Birdman to Continue to Protect the Nest

-Jeremy Kloberdanz

Many fans around Denver have been wondering how the Nuggets plan on repeating last seasons success along with building on it. Would there be any marquee deals? Who would we retain and who would we let go? What would we go after in the draft?

The first step was the draft and the Nuggets stole potentially the best PG in the class when they acquired Ty Lawson. He will complement Chauncey Billups very well off the bench and is the future leader of our team. Ty pushes the ball up the court better than most who are already in the league and can learn a lot in the company that he is in. Chad Ford from ESPN agrees that he is a great pickup as he graded each teams draft.

Next is free agency. Now that the Nuggets have agreed to a deal with Chris “Birdman” Andersen, they keep the most energetic big man coming off the bench in the league. His scoring still needs some fine-tuning but his passion and enthusiasm is unmatched. He was second in the league last year in blocked shots even though he played only 20.6 minutes per game. He is raw and with some attention from the coaching staff, could be in contention for Defensive Player of the Year. Bird’s new deal is for five years and could make up to 26 million.

Now the team just needs to ink Dahntay Jones to a deal so he can continue to be our lock down defender. Jones proved his worth all season and stood out in the playoffs as he shut down the likes of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Chris Paul. He is a valuable yet low key player that helps keep the equilibrium of our team that is sometimes erratic.

The organization also needs to decide on the future of Anthony Carter, Sonny Weems and Jason Hart. Carter is currently asking more than the team wants to pay him. Weems is a young talent who can develop along with Lawson and has proved himself in the D-League. Hart is a journeyman who is expendable. He has a great attitude and is a good team player, but he is just the least talented point guard on the team. I wouldn’t expect him back but we wish him the best.

The last thing the team needs is to get over their off court trouble. J.R. Smith just got sentenced to 90 days of jail time that is likely to get dropped to 30 days and some community service. His trouble stems from an incident involving a traffic accident. A passenger with Smith ended up dying from the accident. Smith will have his license suspended for two years and will preform his community service visiting sick kids in the hospital.

The offseason has started off well for the Nuggets. With diligence and some more intelligent moves, the Nuggets may have their most productive offseason in recent memory.