Nene contract not looking like mistake now

Productive Nene quieting critics of his six-year deal

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 13, 2007 at midnight

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OKLAHOMA CITY - When the season began, Nene was carrying a lot of weight.

By the way, he also was heavy.

Much of the weight on Nene's shoulders was the burden of signing a six-year, $60 million contract during the offseason as a restricted free agent. Many thought that was excessive for the Nuggets post man, who was coming off a torn right anterior cruciate ligament and never had averaged more than 11.8 points and 6.5 rebounds in four seasons.

On Jan. 10, after Nene got off to a slow start, ESPN.com went so far as to rank the signing of Nene as the fifth-worst offseason move.

But look what has happened the second half of the season. Nene is down from a season-high 278 pounds to a muscular 240, prompting ESPN analyst Bill Walton to call him a player opponents are "afraid of."

During the past 40 games, Nene is shooting 60.7 percent, During the past 11 games, he has averaged 16.5 points, including 19 on Wednesday at Utah on 7-of-8 shooting as the Nuggets clinched their fourth straight playoff berth.

"I want my contract to be the same as my game," said Nene, whose Nuggets play the Hornets tonight at the Ford Center. "My game is flying. I'm surprising everybody."

That's about as close as the modest Nene, averaging 12 points and 6.9 rebounds, will go to slam dunking his critics. He saves most of his dunks to put in the face of opposing big men.

"I don't care what people say," Nene said of those who criticized his contract. "They have a mouth. They can say what they want. What I asked from God before signing is I want my contract to compare to my game."

The Nuggets wasted little time in agreeing to terms with Nene, even though they could have waited for another team to sign him to an offer sheet, then could have had seven days to match.

The deal was solidified July 2, the second day of the free-agent period. The only reason it wasn't wrapped up July 1 is because Nene was getting married.

"I think the organization got criticized a little, but we're right where we thought he would be," Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said. "He's obviously played big time and we thought he'd be a big-time player."

Warkentien, though, knew it wouldn't happen right away.

Nene was lost for the campaign in last season's opener when he went down in heap under the basket in San Antonio. He underwent surgery in November 2005 and wasn't himself when this season began.

Nene got off to a slow start. There was additional questioning when he missed 12 games early in the season with a bruised right knee, which initially was thought to not be serious.

But Nene eventually got into shape. The pounds came off, and the burden of his contract began to ease.

"I got on the bike. I ate well," he said. "It's genetics. I'm blessed by God."

Still, there are many nights when Nene is still in pain.

"My knee is still bugging me," said Nene, who is averaging 26.6 minutes this season but has played 35 or more in seven of the past 10 games. "I'm playing a lot of minutes. But I've got to suck it up and play. I need to sacrifice."

His sacrifices have paid off, with the Nuggets having won seven straight games. The combination of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson causes enough headaches, but Nene has provided a presence in the post that often makes the Nuggets hard to guard.

During the past 11 games, Nene has scored more points than Iverson four times and more than Anthony once. That would have been hard to fathom earlier in the season, when the Nuggets offense was Anthony, Iverson and everybody else watching.

"Nene is getting better and better each game," center Marcus Camby said. "I always felt that around this time he would get in real shape. . . . Anyone who always signs big contracts gets ridiculed or has some sort of negativity toward them. But he doesn't let it affect him and he just goes out and plays his game."

Perhaps one of these days Nene will show up on a list of top 10 NBA bargains.

Nuggets at Hornets

• When: 6 MDT today.

• Where: Ford Center, Oklahoma City.

• TV/radio: Altitude; KKFN-AM (950).

• Starting lineups

Denver (42-36) Pos. Ht. Pts.

15 Carmelo Anthony F 6-8 29.0

31 Nene F 6-11 12.0

23 Marcus Camby C 6-11 11.1

3 Allen Iverson G 6-0 26.5

25 Steve Blake G 6-3 6.3

Coach: George Karl

Hornets (37-41) Pos. Ht. Pts.

45 Rasual Butler F 6-7 10.1

30 David West F 6-9 17.3

44 Marc Jackson C 6-10 6.7

23 Devin Brown G 6-5 11.3

3 Chris Paul G 6-0 17.3

Coach: Byron Scott

• Injuries: Nuggets - Forward Kenyon Martin (right knee surgery) is out. Hornets - Forwards Cedric Simmons (right ankle sprain), Tyson Chandler (sore left big toe), Desmond Mason (fractured right check and nose) and Peja Stojakovic (back surgery) are out.

• Notes: The Nuggets have won seven straight and have clinched a playoff spot. . . . The Nuggets could wrap up the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference tonight, while the Hornets still are alive for No. 8. Karl will reduce the minutes for starters a bit down the stretch but doesn't want a repeat of last season, when the Nuggets lost their final four games and bombed in the playoffs. "We don't want to give back (momentum)," Karl said. "We need to keep getting better." . . . The Nuggets didn't practice Thursday after arriving at their hotel at 3:30 a.m. CDT from Salt Lake City. . . . Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, who played the last two seasons for the Hornets, has played in only one of three games this season between the teams. He made 3-of-13 shots for nine points Feb. 7 in Denver. "I had open shots, I just missed them," said Smith, who denied he was pressing.

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