Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Warkentien not disappointed by post-trade result

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 1, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More Denver Nuggets

More stories »

A chef is replaced at a fine restaurant by an even better chef. There still figures to be an adjustment period.

Now, replace the restaurant with the Nuggets and insert Allen Iverson as the one holding the soup ladle.

That's an analogy Mark Warkentien, the Nuggets' vice president of basketball operations, shared Wednesday morning with business leaders at the Metro Denver Sports Commission's KeyBank Sports Speaker Series.

"Basically, it's been training camp for our guys and coaches, and we're going up against guys that are in midseason form," Warkentien, one of three panelists, told a gathering of about 150.

Afterward, he said he's not disappointed with what has transpired since the Nuggets acquired Iverson on Dec. 19 from Philadelphia. The Nuggets (28-28) are 14-19 since then, although suspensions and injuries have been a factor.

"It's hard to get a great player, and when you get a chance to get a great player, you've got to do it," Warkentien said. "It wasn't a 2 1/2-week plan. It wasn't a 2 1/2-month plan. . . . Allen's under contract for 2 1/2 years (from his acquisition). . . . We get closer every day (to meshing)."

The Nuggets are only 4-7 when Iverson and Carmelo Anthony play together and have not beaten an opponent with a winning record. Warkentien said he has no regrets about the deal but said "some parts we still have to figure out."

With Nuggets radio broadcaster Jerry Schemmel serving as moderator, other panelists were USA Basketball executive director Jim Tooley and Nuggets assistant Mike Dunlap.

Tooley called Anthony "the best player, hands down" on the 2006 World Championships team. He also said some players previously "didn't put the hard work" in to win a gold medal, but that has changed with USA Basketball choosing teams from a core group of players.

Warkentien said the Nuggets had "some opportunities" to make a deal before the Feb. 22 trade deadline but didn't because the team already has experienced so much change.

"For us to make a deal, it would have had to be pretty compelling, but there wasn't anything compelling enough," he said.

Warkentien said so few trades were made because teams were reluctant to give up picks in the deep June draft. In the Iverson deal, the Nuggets gave up two first-round picks, but Warkentien confirmed the selection that once belonged to Denver is protected through the top pick.

That means the Nuggets, if they don't make the playoffs, would have an opportunity to draft Ohio State center Greg Oden. Warkentien doesn't expect to be in Secaucus, N.J., in May for the draft lottery but cautioned, "it's not a rocket ship" getting the Nuggets to mesh.

"When you make a change, you're going to take a step back," Warkentien said, comparing it to a change of a manager of a business. "It's rare when that doesn't happen."