The Nuggets already required another BMOC before the beginning of next season.
Now they must acquire two, three or four.
The saga of the Nuggets and Big Men On Court just keeps on becoming more unbecoming.
The Post’s Benjamin Hochman is reporting that starting power forward Kenyon Martin recently underwent yet another knee surgery, and his rehabilitation probably won’t be completed until “the early months” of the 2010-11 season.
Just before the trading deadline Feb. 18, I wrote that the Nuggets had to trade for another big man because of the propensity of Martin, Nene and Chris Andersen to get hurt. The Nuggets elected to dance with who brung them.
When I last saw the Nuggets on April 30 in Salt Lake City, Nene was out with a sprained knee, Martin was gamely trying to play on a damaged left knee that had caused him to miss five weeks late in the regular season, and Andersen was playing through a torn patella tendon in his right knee (which has since been repaired) and with assorted other rib and hand injuries. There was no dancing with the stars.
The Nuggets had to rely on three backups who seldom played — Johan Petro, Joey Graham and Malik Allen — and were quickly knocked out of the playoffs. Those three are unrestricted free agents. Renaldo Balkman played The Invisible Man last year, and Brian Butch, The Unknown Center, was signed as a bag-toter for the postseason.
Last week, the Nuggets were mere spectators during the NBA draft. They extended an offer to their former forward, Linas Kleiza, who is playing for Olympiakos, and he apparently replied it was Greek to him.
Where are the BMOC’s? Nowhere to be found.
Maybe, when the Summer League opens in Las Vegas next month, the Nuggets will discover some guy playing craps in a casino and ask him to play center instead.
When the NBA free-for-all, expensive-for-all period of free agency is officially open this week, the Nuggets won’t be players. LeBron, Dwyane, Chris, Dirk, Amar’e, Joe, Carlos and the rest aren’t planning a vacation or a business meeting in Colorado. Instead, Carmelo and La La are off planning their wedding on MTV.
The lights are off at The Can, and nobody’s home.
The club’s vice presidents of basketball operations and player personnel, Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman, aren’t even under contract.
Coach George Karl is feeling better, but the Nuggets aren’t.
This is one big mess.
Stan Kroenke, busy buying the National Football League Rams and the English Premier League Arsenal, is intending to turn over the ownership of the Nuggets and the Avalanche to his son, 30-year-old Josh Kroenke, but the club’s vice president of team development, who doesn’t have to be under contract, may not have much of a team to develop.
So, we can all sit here and hold our breaths until we turn Carolina-blue in the face, or we can continue to recommend what the Nuggets should do.
Are you listening, The Other Josh in town?
The Nuggets already possess contracts totaling approximately $75 million for 2010-11, and the league salary cap will be about $68 million. Carmelo Anthony is due $17.1 million, Martin $16.6 million, Chauncey Billups $13.2, Nene $11.4 and J.R. Smith $6 mil.
The Nuggets should give away Martin and Smith.
WHAT?
The concept has worked. Two years ago, the Nuggets sent starting center Marcus Camby to the Clippers for a future second-round draft pick, but the move was actually made to get under the salary cap and earn a $10 million trade exception (which they never used). Without Camby, the Nuggets improved.
There could be a team out there (Sacramento Kings or Toronto Raptors, for instance?) looking for a short fix and expiring contracts to clear cap space for 2011-12. Martin and Smith are in their final contract seasons — combining for around $22.6 mil.
The Nuggets could take that money to sign one of the “Big Free Agents” or two large men — Luis Scola, an unrestricted free agent, late of the Rockets; and Udonis Haslem, an UFA who played for the Heat. Both power forwards would help the Nuggets considerably. Last season Haslem made $7.1 million, Scola $3.3 mil. Haslem is 6-feet-8, 230 pounds and averaged 9.9 points and 8.1 rebounds. Scola’s averages were 16.2 and 8.6. He is 6-9, 245. They’re hard-working, quality players.
There still might be room for the Nuggets to add 3-point shooting whiz Kyle Korver, who came in at $5.1 mil last year and burned the Nugs in the playoffs. For the season, he averaged 7.2 points and 49 percent from the field (53.6 percent from beyond the arc). He’s not a flake.
And bring back Graham, who was the bright light in the darkness of the final game.
With those changes, Denver could be a Big Man at The Can and On Campus in the NBA come the fall.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
