? 1. Re-Sign Lenard 2. Sign Kobe Bryant 3. Sign Manu Ginobili 4. Sign Jamal Crawford 5. Sign Quentin Richardson 6. Sign Brent Barry 7. Sign Stephen Jackson
Personally I think Ginobili would be the most useful out of them. He has defense and hustle and defines them as a SG.
Andre Miller could also create off the dribble... anyways if they're looking for a long term replacement, meaning a young guy then Brent Barry is out of the mix, but out of those guys I like Barry, Q-Rich, or maybe Crawford but I'm not that high on him. A player that can shoot is what is needed, because that's a lot of what Lenard was and it helped, but a guy that can shoot and also create for himself. Defense is also another thing and Jamal Crawford isn't too good a defender, and he's also weak, but I think Q-Rich would be good.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Andre Miller could also create off the dribble... anyways if they're looking for a long term replacement, meaning a young guy then Brent Barry is out of the mix, but out of those guys I like Barry, Q-Rich, or maybe Crawford but I'm not that high on him. A player that can shoot is what is needed, because that's a lot of what Lenard was and it helped, but a guy that can shoot and also create for himself. Defense is also another thing and Jamal Crawford isn't too good a defender, and he's also weak, but I think Q-Rich would be good.</div> Yea but there is a fine line between being able to shoot and shooting too much. Barry is the man.
How would the Barry brothers function together, assuming the Nuggets can re-sign Jon and bring Brent in as a free agent? The SG I'd go after out of this group is Ginobili. Although the chances are slim for the Nuggets to sway him to join their team, he'd be the perfect fit for their lineup. I also like Brent Barry on this team because of his ability to make everyone around him better. The Nuggets would be one of the best passing teams with Dre Miller and Barry handling the rock. He's been injury prone over the last few years, but if the Nuggets want to strengthen their post season accomplishments, Barry is a great canidate. Third on the list would have to be Q, but I'm not sure he would get the amount of touches he wants on the Nuggets.
I think signing Q is much higher on their list of free agents they want most. I expect them to go after him the most, considering Manu is more likely to resign with the Spurs than leaving for any other team. Trying to sign Kobe is almost pointless, and although it still is worth the effort its as likely as Charles Barkley making a comeback tot he NBA.
If it was possible i say they should/would go after kobe but it's like someone said as likely as Sir Charles bringing it back to the NBA. Quentin Richardson is the man I've loved the way this kid plays since him and DMiles first games as clippers, he is just amazing I think he will most likely be an Allstar. Q improved his stats dramatically this year and proved the haters wrong, he can really shoot. Q, Melo, Miller, and Nene would be a crazy core group.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PS3:</div><div class="quote_post">If it was possible i say they should/would go after kobe but it's like someone said as likely as Sir Charles bringing it back to the NBA. Quentin Richardson is the man I've loved the way this kid plays since him and DMiles first games as clippers, he is just amazing I think he will most likely be an Allstar. Q improved his stats dramatically this year and proved the haters wrong, he can really shoot. Q, Melo, Miller, and Nene would be a crazy core group.</div> Nene is not part of our core. Unless he improves drastically next year I dont think Kiki will pick up his option.
I like Ginobli best out of the list, he can score, shot threes, defend, steals create fast breaks, he is playing what the nuggets are good at, also you nuggets fans should pray Kobe is inocient from the rape trial, and they need to use all their cap, get those big contract player to the bobcats for Kobe, he is the best player after KG and Duncan.
Again, Kobe will not go to a team which already has a superstar. He wants to be the franchise player.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If it was possible i say they should/would go after kobe but it's like someone said as likely as Sir Charles bringing it back to the NBA. Quentin Richardson is the man I've loved the way this kid plays since him and DMiles first games as clippers, he is just amazing I think he will most likely be an Allstar. Q improved his stats dramatically this year and proved the haters wrong, he can really shoot. Q, Melo, Miller, and Nene would be a crazy core group.</div> I know I said I would also like Q-Rich but let's not go crazy, he can shoot but his shot selection is at times very bad, I also don't know about All-Star since someone names Carmelo is the other swingman on the team. Q's stats didn't improve dramatically, his minutes did, people always confuse this aspect, but he wouldn't be a bad addition if he played smarter and acrually played defense. Like he said Nene is not neccesarrily part of the core, he did improve this year from last though, also mainly due to him learning the language better, but you know he's not part of the core with all the talks about Denver wanting Kenyon. I like his game though and with improvements in rebounding especially he can be good because of his ability to run the floor and dribbling ability for his size.
Of the Free Agents, Ginobili would be the best fit for Denver. He can shoot the 3, start or come off the bench and will bring no problems to them. He will be very hard to get out of San Antonio though, and resiging Lenard is a not a bad choice. Stephen Jackson would be a good move, and shouldn't be to hard to sign. Q Rich may not fit in well in Denver, he wont be getting the same amount of shots and it could cause problems. Brent Barry's age might get in the way of a contract, but he would be a great 3 point shooter off the bench. He's well worth signing to a short term contract but Denver are more interested in the younger guys to sign to a long term contract. Brent Barry could start if necessary, but Denver should look to do better than that in the offseason.
Option 4. Jamal Crawford is a rising star and I'm sure he can play alongside Andre Miller perfectly, without stunting Carmelo Anthony's development.
I still stick with Stephen Jackson. He was a stud with the Hawks this year, and he would be awesome with the Nuggets.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting cArMeLo15:</div><div class="quote_post">I still stick with Stephen Jackson. He was a stud with the Hawks this year, and he would be awesome with the Nuggets.</div> Being a stud on the Hawks is the equivalent of maybe the 11th man on any other NBA roster.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ThePoopSmith:</div><div class="quote_post">Being a stud on the Hawks is the equivalent of maybe the 11th man on any other NBA roster.</div> That isn't the truth. Stephen Jackson played starting SG for the champion Spurs a season ago. He is not a pushover.
Yea he's a starting SG, but his Hawks stats aren't any better than his SA stats, he just go more minutes, committed more turnovers, and shot worse than when he was on the Spurs, just got more shots, nothing really changed. He can shoot and defend pretty well though, tries to run the break by himself too much and he thinks his handles and passing ability are better than they actually are.
Who said he was? I was just saying, he did averaged 11 or 12 with SA, hit big shots, and was only playing 28 minutes a game in the regular season, so with about 37 minutes he'll easilty put up 15 points, 4.5 rebounds 2-3 assist and 1.6 steals.
