Ujiri To Be Nuggets Next GM?

[Apollo]

the team is expected to pursue Masai Ujiri, director of global scouting for the Toronto Raptors.

Ujiri spent four years as the Nuggets' director of international scouting before joining the Raptors.

Source: ESPN.com

[Balls of Steel]

If Ujiri becomes the next GM for the Nuggets, I'm wondering if that could play into Carmelo's imminent trade? I'm not saying that CA is coming to TO but the Raps as a third or fourth team in a multi-player swap (perhaps because of his Toronto / BC ties)?

[LC009]

Hmm... that's an interesting thought, Balls of Steel. One potential trade I just cooked up (I know, I know, it's meaningless, but you got to have a little fun in the off-season, right?):

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMa...radeId=2egk378

NOTE: ESPN let's me lump TPEs with other guys, which you can't do. However, all that means is that Nene to TOR and W.Chandler to TOR are two individual transactions. The rest happens as a 3 team deal. I don't know who may be under the cap (if anyone), but each team's incoming salary is less than 125% of their outgoing salary, which I believe makes the deal legit.

Toronto Gives: Jose Calderon (to NYK), Marcus Banks (to DEN)
Toronto Gets: Nene (with TPE), Wilson Chandler (with TPE), Eddy Curry, Tony Douglas
Why They Would Do It: Get rid of Jose's contract; pickup a solid player in Nene (if a bit injury prone, including currently); pickup a promising player in Tony Douglas, and a decent SF to give depth at that position.

New York Gives: Anthony Randolph (to DEN), Gallinari (to DEN), W.Chandler (to TOR), Turiaf (to DEN), T.Douglas (to TOR), E.Curry (to TOR)
New York Gets: Melo, Jose
Why They Would Do It: Melo, obviously. Anything you have to give up to make that happen is the cost of doing business.

Denver Gives: Nene (to TOR), Melo (to NYK) (they may want to add J.R. Smith)
Denver Gets: Gallinari, Randolph, Turiaf, Banks
Why They Would Do It: To save $14 million (if and only if Melo demands a trade). If they won't contend, they might as well dump Nene's contract (and he is injury prone, so they reduce their risks). They get two promising young players, all incoming players are on 1-year contracts, and they may also get some draft picks (probably from NY).

Bottom line: there may be better trades for Denver out there, but if they are willing to deal with NY, Galo and Randolph, plus a first rounder, might not be a bad idea. In case I'm just dreaming from our perspective, we can throw in Miami's first rounder.

Also, because Melo is under contract next year, Denver can deal with whomever they want, like GS did with Stephen Jackson. Having said that, he only has one year left on his contract, unlike S.Jackson, which affords him the flexibility of souring potential suitors on a deal. For instance, if Houston wants Melo, and he goes on record saying "In 2011, I'm taking my talents to NY, one way or another," Houston would be stupid to give up assets for a 1 year Melo rental. And they are not stupid, so they wouldn't.

Having said that, Denver won't get equal value back. Period. They can get young players with potential, and they can get a larger number of solid players. Maybe even a good player. But they won't get a great player back. So say they get our first rounder (but heavily protected this year, less so next two years, and not at all after that), and NY's first rounder (top 3 protected this year, unprotected next year), in addition to getting some solid young talent in Randolph and Gallinari. Plus, they are giving up a potentially bad contract (Nene, if he continues to get injured). And hey, if they would be losing Melo either way, they're basically trading Nene for all that.

This is making the best of a bad situation. But if Melo insists on killing his trade value if Denver doesn't deal with NY, then this is a decent trade for them. And it is a good trade for NY and TO.

[GameBreaker]

So, Ujiri took the job, still.

LINK:
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_...mpaign=twitter

Former Nuggets' scout Masai Ujiri will become the team's new general manager, according to an NBA source.

[LBF]

Source: ESPN.com

http://raptorsrepublic.com/forums/sh...-GM&highlight=

hijacker!

[CalibreMC]

meh, dont think he was helping us too much anyway....good luck in denver, what a mess that place is in right now.

[RaptorsFan4Life]

Hmm... that's an interesting thought, Balls of Steel. One potential trade I just cooked up (I know, I know, it's meaningless, but you got to have a little fun in the off-season, right?):

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMa...radeId=2egk378

NOTE: ESPN let's me lump TPEs with other guys, which you can't do. However, all that means is that Nene to TOR and W.Chandler to TOR are two individual transactions. The rest happens as a 3 team deal. I don't know who may be under the cap (if anyone), but each team's incoming salary is less than 125% of their outgoing salary, which I believe makes the deal legit.

Toronto Gives: Jose Calderon (to NYK), Marcus Banks (to DEN)
Toronto Gets: Nene (with TPE), Wilson Chandler (with TPE), Eddy Curry, Tony Douglas
Why They Would Do It: Get rid of Jose's contract; pickup a solid player in Nene (if a bit injury prone, including currently); pickup a promising player in Tony Douglas, and a decent SF to give depth at that position.

New York Gives: Anthony Randolph (to DEN), Gallinari (to DEN), W.Chandler (to TOR), Turiaf (to DEN), T.Douglas (to TOR), E.Curry (to TOR)
New York Gets: Melo, Jose
Why They Would Do It: Melo, obviously. Anything you have to give up to make that happen is the cost of doing business.

Denver Gives: Nene (to TOR), Melo (to NYK) (they may want to add J.R. Smith)
Denver Gets: Gallinari, Randolph, Turiaf, Banks
Why They Would Do It: To save $14 million (if and only if Melo demands a trade). If they won't contend, they might as well dump Nene's contract (and he is injury prone, so they reduce their risks). They get two promising young players, all incoming players are on 1-year contracts, and they may also get some draft picks (probably from NY).

Bottom line: there may be better trades for Denver out there, but if they are willing to deal with NY, Galo and Randolph, plus a first rounder, might not be a bad idea. In case I'm just dreaming from our perspective, we can throw in Miami's first rounder.

Also, because Melo is under contract next year, Denver can deal with whomever they want, like GS did with Stephen Jackson. Having said that, he only has one year left on his contract, unlike S.Jackson, which affords him the flexibility of souring potential suitors on a deal. For instance, if Houston wants Melo, and he goes on record saying "In 2011, I'm taking my talents to NY, one way or another," Houston would be stupid to give up assets for a 1 year Melo rental. And they are not stupid, so they wouldn't.

Having said that, Denver won't get equal value back. Period. They can get young players with potential, and they can get a larger number of solid players. Maybe even a good player. But they won't get a great player back. So say they get our first rounder (but heavily protected this year, less so next two years, and not at all after that), and NY's first rounder (top 3 protected this year, unprotected next year), in addition to getting some solid young talent in Randolph and Gallinari. Plus, they are giving up a potentially bad contract (Nene, if he continues to get injured). And hey, if they would be losing Melo either way, they're basically trading Nene for all that.

This is making the best of a bad situation. But if Melo insists on killing his trade value if Denver doesn't deal with NY, then this is a decent trade for them. And it is a good trade for NY and TO.

Keep dreaming, Jose getting hurt killed any possibility of him getting traded.

[LC009]

Keep dreaming, Jose getting hurt killed any possibility of him getting traded.

Oh, I'm well aware that he has limited value. But you missed the point. We aren't trading him as an ASSET in that trade; we are basically FORCING NY to take him, in exchange for A) A player that is owed $11.2 mil (more than Jose this season) who won't sniff any playing time, and B) Making the deal work by shaving another $11.3 mil off Denver's payroll (which NY can't do, because they have neither the cap room nor a TPE to take Nene's contract, and I can guarantee you Denver would much rather ship him for $0 than to get a big, fat $11.2 million bill in the mail).

In other words, they get a player who will compete with Felton for PT (who has a bad contract) in exchange for dumping an $11 mil contract and for us to facilitate the deal.

Look at it this way: if you have to take Jose to make a deal for Melo work, wouldn't you do so gladly? You may ask how that could be, but there is the facilitation aspect I mentioned above (because Denver will shave $14mil off their payroll with this deal, thanks to the Raptors), and we could throw in OUR protected first round pick to sweeten the deal for Denver. Because Denver is the only team here that would take convincing (unless you think NY doesn't want Melo THAT badly).

[Balls of Steel]

Hmm... that's an interesting thought, Balls of Steel. One potential trade I just cooked up (I know, I know, it's meaningless, but you got to have a little fun in the off-season, right?):

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMa...radeId=2egk378

NOTE: ESPN let's me lump TPEs with other guys, which you can't do. However, all that means is that Nene to TOR and W.Chandler to TOR are two individual transactions. The rest happens as a 3 team deal. I don't know who may be under the cap (if anyone), but each team's incoming salary is less than 125% of their outgoing salary, which I believe makes the deal legit.

Toronto Gives: Jose Calderon (to NYK), Marcus Banks (to DEN)
Toronto Gets: Nene (with TPE), Wilson Chandler (with TPE), Eddy Curry, Tony Douglas
Why They Would Do It: Get rid of Jose's contract; pickup a solid player in Nene (if a bit injury prone, including currently); pickup a promising player in Tony Douglas, and a decent SF to give depth at that position.

New York Gives: Anthony Randolph (to DEN), Gallinari (to DEN), W.Chandler (to TOR), Turiaf (to DEN), T.Douglas (to TOR), E.Curry (to TOR)
New York Gets: Melo, Jose
Why They Would Do It: Melo, obviously. Anything you have to give up to make that happen is the cost of doing business.

Denver Gives: Nene (to TOR), Melo (to NYK) (they may want to add J.R. Smith)
Denver Gets: Gallinari, Randolph, Turiaf, Banks
Why They Would Do It: To save $14 million (if and only if Melo demands a trade). If they won't contend, they might as well dump Nene's contract (and he is injury prone, so they reduce their risks). They get two promising young players, all incoming players are on 1-year contracts, and they may also get some draft picks (probably from NY).

Bottom line: there may be better trades for Denver out there, but if they are willing to deal with NY, Galo and Randolph, plus a first rounder, might not be a bad idea. In case I'm just dreaming from our perspective, we can throw in Miami's first rounder.

Also, because Melo is under contract next year, Denver can deal with whomever they want, like GS did with Stephen Jackson. Having said that, he only has one year left on his contract, unlike S.Jackson, which affords him the flexibility of souring potential suitors on a deal. For instance, if Houston wants Melo, and he goes on record saying "In 2011, I'm taking my talents to NY, one way or another," Houston would be stupid to give up assets for a 1 year Melo rental. And they are not stupid, so they wouldn't.

Having said that, Denver won't get equal value back. Period. They can get young players with potential, and they can get a larger number of solid players. Maybe even a good player. But they won't get a great player back. So say they get our first rounder (but heavily protected this year, less so next two years, and not at all after that), and NY's first rounder (top 3 protected this year, unprotected next year), in addition to getting some solid young talent in Randolph and Gallinari. Plus, they are giving up a potentially bad contract (Nene, if he continues to get injured). And hey, if they would be losing Melo either way, they're basically trading Nene for all that.

This is making the best of a bad situation. But if Melo insists on killing his trade value if Denver doesn't deal with NY, then this is a decent trade for them. And it is a good trade for NY and TO.

Wow! I haven't checked the salary numbers (I don't really want to). I'm impressed with your GM skills. I agree with Jose and forcing NY to take him. I actually think that Jose, Melo and Amar'e are an incredibly scary team. I'll go back to this post to really see how close you are to the potential trade. Well done!

[LC009]

Wow! I haven't checked the salary numbers (I don't really want to). I'm impressed with your GM skills. I agree with Jose and forcing NY to take him. I actually think that Jose, Melo and Amar'e are an incredibly scary team. I'll go back to this post to really see how close you are to the potential trade. Well done!

To be honest, I think D'Antoni would LOVE having Jose, especially compared to what he had last year, and with having Felton (who can play D) to rely on as well. I could see Felton starting, but Jose getting 20-24 MPG (mostly with Amarè on the floor, to get the good ol' pick-and-roll going).

I continue to think that the only side needed to convince here is Denver (and that's where our protected first rounder could come in handy). We can certainly hope that Melo demands a trade to NY (privately or not).

[JoePanini]

One thing. Would D'Antoni give up Gallo? C'mon he loves Gallo, he's great friends with his dad aswell. But if he accepts this, why not give Chandler to DEN and WE get Gallo. Gallinari is great.

[LC009]

Well, I'm sure D'Antoni doesn't want to give him up, but do you not think he would for a guy most people think is the 1b to Lebron's 1a as the best small forwards in the league? Gallo won't EVER be Melo good.

As for who gets him: A) I think that a solid defender in Chandler would fit in better with our squad sans-Bosh than Gallo would (I'm no expert on him, but I hear his defence is like David Lee's); and B) Since he is the better of the two players, don't you think that the team who is giving up Melo and Nene has more of a right to him than the team that is giving up Jose and Banks?

Gallo and Randolph's potential is what makes this deal at all interesting for Denver (along with saving $14mil + Luxury Tax, and getting 2 first rounders, most likely).

I'd say that this deal could perhaps put is in the 16-18th pick range, and I would make the pick top 15 protected. So if this deal makes us that decent, then Denver gets 2 solid young players in Gallo and Randolph (with a great veteran PG to help them out), and 2 picks in the 16-22 range (the lower pick being NY, who would be a fair bit better than us). Possibly add in their own pick in the mid-teens. Even if we keep our pick this year, they probably get it next year.

Now, I know the folks who are pro-rebuilding may scoff at this deal, but keep in mind that we would get T.Douglas and W.Chandler to complement our youth. So the only spot where we may be lacking youth and depth is at the 5, but Davis could potentially play backup minutes there if he bulks up. That would give us:

Jack/Douglas - LB
Derozan - Weems - LB
Chandler/Kleiza - Wright
Davis/Johnson
Bargnani - Davis

You have enough versatile young players to deal with injuries, and to weed out the players who don't develop to their full potential (except at PG, where you're banking on Douglas working out for the future).

[LC009]

As for Denver's motivation:
http://nbaroundtable.wordpress.com/2...enver-nuggets/

So Denver will be paying $9.75 mil in Luxury Taxes. Therefore, this deal would save them nearly $24 mil! If Melo is leaving, saving that much money and bringing in picks AND young talent is plenty of incentive to make this deal. They'd like to deal K-Mart and JR Smith, I'm sure, but those are expiring contracts, so as long as they are under the tax this year, they are not too bad.

For those who may be wondering about the Raptors' involvement, keep in mind that only teams with $11+ mil in cap space or TPEs can facilitate this kind of deal, by offering Denver such significant financial relief (plus what could be a solid draft pick). [UPDATE: Those teams appear to be the Timberwolves, Kings, Nets, Cavs, and Suns, in addition to the Raptors]

Now, does anyone have Colangelo's cell number??

[Buddahfan]

I don't think that Ujiri ever played in the NBA.

So according to Arse's theory that the better the player you were the worse the GM you are, Ujiri should be a pretty good GM