BLOCKBUSTER!

(thanks to El Guapo for the post title)

Well, the trading deadline has come and gone, and the Nuggets barely made a ripple in the stormy ocean of the Western Conference.

I'm a little bummed about this. The Nuggets really seem to be one player away from making a title run. But for all the rumors - Artest, Mike Miller, Kyle Lowry, Zach Randolph (this rumor may or may not have been a joke), etc. - nothing happened. I really thought they'd try to make a run at it this year, before Camby dies and AI slows down. The West isn't getting any easier next year. And we did nothing?

Well, not nothing. The Nuggets did trade Von Wafer (who I liked in college) for Taurean Green (who I hated in college because he played for Florida). That's basically one player who never plays for another. Except Green is slightly younger than Wafer, which makes it even less likely George Karl will ever play him.

Now, I'm going to try to not be so negative. I'm excited for Taurean Green. Maybe he'll be a solid contributor someday. He's a good ballhandler, supposedly shoots the three well, and fits in well with the rest of the Nuggets guards in that he's a defensive liability. But let's just say he's not the player that's going to put us over the top in the West.

The acquisition of Green did lead to the biggest laugh I've had in a good while though. A little research on Taurean turned up this beauty, his Draft Express profile:

Taurean Green - Previous Team: Florida, Junior

Physicals:
H: 6' 1"
W: 173 lbs
Bday: 11/28/1985
(22 Years Old)
Positions:
Current: PG
NBA: PG
Possible: PG
Comparisons:
Best Case: Jameer Nelson
Worst Case: Chucky Atkins

How about that for good news! Apparently, the best the Nuggets could ever hope for from him is to be Jameer Nelson, who the Nuggets actually already drafted in 2004. But they traded him away for the rights to the 20th pick in the 2005 draft, which they used to pick Julius Hodge, who averaged 0.9 points in 2.4 minutes before almost getting murdered in a hail of gunfire on I-76. He now plays for the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian NBL basketball league, and is doing well.

However, according to Draft Express, if Green ends up as an absolute, abject failure in the NBA, and doesn't live up to anyone's expectations, he will end up like *shudder* Chucky Atkins. The same Chucky Atkins the Nuggets brought in as the "solution" to our point guard problem. Unfortunately, Nuggets fans only got a teasing look at what Chucky brings to the table. He posted some sizzling numbers, 22.8% from the field, 24.4% from three, 4.0 points and 1.9 assists in 10 games before succumbing to a sports hernia.

To sum up: we just acquired a guy, who, if he exceeds expectations, may one day be better than a player we drafted years ago, then traded away for nothing. And if he's a failure, he has a chance to be every bit as bad as the guy who's supposed to be our starter. So yes, our backcourt is a complete dumpster fire.

Oh, by the way, GET WELL CHUCKY!

But one more thing. Kleiza. I love Kleiza. I like the hardcore Lithuanian fans who come to cheer him on at the Pepsi Center. I like the way he talks - Eastern European guy who learned the English language by listening to DMX albums. I like how he plays tough. I like how he hustles and understands fundamental basketball skills unlike some of his teammates (*cough* JRSMITH *cough cough*). I like how he's improving on shooting threes, which the Nuggets desperately need from him. I like how he's capable of scoring 40 points.

But geez. The sticking point in Nugget trade talks was the refusal to give up Kleiza?

I've got to say, if we passed on several good trades because of him, he better turn into something better than a poor man's Matt Harpring. Seriously, he's a slow 3. What's this upside everyone is so terrified of losing? That in three years he becomes the slowest defender to ever win the NBA's 6th Man Award? It ain't like he's taking over the 2. Or pushing Melo for playing time. He'll be coming off the bench for the rest of his Nuggets career.

Nice job Nuggets, way to make me secretly resent a player I used to love. Now I'm angry and guilty.

What I secretly hope is that the Nuggets are going to make a move in the off-season, and are saving up for that. But if Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports is right about this:

Kleiza isn't just a player for Denver, but part of the ownership's family. Stan Kroenke has known Kleiza since his days at Missouri, when he was a teammate and close friend of Kroenke's son, Josh. The Nuggets traded for Kleiza, a 6-foot-8 Lithuanian, on draft day in 2005 and watched him develop into a terrific young player.

"There's a feeling from ownership that, ‘Hey, we've helped turn this kid into a player, so how can we let him go'" an Eastern Conference executive said.

I don't think he's going anywhere.

Alright, I'm over it. Go Nuggets. Especially Linas. I feel bad already for the ugly things I said about you.