Denver Nuggets: Grading Their Offseason Moves

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To say the Denver Nuggets’ offseason has been a little turbulent would be putting it mildly. If anything, it’s been an absolute roller coaster. In just a couple of months, the Nuggets went from being a potential dark horse in the Western Conference playoffs to a squad very much in the rebuilding process. Don’t be confused by that term “rebuilding.” Although the Denver Nuggets aren’t exactly starting from square one like the Charlotte Bobcats or the Phoenix Suns (for the millionth time), they are definitely in a rebuilding phase of their own.

It probably won’t take them as long to find their footing after all these personnel and front office changes, especially compared to other teams in the West, but the fact remains: Denver’s 2013-14 identity is still very much up in the air. But before we get too carried away looking at the future, let’s take a look at how the Nuggets got here and hand out some offseason grades.

George Karl led the Nuggets to an NBA franchise-record 57 wins in 2012-13. But letting him go was still probably the right decision. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)

The Nuggets Fire George KarlB-

Ultimately, the Nuggets’ tumultuous offseason kind of comes down to this first domino: The firing of the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year. No one can deny that George Karl is a terrific coach; he’s helped lead the Nuggets to nine consecutive playoff appearances and the last time one of his teams had a record below .500, it was in 1987-88. But of those nine consecutive playoff appearances as coach of the Denver Nuggets, eight of them resulted in a first-round exit and the one exception was a loss in the Western Conference Finals. Simply put, Karl racked up regular-season wins, but his teams folded (often too early) in the playoffs. This season’s loss to an upstart Golden State Warriors team was the tipping point, especially considering the talented and well-balanced roster he had in place.

Firing the Coach of the Year just a short while after he had been given the award is a tough situation, especially because Karl really is a solid coach. But I have to give credit to the Nuggets here: They knew Karl wasn’t going to be able to lead them to the Finals and cut him loose to search for someone who could. Had Karl been able to produce some playoff wins, a lot of the following moves never would have happened.

An entertaining Warriors team highlighted by Stephen Curry‘s incredible third quarter performances kind of overshadowed this, but this year’s Denver Nuggets showed it could compete with the best in the West all year. After Russell Westbrook went down, it seemed as though the way had been paved for the Nuggets to finally reach the NBA Finals. But the Nuggets fell short again and Denver’s management had had enough. After that, the changes kept on coming.

Denver Lets General Manager Masai Ujiri Leave For Toronto: D-

Most talk about the Denver Nuggets centered on firing George Karl for a few weeks, but the story more important to their long-term success went under the radar. There’s no denying that the Toronto Raptors offering Masai Ujiri a five-year deal with an annual income of nearly $3 million made him an expensive asset to try and keep, but when you orchestrate trades involving stars like Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard and you win those trades, money should not be the issue there.

In Denver’s defense, Ujiri had connections and history in Toronto, so holding on to him would have been tough even without the financial aspect. But that’s still not a good enough excuse to let one of the NBA’s shrewdest GMs walk out the door after just kicking your head coach right through it. This guy turned Carmelo Anthony into a well-balanced team that should have been a contender in the West and he helped the Nuggets win the Dwight Howard trade over the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic. Letting Ujiri leave without making him an offer will probably hurt the Nuggets in the long run way more than firing Karl.

Brian Shaw was the best available candidate for the Denver Nuggets. (Photo courtesy of The White House Office of the Press Secretary via http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Shaw.jpg#file)

Denver Hires Brian Shaw as head coach: A-

About a month ago, I wrote about the Nuggets’ top five coaching candidates and Brian Shaw was at the top of the list. Denver wisely avoided Lionel Hollins and went with Shaw, a guy who has no head coaching experience. Not that Hollins is a bad coach, but his defensive style directly clashed with the Nuggets’ offensive identity. Choosing Shaw was the right decision based on the available candidates out there and will finally get his chance to show what he can do as a head coach.

Shaw is a student of the triangle offense he learned under Phil Jackson, but it seems unlikely the Nuggets would use that system with JaVale McGee at center. The future is a little hazy for the Denver Nuggets, but hiring Shaw was a good move that could pay off down the road.

Missing Out On Andre Iguodala: D+

Maybe this one is a bit unfair because Denver did improve their situation somewhat when Andre Iguodala’s signing with the Warriors turned into a sign-and-trade. But still, losing Iggy is a huge blow to a team that will be extremely short-handed at the shooting guard position next year. Iguodala isn’t a high-level superstar, but he is an incredibly gifted defender, well-balanced offensive player, decent rebounder and terrific team chemistry guy. He could fit in with any team because he doesn’t need to score to be happy.

I’ve already written about how Denver lost the Andre Igudoala Sweepstakes. In fact, Iggy almost signed with two teams over the Nuggets (the Sacramento Kings suddenly pulled their offer), but what’s even worse is Denver offered more money to keep Iggy and still lost him to Golden State. But as much as Denver compensated for this loss by acquiring Randy Foye via a sign-and-trade involving the Utah Jazz and Warriors, that’s not nearly a big enough return for a great glue guy like Iguodala. Firing Karl and letting Ujiri leave undoubtedly played a part in Iguodala’s decision, but when your best all-around player signs with the team that just knocked you out of the playoffs for less money…that’s going to sting for awhile.

Denver Trades Kosta Koufos for Darrell Arthur: C+

One of Tim Connelly’s first moves as Denver’s new GM was turning Kosta Koufos into Darrell Arthur and the rights to the No. 55 pick, Joffrey Lauvergne. Arthur is a decent acquisition in his own right, but this minor move really didn’t change things too drastically for the Nuggets. The biggest effect of this trade will be JaVale McGee finally moving into the starting lineup, something that Denver’s management has been waiting for and often disagreed with George Karl about.

I like this trade more for Memphis than anyone else; they turned a forward who was holding Ed Davis back in the rotation into a valuable, steady backup center to play behind Marc Gasol. Arthur will bolster the bench and probably find some minutes in the rotation, but all things considered, this move was just kind of “blah.”

Nuggets Sign J.J. Hickson: B-

Here’s the thing about J.J. Hickson that most NBA analysts/critics love to hammer home: J.J. Hickson’s stats don’t exactly tell the whole story. If you’re looking for a double-double threat to take in the later rounds of your fantasy basketball league, Hickson is a terrific player. But if you’re a team looking for defense inside the paint, Hickson’s not your guy.

But here’s the thing about the Denver Nuggets that most J.J. Hickson critics are overlooking: The Nuggets barely play defense anyway! With Kosta Koufos gone and JaVale McGee moving into the starting lineup, Denver needed a backup to avoid giving Timofey Mozgov extended minutes. Losing Iguodala and adding Hickson fully completes Denver’s path to the Zero Defense Dark Side, but it’s not like Kenneth Faried and JaVale McGoaltend were going to protect the paint with a huge amount of authority anyway.

Corey Brewer Leaves For Minnesota: C-

Letting free agent Corey Brewer leave isn’t the end of the world, but it really leaves the Nuggets short on shooting guards/small forwards. Danilo Gallinari won’t be back from his ACL tear for awhile and now Andre Iguodala and Brewer are both gone. That leaves Denver with Wilson Chandler and Evan Fournier to start at the 2 and 3 positions. Not that Chandler or Fournier are bad; both guys are great prospects that will likely show great improvement with an increase in minutes.

However, you don’t win playoff games with Wilson Chandler and Evan Fournier starting. This will be a fun opportunity for Nuggets fans to see what the young Fournier can do with an increase in minutes, but Corey Brewer provided fantastic (and amusing) energy off the bench that no one on Denver’s current roster will be able to match. Losing Brewer certainly doesn’t kill the Nuggets for years to come like some of these other offseason moves might, but it’s definitely not a good thing either.