If there’s one thing Voshon Lenard isn’t, it’s loquacious.
Even though the Nuggets guard entered Monday having sat out six straight games, he has not talked about his plight publicly – or even much behind the scenes. But Kiki Vandeweghe did recently go to Lenard, and the Denver general manager confirmed Lenard has not asked to be traded.
“We always try to look at different situations and what’s best for players,” the GM said of trading Lenard, whose expiring $3.5 million contract could be attractive to a team looking to shed salary.
“Vo is a very valuable person in that he can absolutely shoot the ball. There aren’t too many players who are better shooters than Vo. He’s a tough guy just to give up. And I do think there’ll be times that he helps us.”
Vandeweghe added Lenard told him he wants to play but will remain “professional” in trying to help the team by staying ready.
“That’s all you can ask,” Vandeweghe said.
Lenard did see plenty of daylight Monday, but shot a quiet 1-for-5 for four points in 17 minutes.
“I’m sure it’s hard for him not knowing when he’s going to play,” coach George Karl said. “I thought he tried hard. I thought he played hard. He just didn’t get results.”
Boise State Express
Karl plans on continuing to moonlight as a Boise State booster. After taking in a Broncos game featuring his son Coby on Sunday, Karl plans on flying to Pocatello, Idaho, on Thursday, where Boise State faces Idaho State, before rejoining the Nuggets for their Friday game at Phoenix. He also plans to watch his son’s game at Brigham Young on Dec. 7; the Nuggets are off.
Karl, who charters planes to make this busy schedule work, admitted he “cheated” his family of time when he was younger. Now he takes pleasure in watching his son, a junior who leads the Broncos with 16.3 points per game.
“I’m going to go see as many games as I can,” Karl said. “If I have to get two hours sleep or three hours sleep, that’s what happens.”
Footnotes
The Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony said it was “about time” his college coach, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, ended up coaching a U.S. team after Boeheim was named to Mike Krzyzewski’s staff. Anthony said it was too early for him to think about his place on the 2006 World Championship team.
Asked if he thought Boeheim could help grease the skids for him, Anthony replied, “Even though he’s my coach, I don’t know how that works. We’ll see what happens.” …
A week removed from knee surgery, Nene is performing two hours of mobility rehabilitation, according to agent Michael Coyne. Vandeweghe said the Nuggets still are waiting to hear from the NBA on a salary exception for the forward. …
Before Monday’s game the Denver Nuggets Community Fund awarded $583,000 to 10 area children’s charities and programs.
