Arron Afflalo was the epitome of the 2014-15 Nuggets — a serviceable sixth man-type wedged into the lineup as a presumptive marquee scorer, like an R wedged in the name Aaron.
Many thought his big numbers in Orlando would translate to big numbers in Denver; and instead, meh.
Today marks the start of the rebuilding, refurbishing, re-everything-ing of your Denver Nuggets. The road to the 2017 playoffs begins here.
At first take, I didn’t like the idea of trading a protected first-round pick along with McGee to Philadelphia. But the more I think about it — Denver had to shed this guy’s contract and attitude. If it cost a first rounder, that’s a good gamble. McGee is in the second-to-last year of his four-year, $44 million contract. No, Denver wasn’t in the tax, but this opens up opportunities for Tim Connelly to make moves in June.
Connelly is “on the clock,” so to speak. We’ll closely watch how he rebuilds this Denver dumpster fire — who he keeps after the season, who he moves on draft night — and in the late summer, we can completely assess his tenure as GM. But clearly, moves like the Afflalo one and (this was Masai Ujiri) the McGee contract got Denver into this position to begin with.
It’s easy for us to get excited about the funny money that is an NBA trade exception. Denver nabbed a $7.5 million one in the Afflalo deal and an $11.25 million one in the McGee trade. But think back — how many times in recent history did we get excited about a trade exception, only to see that thing expire?
It’s hard not to like the Afflalo move — a win-win. Denver gets a first-rounder, Afflalo gets a chance to be who he is — a complementary piece who can knock down jumpers. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Afflalo is shooting 50.2 percent on mid-range shots this season, No. 1 among players with at least 200 such field goal attempts. Portland shoots 39.5 percent, 21st in the NBA.
The Nuggets did acquire a player from Philadelphia, a gent named Cenk Akyol, who I will forever call “50 Cenk.” Akyol isn’t even the first Cenk that comes up when you Google “Cenk” — that honor goes to Turkish-American columnist and activist. Cenk Uygur. Obviously, we seldom have a fair assessment on how a European player will fare in the NBA, if this dude ever comes to the NBA, but @treykirby had a good take: “Cenk Akyol was in the 2005 draft. Really like his upside.”
Masai made a good point, back when he made it rain on McGee — young, talented, 7-footers are hard to come by, so if you have one, lock him up. Is it fair to blame injuries? Sure. But it’s hard to think that McGee would truly have earned that money. So they got it off the books.
I’ll miss having JaVale around, if only because he provided fodder. Perhaps my favorite feature written while on the Nuggets beat was about the wonderfully weird JaVale — .
CHEW ON THIS
• Welp, the Avalanche REALLY could have used .
• For you NASCAR fans, or really just fans of underdogs, of the 1990 Daytona 500, and what he’s up to today.
• Super-interesting — comedian Norm MacDonald tweeted a series of tweets involving the “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary show. Including, who was supposed to play Bill Cosby.
• This is a fun compilation of 2015 Oscar nominees in early roles, such as on soap operas and in bad 1990s movies. Quick clips .
• And finally, happy 49th birthday to Mallory Keaton herself, .
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
