The Nuggets haven't made a marquee move in free agency. But vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said that doesn't mean they eventually won't.
"There is a value in continuity," Warkentien said when asked why the Nuggets haven't made impact moves similar to those of other top NBA teams. "If you look at our marquee moves, they've never come in July... Our marquee moves have never been in July. It doesn't mean that there isn't a marquee move out there." Warkentien is right that the Nuggets have made big moves before outside of July. They acquired guard Chauncey Billups last November from Detroit in a move that turned around Denver's season. And they acquired guard Allen Iverson in December 2006 before later sending him to the Pistons in the deal that landed Billups.
This offseason, the Nuggets have re-signed center Chris Andersen to a five-year contract worth between $21 and $26 million. They traded a future first-round pick to land rookie point guard Ty Lawson on draft night. And, while they lost guard Dahntay Jones in free agency to Indiana, they replaced him by acquiring Arron Afflalo from Detroit.
"I like the idea of keeping pat," said said Nuggets coach George Karl, who often has said how much he likes his team. "But I don't think we're going to be pat. We're going to have new faces, they're just not going to have big names."
Karl, though, does want to see a pair of old faces. He hopes the Nuggets will re-sign unrestricted free agent guard Anthony Carter and restricted free-agent forward Linas Kleiza. If Carter bolts, the Nuggets could replace him by signing free-agent guard Marcus Williams.
"That would not be my desire," Karl said. "I hope to convince Anthony to come back. That's my desire right now."
