Denver Post sports writer Christopher Dempsey posts his Nuggets Mailbag every other Thursday during the regular season.
for the Nuggets Mailbag.
Who is going to be the new head coach of the Denver Nuggets? A lot of signs are pointing to Melvin Hunt. It also looks like the players like playing for him.
— Jeff, Aurora
That’s a good question, and it is the first order of business the Nuggets need to take care of once the season ends. If Hunt hasn’t proven to the organization that he is fully capable of being the permanent head coach, then nothing he does will. He’s been great in all areas — motivating, Xs and Os, media, community — he checks off a lot of boxes. And I think an underrated asset the Nuggets wouldn’t be sacrificing is the ability to attract free agents. He might even enhance that area given the many connections and relationships he has with players league-wide built from his years of work at various camps and other events.
And, of course, outside of Hunt there is Mike D’Antoni, who definitely wants back into coaching and would play the fast style fans have come to like. Alvin Gentry is also in the mix, currently with Golden State, who likes an uptempo game as well combined with more defense. Those are the main names, but expect there to be a wildcard or two included in the bunch before it’s all said-and-done.
Who do you think will be on the roster next season from this current roster?
— Taimur Tahir, Virginia
This is a tough question to answer. You have to start with rookies Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Gary Harris. All three will definitely be back. After that, it gets cloudy. I would expect Danilo Gallinari will be part of next season’s team. Wilson Chandler, too. Darrell Arthur is an unrestricted free agent, and he’ll test the waters after the season ends. Jameer Nelson has a player option, and right now I’d guess he’ll opt out and become an unrestricted free agent.
Bottom line is the Nuggets will be open for business for almost anyone on the roster, and that’s what makes it difficult to pin down the players who will carry over into next season. Once a new coach is hired, there will be some clarity. But anything I say now is merely a guess. This has potential to be arguably the most unpredictable summer in team history.
Hey Chris, Thomas Robinson, 5th overall in 2012, passed through like a ship in the night and is now averaging 9 rebounds and 8 points in just 18 minutes for Philadelphia. How come the Nuggets didn’t even give him look? They could have traded or cut J.J. Hickson at the same time; he won’t be here next year anyway.
— Joe, Florence
My understanding was that it was a mutual decision by both parties to not bring Thomas Robinson in for the remainder of the season. The Nuggets had — and still have — a glut of power forwards anyway, so there wouldn’t be much room for Robinson to get time to play.
The priority for the Nuggets would be to get younger players time, and remember, they had just brought over Joffrey Lauvergne as well. He was the power forward the Nuggets wanted to get a good look at. With versatile athletes like Danilo Gallinari playing the four as well, it was best for both that Robinson be allowed to go somewhere else. He needed a better chance to showcase himself anyway in order to put himself in a better position to get a contract next season and he wasn’t going to get enough time to do that here with the Nuggets.
I‘m confused as to the Javale McGee situation. The Nuggets gave up a first round pick to get rid of McGee who eventually was bought out by the 76ers. Why didn’t the Nuggets buy out McGee and keep the first round pick? Or did the management not want to pay the extra monetary cost that would be associated with the buyout? Thanks!
— Eric, Michigan
The trade allowed the Nuggets to be able to remove JaVale McGee’s salary from the books completely, in a way that couldn’t happen if they just bought him out. There are still salary cap ramifications from a buyout, so getting free of all of that with a trade was the best way to go.
You see teams all the time use a buyout as a last resort — or, in the case of McGee with the 76ers — the only avenue due to the fact that the trade deadline had already passed. So, from a financial standpoint, that’s why you trade the player instead of just taking the extraordinary step of buying out that large of a contract.
Hi Chris, I understand how hard this year has been and what the future stores. In your opinion, what are the main reasons for the fall of this franchise since April 2013 until now? A total collapse of catastrophic proportions.
— John Bacarella, New York
In my opinion, the Nuggets struggle over the last couple of seasons stemmed from a couple of things: First, injuries. Players have been in and out of the lineup, and many have missed significant time, and when all of that happens there’s no way a foundation can be built. All that can happen in that case is patching lineups and rotations and game plans together each night. There’s no solid future in that. Second, the Nuggets never crafted a roster that fit the coach.
What we’ve come to find out about this roster is that it is not versatile at all. It was built to run the court, and that’s about all it can do. And, furthermore, we also found out that’s all some of the players are willing to do. A retooled roster was a must for Shaw to ultimately have the best chance at being successful, and for the organization to really put the change they talked about into practice, but they never got to that before he was fired. You hear all the time that the ‘fit’ was bad, and ultimately that was true. The Nuggets thought they could teach some new things to the existing roster, but Shaw couldn’t turn this group into something it never could be. They know that now. That’s why one of the central questions going forward is: What do the Nuggets want to be? From that, a roster can be built and — as long as they aren’t devastated by injuries — they should find themselves on a better path.
for the Nuggets Mailbag.
