At the Pepsi Center on Thursday, the Nuggets’ diamond-encrusted watches simultaneously ticked 1 p.m., and there stood Linas Kleiza on the practice court, his gym bag packed for tonight’s Nuggets game at Chicago.
“I’m still here, baby,” Kleiza said, as the NBA trade deadline passed.
The Nuggets decided not to trade the 23-year-old for Sacramento’s Ron Artest, opting instead to make one minor trade, shipping seldom-used guard Von Wafer to Portland for seldom-used guard Taurean Green.
Multiple sources close to the situation said the Kings would not trade Artest unless they received Kleiza. The decision not to acquire Artest, much debated by Nuggets fans, came with multiple explanations from the team. For one, Denver would have had to give up Kleiza and Eduardo Najera, two hard-nosed role players whom coach George Karl considers keys to team chemistry.
If Denver had acquired Artest, it would have received one of the league’s most voracious defenders, but it also would have received one of the league’s most volatile players, infamous for run-ins with fans and the law. Karl said he is pleased with the way his team is meshing for the stretch run.
“You have to remember, all these trades that were made don’t make those teams better,” Karl said. “Sometimes making a trade makes a team shakier.”
The Nuggets rejected getting Artest though their two all-stars, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson, had campaigned for him. Artest, though, would likely have opted out of his contract at season’s end, meaning the Nuggets would be making the trade for 29 games and would head into the offseason without Artest, and Kleiza, a dynamic reserve who has improved his all-around game and will cost only $1.8 million next season.
After the trade deadline, some players were relieved, others were peeved. Anthony had said the past two weeks he wanted Artest because other Western Conference powers had added star players.
Leaving the building, he whisked past reporters and huffed: “I have nothing to say right now.”
Denver’s management team worked the phones Thursday morning on a number of potential bigger moves.
In addition to the Artest discussions, sources said the Nuggets talked extensively with New York about a possible deal for Zach Randolph and with Miami for the expiring contracts of Ricky Davis and Jason Williams.
With an expiring contract, Denver could have justified a trade of Najera. The reserve forward beamed after learning he was staying.
“I’m in a great situation, playing for a great team,” Najera said. “I don’t want to move.”
Karl has repeatedly said Denver’s “trade” will be the return of Chucky Atkins and possibly Nene. Atkins, recovering from sports hernia surgery, has participated in some shooting drills and is expected to return to practice by mid-March.
And though Nene is undergoing one session of chemotherapy next week following the removal of a testicular tumor, the Nuggets are retaining hope he can return sometime in March.
Green manned the point for Florida during its national title runs in 2006 and ’07.
“We felt that with Chucky still on the shelf, depth at point guard was more compelling than depth at shooting guard with A.I. and J.R. (Smith),” said Mark Warkentien, vice president of basketball operations.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
