Last Thursday, the Denver Nuggets made a trade that surprised a few —sending veteran big man Nene to the Washington Wizards for the young 7-footer, JaVale McGee.
From the Denver Nuggets perspective, I like the trade.
They dealt a player with a big contract who was never going to be a big star. In doing so, they opened up playing time for rookie Kenneth Faried, cleared cap space (for Wilson Chandler) and obtained one of the most talented youngsters in the NBA.
Can JaVale McGee play?
Can he become a star here in Denver?
I don’t know, but it will be fun finding out!
Since the trade, I’ve been wondering: how in the world is Coach George Karl going to find minutes for all his bigs? He’s got Timofey Mozgov starting at center. Kosta Koufos is playing well off the bench. You’ve got Chris “Birdman” Andersen waiting in the wings, and JaVale Mcgee chomping at the bit!
This however, I believe, is one of the great advantages of this Denver Nuggets team: tremendous size. Why not use it whenever you can?
With the injury to Danilo Gallinari on Monday night, I believe that in the foreseeable future, Wilson Chandler will now start up front with fellow forward Kenneth Faried. It will be interesting to see how these two complement each other, and how this new starting lineup (the 18th this season) plays together. I can tell you one thing for sure, it will be athletic.
Speaking of Kenneth Faried, his rookie season is turning out to be a beauty. He’s gone from riding the pine early in the season to starting and being a key member of a playoff bound team. He’s energetic, enthusiastic, eager, passionate, fervent, emotional and SO much fun to watch! And he makes Scott Hastings jump out of his chair 3 times a night. If Kenneth doesn’t make NBA All Rookie, I’ll eat a cookie with Snooki!
Gotta go now…big road trip coming up…and picking out 7 different pocket squares and coordinating outfits is going to take some time.
