Dallas – If he had finished out his contract with the Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said he believes he wouldn’t be where he is now.
Johnson had expected to be with the Nuggets for the long term after signing a three-year, $15 million contract in 2001. But after Nick Van Exel, then with the Nuggets, asked for a trade, he was dealt along with Johnson, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Raef LaFrentz to Dallas for Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, Donnell Harvey and a first-round draft pick on Feb. 21, 2002. The league’s 2006 coach of the year, a former NBA guard, credits that trade with helping him get acclimated in Dallas.
“I’m really thankful for that trade,” Johnson said Wednesday. “The more you look at it, I’m taking Avery Jr. to get a haircut and I get a call from my agent, and (Mavs owner) Mark Cuban is at the airport with his plane and you’re going to Dallas with Van Exel. And I said, ‘What?’ When I signed with Denver, I was 36 years old.
“I was like, they are not going to trade me. … Nobody is going to want me at this stage of my career. So that was quite a surprise. But it got this whole deal started. And Mark and I, again, cultivated a pretty strong relationship and talked a lot about basketball and talked about maybe at some time down the road that this could be a possibility.”
Vandeweghe talk
There are rumors around the league that former Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe has been contacted by at least two potential ownership groups interested in purchasing the Portland Trail Blazers.
Vandeweghe, a former Blazers player who is in Dallas providing analysis for NBA TV during the Finals, declined comment.
Cuban said he believes Vandeweghe, who worked for Dallas as a player development coach, will be an NBA executive again soon.
“Kiki’s a find for somebody,” Cuban said. “Wherever he ends up – and he will end up somewhere – he will be a valuable asset. He was key in helping develop a lot of our guys.”
Footnotes
Miami guard Derek Anderson said he considered signing with the Nuggets before signing with the Heat at midseason. Anderson has a player option for next season, but said if he doesn’t think he will get “significant minutes” with the Heat next season he would prefer to opt out. If so, Anderson said he would consider the Nuggets if they show interest. “That would be one of the first teams I would think to talk to,” he said. … On his days with the then-struggling Nuggets, Miami’s James Posey said: “You didn’t really know what was going to happen. You (hoped) you could make it or survive to get to this level. I guess it’s a lesson learned that there’s more basketball out there and you’ve just got to tough it out and hopefully be blessed with an opportunity to get to this level.” … On being in his first NBA Finals, Miami’s Alonzo Mourning said: “I’ll be satisfied when we win the big one, and that’s what I’ve been working for my whole career.”
