Tag Archives: Nene

A Look At Nene’s Possible Destinations After His Decision To Opt Out Of Denver

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This piece is in direct response to a Twitter challenge by Editor-In-Chief of The Big Lead, Jason McIntyre.  Earlier today on his blog, McIntyre suggested six possible destinations for Nene, of which four were completely unrealistic and, as I insinuated to him in a tweet, were ”pulled out of his ass.”  As a Nuggets fan, it doesn’t irk me so much that Nene opted out as it does that ignorant basketball fans think that he’d actually take $3 million a year to land on a contender for the next five years.  It’s a classic “I have no idea what goes on west of the Hudson River” view of the sports world and it pisses me off to no end.  It’s highly indicative of his writing style over the years in that he likes to pretend he’s an authority on sports and that his opinion matters when in actuality he’s playing the post-modern version of reaching for sports talk show radio ratings.  Which is exactly why McIntyre actually positing that Nene could actually end up in Dallas, San Antonio, Boston, or Miami drives me insane.  There’s just no way.  If you really want me to break down why it’s impossible for each of those teams, leave me a note in the comments.  I’d be happy to do it.  Additionally let me please note that if this piece has any spelling errors or seems sloppy, my apologies.  I rushed to write it as soon as the challenge was extended and haven’t gotten the chance to edit it properly.

In response to his ignorant evaluation of Nene’s free agency, here’s my list of six actual destinations the Brazilian big man could end up.  In no particular order…

1) The Denver Nuggets.  Hey! Just because he opted out doesn’t mean he’s going to automatically skip town.  I think they’re definitely still the favorite to land him after the lockout is over.  Nene is obviously looking for more years than the regular extension would have offered although I think it’s highly unwise to risk signing under the terms of the new CBA.  It has the potential to severely limit the amount of money he could earn as well as the number of years.  In addition to this, Nene is married to a native Colorado woman and they’re expecting their first child next month.  He’s been quoted as saying he wants to retire a Nugget but he’s also on the record as saying he has major doubts about the direction of the franchise.  I’m crossing my fingers that he stays, but I don’t think anyone could blame him for going elsewhere. 

2) The Golden State Warriors.  It’s no secret the Warriors have been after Nene since last season’s ownership change.  They’ve been starved of competent front court help ever since Biedrins and David Lee landed on what appear to be permanent spots on the injury train.  With a new ownership group that is embracing advanced metrics, Nene is a highly attractive free agent that they will target.  For those who don’t know, he’s one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA and that stat geeks are gaga for his remarkable numbers.  This is made all the more realistic by that same front office saying they’re more than willing to make room for players by dealing either Monta Ellis or Steph Curry rather than McIntyre’s unrealistic idea that a team like the Celtics would move Ray Allen or KG to get Nene.  While it may be possible for the Warriors to keep both Curry and Ellis and make room for him, my guess is they’d move one of the guards for other assets.

3) The Houston Rockets.  Darly Morey has additionally made it no secret that he finds Nene to be an extremely desirable player to have on the roster.  How any knowledgeable fan could manage to forget this fact is beyond me which makes McIntyre’s destinations all the more ridiculous.  Are you noticing a trend in that all the smart front offices want to land him on their team?  Is Nene the elusive “great player” Morey has been searching for all these years?  I doubt it.  But he’d make one hell of a running mate if they were ever able to land a Dwight Howard or a Chris Paul to go with him.  Nene and Scola would team up for an All-South American front court that would feature one of the most formidable offensive duos in the game.  Let’s not talk about their defense though…

4) The New Jersey Nets.  McIntyre was correct in his assumption that the Nets are a realistic destination.  They’re trying to convince Deron Williams to stay and for Dwight Howard to sign next off season.  I can’t think of a better way to do it than by signing one of the three best free agents in this year’s class.  Additionally I think Nene offers far more stability than David West or Tyson Chandler (the other two best options), both of whom have serious injury histories over the course of their careers.  Mikhail Prokhorov in no stranger to spending money either.

5) The Indiana Pacers.  Ditto on McIntyre being correct here as well.    They have lots of cap room to sign him and could feature him at his natural position of power forward (next to Roy Hibbert). This would make the Pacers an extremely fun/competitive team to watch next year and if  status and perceptions didn’t matter in the modern NBA, Indiana might be the front runner to land him.  Although the move makes sense on a basketball level, would Nene really leave Colorado for…Indiana?  I’m not saying Denver offers a night life which he’d miss dearly but you can’t beat the views/scenery in the Mile High City and again his wife is from Colorado, after all.  I would be shocked to see a player of his caliber sign with the Pacers.

6) The New Orleans.  If they’re unable to keep David West they could just as quickly turn around and offer that same money to Nene, who instantly would become a regular all-star candidate each year if paired next to Chris Paul.  It’s scary to think of what those two could achieve with each other.  Paul damn near won the Western conference the one year he had a healthy Tyson Chandler playing center.  A healthy Nene who’s far more skilled offensively?  That’s quite terrifying actually.

And there you have it basketball fans.  That’s my realistic retort to McIntyre’s ridiculous post and one that I hope leaves you all more informed after having finished it.

Nuggets Trying To Re-Sign Karl, Nene, J.R. Smith After Trading Carmelo

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Love, love, love this.  I’m telling you people, J.R. has the talent to be a number one option in this league.  Karl needs to start him.  From AOL Fanhouse:

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said after Thursday night’s 89-75 win over Boston that negotiations are nearly complete on bringing Karl back for next season.

“We’re pretty close on that,” Kroenke said in an interview with FanHouse. “We’ve been doing that throughout the process and we just had to cut it off at times because we had to focus on Melo.”

The Nuggets started negotiations in December on bringing back Karl, in the last year of his contract. There were some delays due to trade talk regarding Anthony, the star forward who was dealt Tuesday to New York.

“Hopefully, soon,” Kroenke said about when a deal on Karl will be announced. “George is somebody we want to keep here and, obviously, you can see him (Thursday), he does a great job with what he has. We’ll hopefully get something done. We want George here for a long time.”

Kroenke declined to speculate on the length of Karl’s contract extension, but sources previously have said three is the expected number. FanHouse had reported last month Karl would return to the Nuggets next season, with Anthony being traded not being a factor.

“Yeah,” Karl said at the time about wanting to come back without Anthony. “I’m hoping to be in Denver next year.”

Karl’s agent, Bret Adams, arrived in Denver on Thursday for discussions Friday with Nuggets brass.

Kroenke also said Thursday the Nuggets are working on an extension for center Nene, who can opt out of the final year of his contract this summer and become a free agent. And he reiterated what Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri had told FanHouse in December about the Nuggets wanting to re-sign guard J.R. Smith when he becomes a free agent this summer.

I must say the two young execs have done pretty well for themselves.  I think Nuggets fans everywhere need to give them a little pat on the back for what they’ve been able to pull off thus far.  If they’re able to convince these three to stay in Denver too

Nuggets Show Exactly Why Carmelo Wants To Be Traded

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I became aware of this sequence of events that transpired last night only after reading Yahoo! Sports’ Ball Don’t Lie blog this morning which featured a similar post.  Check out how the Nuggets game ended last night:

After Ellis misses the bucket with like twenty seconds left, Carmelo’s teammates literally freeze him out here for the potential game-tying or game-winning shot.  I know it sucks for all these guys and what they’re having to go through on account of the ‘Melo trade drama, but there is NO reason to purposely keep him out of the play.  He is one of, if not the best clutch players in the league and they don’t even let him touch the rock.  Watch him literally begging for the ball after the rebound and as JR Smith takes it up the court.

We’ve been harping on this theme all year and it mostly had to do with Chauncey Billups up to this point.  For some reason the Nuggets look to freeze our Carmelo in crunch time and it’s prevented a number of forced overtimes and victories as a result.  It’s a sign of a team that is way too immature and can you really blame Anthony for wanting a trade at this point?  When a squad is willing to take a loss to send a message to a teammate rather than give themselves the best chance to win, something is clearly wrong with their mental makeup.

There has to be something more to this story because a message was clearly sent by the team to Carmelo last night.

[Ball Don't Lie]

More Drama In Denver: What Does Nene Really Want?

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It seems that the Nuggets have a player on their hands who is threatening to demand a trade, and his name is not Carmelo Anthony.  Nuggets center Nene is reportedly not pleased with the team’s unwillingness to address his contract situation, this according to a new CBS Sports report:

If you think the Nuggets simply have to resolve the Carmelo Anthony saga and move on, think again. Denver has another issue brewing, one that has been largely ignored with all the attention on Melo. It’s the impending free agency of another player we’re on a one-name basis with: Nene.

Like Anthony, Nene has an early-termination option he can exercise after the season, and sources say he is upset with all the attention focused on Anthony’s situation while his isn’t being resolved. Nene, arguably Denver’s second-best player, has made a list of three teams he’s interested in signing with or being traded to — and not surprisingly, one of them is Miami, where his fierce interior presence would be the missing piece for the Heat.

The addition of Nene to Miami would be absolutely deadly and severely threaten league parity for the next decade in the NBA.  This is obviously devastating news to Nuggets fans, but hold on a second!  The Denver Post just ran a piece yesterday claiming Nene has declared Denver his second home (he’s originally from Brazil) and that he definitely wants to retire in the Mile High City.  Check it out, from the Denver Post:

Oddly enough, Carmelo Anthony isn’t the only Nugget this season that has an opt-out clause in his contract for next season. There are two.

Nene is the other.

But unlike Anthony, Nene – a native of Brazil – has grown to love the city of Denver, state of Colorado and desperately desires to stay. He wants to extend his contract with the Nuggets and says those talks have begun to some degree. He does plan to not opt out of the final year of his deal, which will pay him $11.6 million next season.

It is the last of a six-year, $60 million contract he signed in 2006.

Nene was very clear on Sunday when he said “For me, I want to retire here.”

Asked specifically if he wants to extend his contract with the Nuggets, Nene said “Definitely. I love the city. But I can’t control it. So that’s why I said my agent is going to do what’s best for me. I want to stay here. I have friends, I have family. All the fans have been supportive, they’ve been good to me. That’s what I can say.”

So what’s going on here?  Is Nene being completely honest?  Are CBS’ sources just speculating?  It’s hard to say at this point.  All the Nuggets players have to be pissed off at the ongoing drama and it’s highly likely that Nene isn’t pleased, especially considering that he’s having his best ever season and is unquestionably the best center in the Western Conference.  I’ll take him at his word when he says he wants to stay.  Hopefully the Nuggets can salvage this Carmelo situation and keep the two core players intact for a run at one of the big names in the 2012 free agent class.

[CBS Sports] [Denver Post]