After what looked like a decent season, George Karl and Nuggets fans must be disappointed with their team's short playoff series, which ended in a Lakers sweep.
They had Marcus Camby, the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year, and Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, the third and fourth leading scorers in the league, with 26.4 ppg and 25.7 ppg, respectively. And they were still drastically outplayed. What could be the problem?
Many people have come to believe that Anthony is the main reason for the Nugget's playoffs woes. The 23-year-old two-time All-Star, who immediately emerged as a star after he was drafted out of Syracuse, seems to be the most likely person to go when talk of rebuilding the team comes up.
Today's Must Reads
Here are the pros and cons of getting rid of Anthony:
Pros
- Can exchange for a player who can actually play defense and can assume the role as a leader (A.I. is not someone I would consider a leader).
- Will be done with the past and future legal problems Anthony had/is going to run into not to.
- Will be rid of his immaturity (unfortunately, they will still have J.R. Smith around).
Cons
- Is only 23; He has plenty of time to improve on his game as well as his attitude.
- Who will make up for his loss? He contributed nearly 1/4 of the Nuggets' scoring.
- What will the Nuggets' style be after he is gone? He might have been solely offensive-minded, but that is what seems to be Karl's game plan judging by the rest of his team.
In my opinion, I think trading Anthony is absolutely ridiculous. The whole trading Marcus Camby situation I can understand. Despite his Defensive Player of the Year award, Camby cannot play defense at all. Their fast style leads to more possessions in the game, which leads to a lot more statistical build-up. Plus, he is not exactly a good offensive player either.
Anthony is a phenomenal player, who I believe will develop into one of the greatest. Look for him and LeBron James to battle it out for MVP in a couple of years.
comments (6) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
Great article. I agree that the team should not move Melo, he's simply too talented. What do you think they should do this off season?
from 3 months ago
Well my first proposal would be to work on their defense...which probably isn't going to happen seeing who they have.
So I guess they should try and trade away their offensive minded bench and possibly Marcus Camby for more versatile players. I bet they can get some pretty decent players for J.R. Smith or Linas Kleiza. As for Camby, they should try to trade him for draft picks or some young big men because that's their weak spot
3 months ago
I think trading Melo would be fine. Get NJ's draft pick but do not trade away the defesive player of the year. The nuggets need Camby. They need all the help they can get on defense.
JR Smith would easily fill in the points that they would be missing from Melo so points would still be no problem for the nuggets to score next year.
3 months ago
the article is not too special. the big misses are simple. jr smith can replace melo from a scoring perspective and give the nuggets the BIG tougher guard defensively that they need to start allen iverson. the nuggets are loaded with talented scorers. NENE when healthy is awesome. klieza is a potential 15-20 point scorer. jr smith has unlimited upside. melo isnt a team player on this team. he doesnt lead by example as iverson does. he takes too many possessions off. i dont know if this is the right trade for melo, but the nuggets have a much better chance to win without him than they do with him although he is a scoring superstar. labron wont complete with melo because melo makes nobody better on his own team and labron makes everyone better. its a pretty simple thing to watch.
3 months ago
camby isnt a defensive player. he blocks shots off the ball. he rebounds the ball because there are so many shots taken in a nuggets game. he cant guard his own man at all. he wants to be a point guard. he wants to shoot dumb perimeter shots. if he was such a good defender, why did gasol have the series of his career against camby. its a joke that he won a defensive player award.
3 months ago
i dont think kleiza or jr smith have the potential to average 25 ppg now or will ever be able to do so. mayb with a little more playing time the two will be able to fill the void...but still i dont think they can make up for the 25 ppg Melo puts up...
and thank u j dog for further proving my point that marcus camby is terrible
write a new comment