--The Nuggets ended up with a draft choice after all.
The Nuggets, who entered the draft with no picks, dealt a 2009 second-round pick in a three-team deal and got Arkansas swingman Sonny Weems, who had been taken by Chicago No. 39 in the second round. The 6-foot-6 Weems averaged 15.0 points last season for the Razorbacks. Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien said he's very athletic.
"World class," Warkentien said. "He's so athletic that he can fit in the NBA as an energy guy."
Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman said the Nuggets had Weems rated in the late teens among all draft-eligible players.
In the three-team deal, Chicago got the draft rights to Turkish center Omer Asik, drafted No. 36 by Portland. The Trail Blazers got Denver's pick, a 2010 Bulls' second-round pick and New York's 2009 second-round pick, which had belonged to Chicago.
The Nuggets had traded their only pick -- No. 20 in the first round -- to Charlotte the day before the draft for a future first-round pick. Warkentien said possibly having that extra first-round pick in 2009 made them willing to deal next year's second-rounder.
--G Allen Iverson regularly has said he wants to finish his career in Denver, and he showed it by choosing not to opt out of his $20.84 million contract for next season.
"Things have gone well for him (in Denver)," Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, said of his client, acquired from Philadelphia in December 2006. "He's looking forward to taking the team (further)."
Iverson's decision was not a surprise. However, his personal manager, Gary Moore, had said in May that Iverson's camp had discussions with the Nuggets about Iverson possibly opting out and signing a multi-year deal. However, the Nuggets, deep into the luxury tax, never ended up making a formal offer for Iverson to sign such a multi-year deal.
The Nuggets still could sign Iverson, 33, to a contract extension by June 30, 2009. If no deal is reached by then, Iverson would become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2009.
But it appears unlikely the Nuggets would do anything this summer with Iverson's contract. The Nuggets have eight players with guaranteed contracts next season totaling more than $78 million.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We went shopping, and, if we saw something on sale, we were going to buy it." -- Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien, on the Nuggets acquiring second-round pick Sonny Weems in a draft-night trade after entering the draft with no picks.
