Wanting to ensure their electrifying start to the NBA season is more than a flash in a pan, the Nuggets are back in the trade market to fix one big problem.
There’s a crack in the team’s happy existence as huge as the unmistakable frown now worn on a regular basis by frustrated young center Nene, who has lobbied coach George Karl for Denver to make a deal.
“I’m so mad, you know. I’m so mad . . . because we don’t have more weapons, like the big men the team deserves,” said Nene, the last Nuggets player in the gym after a recent practice.
Standing in a doorway filled by his 6-foot-11, 250-pound frame early Friday afternoon, Nene felt the weight of the world on his broad shoulders, and admitted to being “grumpy.”
What’s the problem, big guy?
Although the Nuggets have staked an early claim to first place in the Northwest Division and Nene has performed at what veteran point guard Chauncey Billups calls an all-star level, the 26-year-old Brazilian fears there is trouble ahead for this team if Denver fails to acquire help for its undermanned and undersized front court, where Nene and Kenyon Martin have been the lone reliable big men.
“Now, we’re doing great. But for how long? If Kenyon gets hurt for three weeks, how are we going to do? If I twist my ankle, how are we going to do?” said Nene, whose recovery from testicular cancer and switch from power forward to center are major reasons the Nuggets have thrived despite trimming payroll in the controversial offseason trade of veteran Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers.
But it irks Nene to be identified as a center.
“I’m a 4 (power forward). I don’t play 5 (center),” he said. “I’m a 4, but now I play 5.”
After recently hearing Nene air his frustration, Karl replied with an assurance that front- office executives are working diligently to obtain a post player capable of reducing the workload for him as well as Martin, whose wrist injury put the 30-year-old power forward in street clothes during four games prior to a Saturday night date against Golden State.
“George Karl told me, ‘Hey, I think they are going to do something, but I don’t know when.’ And I said, ‘I just hope it is not late, man. Because we are only 20 games into the season, and it is hard,’ ” Nene reported.
The Nuggets have explored the possibility of trading veteran point guard Chucky Atkins and his $3.2 million salary. A league source confirmed Denver is actively searching for a big man talented enough to not only fill an XXL uniform but also become a regular member of the playing rotation.
The team’s ability to find a willing trade partner could well improve this week, because Monday is the official date when free agents who signed contracts last summer again become eligible to be swapped.
Question is: If Atkins does not prove to be sufficient trade bait, would the Nuggets consider parting with Linas Kleiza, Renaldo Balkman or Chris Andersen, who all have shown flashes but have yet to establish themselves as indispensable?
While Karl was obviously depressed when Camby was jettisoned, the coach gives Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke credit for executing a plan that decreased the payroll and increased the team’s winning percentage.
Can Denver now find a way to become a bigger threat in the tough Western Conference while staying within its budget?
“Everybody is taking me like a target. Oh, I’m the target now,” said Nene, averaging more than 14 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes per game.
“They hit me on the offense and on the defense, and I can do nothing. The other team understands we only have a couple big men and they have more of a rotation. So they decide: Let’s foul them, maybe they get tired and fatigued, maybe we take them out of the game.”
The lack of size on the Denver roster reduces the options in the substitution pattern by Karl, who has seen his team’s lack of length heavily exploited in losses to the conference- leading Lakers.
But it is Nene and Martin, two players with well-documented histories of injury, who really feel the squeeze.
“We can’t breathe,” said Nene, irked because he feels it’s not a fair fight when the elbows start flying under the basket against the Lakers, Houston, San Antonio and New Orleans.
“We can’t breathe, because it’s hard.”
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
