No Moves in Denver. Will the Team Regress?

By Stan Hopefield

After writing my Best in the West article yesterday, I immediately began to contemplate about the Denver Nuggets and their entire off-season in perspective. While major trades and signings have taken place not only within their Conference, but amongst their division as well, the Denver Nuggets organization have insisted on calmly sitting back in recline and crossing their legs on top of the table.

The Nuggets team began a new life with the acquisition of Chauncey Billups. Previously a fringe playoff team who was never expected to go past the first round, the Nuggets closed out the season stronger than ever before with 54 wins and playoff series wins against New Orleans and Dallas.

The Nuggets rode their confidence into a conference finals series against Los Angeles, and played an extremely impressive series. While the team eventually lost in 6 games, nearly every game was competitive and many believe the series could have gone either way.

The Lakers have added Ron Artest to their roster. Other teams have grown more competitive too. It seems odd to think that the Nuggets believe they'll contend for a title without having made any moves to keep pace with the Lakers.

In Los Angeles, Ron Artest will provide a huge boost to an already incredible team. In San Antonio, Richard Jefferson will provide a surge of offense to an aging roster. In Dallas, Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden will add to the depth of a competitive team.

The problem the Nuggets face in Denver is the fact that they're already above the luxury tax limits. This basically means that any player signed will cost them twice as much as they normally would, a huge cost that the team very well can't afford.

The Marcus Camby trade in Denver gave the team access to a small pool of exception money, but this amount was mostly used on Arron Afflalo, and wasn't much to begin with. The team would still need to pay the luxury tax in the event of any substantial acquisition.

Nuggets fans are left with no option but to hope their team evolves and develops on its own; which may be very well possible in Denver. - 31494

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here