| | By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
Was any NBA team more maddening last season than the Denver Nuggets? Sure, they were coming off seasons in which they won 21, 11 and 14 games, so finishing 35-47 looks pretty good. But look deeper. The Nuggets should have been even better.
|  | | Antonio McDyess had a fine season for Denver, but lacked inside help. |
The Nuggets were a solid home team, winning 25 times. On the road, they were horrific, winning 10 times. They were good enough to beat the best teams in the league, including the Lakers, Spurs and Utah twice, but bad enough to lose twice to the Grizzlies and Warriors and once to the Clippers.
Ah, the ups and downs of a young team. With five rookies -- and second-year guys Raef LaFrentz and Keon Clark -- playing a lot, inconsistency was to be expected. What's to be expected next season?
Read our seventh offseason team spotlight, the Denver Nuggets, and find out. As always, we have our opinions, which are below, and we thank you for yours as well. Check out some of the better comments by clicking on the file to the right.
Why the Nugs were 35-47: The Nuggets certainly proved at times that they were good enough to contend for the final playoff spot in the West. Denver was 15-12 overall entering late-December. The team then lost six straight at one point in January, five straight early in February, and 11 of 12 in one March stretch. Being little threat on the road didn't help. Dealing Ron Mercer also didn't help.
Is it the altitude? Not likely. It's not as if Antonio McDyess grew up in Colorado and plays better there. The team's leading scorer and rebounder was actually better on the road, though teammates LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel, the other main scorers, weren't. The Nuggets just seemed to be unprepared away from the Pepsi Center.
Coach Dan Issel said he was happy with 35 wins. But shouldn't this team have done better, at least if you look statistically? McDyess and LaFrentz combined for 31.6 points, 16.4 rebounds and a pair of blocks a game, although neither strikes fear into opposing centers defensively. Keon Clark, now a subject of trade rumors, emerged with some big games and averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. That's a productive front line.
Van Exel continued his dangerous shooting, hitting only 39 percent from the floor, but he also was a consistent scorer and broke the club record for assists in a season. James Posey, a jumping jack who can defend twos and threes and is going to be a good scorer in the future, started 77 times as a rookie. And Chris Gatling (since traded), George McCloud, Bryant Stith and Popeye Jones are veterans good teams need. The Nuggets, player for player, certainly appeared to have a bunch of pieces in place.
However, only five teams allowed more points than the Nuggets did, and that's a problem. Shooting guard, where Tariq Abdul-Wahad started, wasn't a strong point, and injuries helped eat up the bench. Still, that doesn't explain a 10-31 road record.
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Current projected top 6
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PG
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Nick Van Exel
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SG
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Voshon Lenard
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SF
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James Posey
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PF
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Antonio McDyess
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C
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Raef LaFrentz
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6th
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George McCloud
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Team MVP: McDyess. His numbers were down from the lockout season, but that's because he had help around him. Team LVP: Stith. From 1993-97, you could mark him down for 13 points, 4.5 boards, a bunch of steals and solid defense. Now thanks to injuries, he's a shell of his former self. Surprise! Clark wasn't given any chance his rookie year. Last season he was dependable, scoring 29 points in one game and grabbing 22 rebounds in another. Up and comer: Mamadou N'Diaye, the No. 26 pick in the draft, has the size and ability to be the team's starting center. And if he can play, the Nuggets can trade Clark for a shooting guard better than Voshon Lenard, maybe soon-to-be-former Clipper Derek Anderson.
What they need: The Nuggets got their summer moves started early when they dealt Chris Gatling, who we hope never buys but always rents his property, back to Miami for Voshon Lenard and Mark Strickland. Lenard gives the team a 3-point shooting threat they really need. Van Exel, McCloud and Posey each hit them, but not too accurately. Gatling was more front-court depth that the Nuggets got back in the draft.
However, Lenard isn't really the answer, since he's more gunner than defender and not enough of a combination of both. The Clippers' Derek Anderson might be acquired in a three-way deal with the Celtics, in which Abdul-Wahad and Chris Herren would leave town. The Nuggets don't have the cap room to go after any major free agents, and they want to re-sign Abdul-Wahad (a top defender) and Ryan Bowen.
What Denver really seems to need is not as much a physical thing as a mental one. The leaders on the team -- McDyess, Van Exel -- admitted there were nights the team didn't give it their all, and in today's NBA, with precious few patsies, you can't do that. The Nuggets finished the year with four straight wins, including a road win in Portland and a one-point victory over Utah. So the talent was there. "We went into too many road games thinking we didn't have a chance," Issel said. "It was reflected in our play." That must stop.
What the plan is: The Nuggets haven't had a shooting guard who can create and be a big-time scorer in years. That's one area the team is looking at. LaFrentz, despite being 6-11, looks overmatched at center at times, and would much rather play the game out at the three-point line.
Is Lenard the answer? What about N'Diaye? Derek Anderson? The Nuggets are a team that will put up numbers, but are they an unselfish team capable of making the next step? How many good teams has Van Exel been on? What about McDyess? Everyone else is young.
Direction heading: If Denver is any better next season, it shouldn't be a big difference. The nucleus hasn't changed. Can the Nuggets win half their games? Beat the bad teams and win a few more on the road, and sure. But we wouldn't bet on the playoffs.
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