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KRIEGER: Unfortunately, NBA is strictly business

By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 5, 2008 at 10:34 p.m.

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Should the Nuggets keep Antonio McDyess?


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I reacted so violently to the Broncos' performance on Sunday that the good folks at the emergency room said my appendix had to come out. When The Dude came to pick me up afterward, he looked upset.

I thought it might be a realization that the old man is mortal, one of those bittersweet family moments.

That wasn't it.

"Did you hear?" he asked.

"No, what?"

"They traded A.I."

Suddenly I didn't know if either of us was in a condition to drive.

Allen Iverson was The Dude's favorite player long before he joined the Nuggets. He is composing his screed on the trade and I will pass it on presently.

From his old man's point of view, the latest turn in the Nuggets' revolving door raises one obvious question:

If you did this deal because you're serious about winning now, why wouldn't you want Antonio McDyess?

That simply doesn't make sense, so you have to dig a little deeper. As usual, that takes you into the murky world of high finance. I know, you've heard enough about high finance lately to last a lifetime. Me, too. Nevertheless . . .

The concern at the top of the Nuggets organization, communicated to other organizations in trade talks, is current cash costs. That explains the giveaway of center Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers over the summer, shaving $10 million from the payroll and another $10 million from the luxury tax bill.

Trading A.I. for McDyess, Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb cuts another $5 million, give or take, from this season's payroll and tax bill combined, even as it increases future season obligations. The give or take is where McDyess comes in.

If the Nuggets can exploit McDyess' desire to stay in Detroit by getting him to accept a buyout of less than the $6.8 million he has coming each of the next two seasons, the lower figure would further reduce both the payroll and tax bill.

That's the financial math. The basketball math is very different.

If the Nuggets are acquiring Billups at 32 to quarterback a playoff contender, McDyess would be an enormous asset. A team whose third big man is Antonio McDyess is very different from a team whose third big man is Chris Andersen.

If the Nuggets don't know McDyess' heart from their own history - which they may not, given the turnover since he was here last - vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman should. He was McDyess' teammate in Phoenix years ago. In fact, Chapman was in that limo outside the old McNichols Sports Arena with Jason Kidd and George McCloud 10 years ago as the Suns and Nuggets wrestled for McDyess' heart.

McDyess does not embrace change in his personal circumstances. He is an extraordinarily loyal man who expects similar commitment in return. Changing loyalties is difficult for him and, as everyone who got to know him through two tours and six years in Denver knows, these things take time.

If the Nuggets wanted him, they would have been wise to have someone on the ground in Detroit talking to him before the trade was announced, getting him accustomed to the idea, reminding him that Denver used to be home, too, and that the regime that traded him away in 2002 is long gone.

After all, unless he is prepared to retire, in which case the Nuggets owe him nothing, he is contractually obligated to play for them. You don't threaten Dice; you welcome him. Why pay him to play for the Pistons?

Because it appears the Nuggets' primary goal is to cut this season's cash costs by as much as possible. So far, McDyess' agent, Andy Miller, has not gone for a big discount. Forfeiting guaranteed money isn't a great selling point in Miller's business.

McDyess is 34, but he's far from done. Last season, off the bench for a half-court team, he averaged 8.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. He would give the Nuggets a strong, experienced big man behind Nene and Kenyon Martin. Without him, they have a dramatic falloff when either starter comes out of the game, not to mention if either is injured.

Trading Iverson straight up for Billups does not necessarily improve the Nuggets. Billups brings different qualities, many of them very welcome, but A.I. takes a lot of scoring with him. The combination of Billups and McDyess, on the other hand, fortifies frontcourt and backcourt and gives the Nuggets plausible depth even after the summer salary dumps of Camby and Eduardo Najera.

The club could still deploy Chapman to invite McDyess to pursue his long-sought championship ring in Denver. But as long as they think they can cut current cash costs in a buyout, the basketball consideration will apparently come second.

The A.I. experiment was fun in a let's-ignore-the-adults-for-a-while kind of way. The Nuggets are now pursuing a more conventional strategy. What happens with McDyess will tell you just how hard they are pursuing it.

Comments

  • November 6, 2008

    7:44 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    The_KIMN_Chicken writes:

    McDyess stinks, he was in tears and wanted to retire back when the Nuggets traded Mark Jackson of all people. Then MCDyess spent the next year on injured reserve pulling a max salary while complaining the team wasn't winning enough for his liking. Then he befriended that cretin Nick Van Excrement and wanted to be his BFF 4 Life. So no McDyess please, he is a terrible reminder of why this franchise hasn't won a playoff series in 15 years.

  • November 6, 2008

    9:45 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ramAZ writes:

    McDyess with a good attitude and healthy body could be an asset.

    McDyess whinning and pouting like the child he has proven to be over the years would be a poison in the Nugget locker room.

    Krieger is right, they shouldn't pay for him to play for the Pistons. He needs to stick to his word and RETIRE. I'd rather see that than have the Nuggets cave and give him millions to go back to Detroit. That makes no sense from a financial or basketball perspective.

    Overpaid and coddled players have become way too powerful in modern times. Back in the day, if a player was traded, the trade was honored by all involved. Stuff like this is what's wrong in sports.

  • November 6, 2008

    12:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Snappa writes:

    McDyess doesn’t want to play for this team, can you blame him? This is a team that has a coach who was unable to win and coach two of the best scorers in nba history, one of them which he just traded away. This is a coach who chose to start Anthony Carter at PG over Allen Iverson. George Karl is a joke, and so is The Nuggets, who the hell in their right mind would want to play for this sorry team now?

    This team isn’t even going to be making playoffs this year, I’m going to enjoy watching them lose their games now and be a total sub-par under 500 team,ridiculous, Go Karl, you are the best coach ever! Just buy Out Mc-Dyess's contract already so we can welcome him back home to Detroit where he belongs!

  • November 6, 2008

    1:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    NuggetsFan94 writes:

    McDyess does not stink. The one who stinks is the guy whose he can do is only whining over the internet. If you call Dice or Nick a name, just go become a basketball player and make millions yourself. And don't forget to break your knees first to make it fair for Dice.
    I've been a nuggets fan since Dice got drafted, and all I have with Dice and Nick is great and exciting basketball memories. If you chose to recall the past, Chauncey was a worse choice for the Nuggets when we got him the first time, but I'm not going to go there today.