1/5/2024 0 Comments Nuggets roster 2015Whether this came from Josh Kroenke, or his father and team owner Stan Kroenke, and the extent to which Connelly was or was not on the same page, is not entirely clear. There seemed to clearly be a directive from the brass above for the Nuggets to (ostensibly) remain competitive by retaining their core players while at the same time engaging in a quasi-rebuild, but only around the edges where the impact would be dubious. In Connelly’s defense, much of the blame for this may not rightfully fall solely on his shoulders. Perhaps even worse, very little progress was made in the franchise merely articulating publicly, let alone demonstrating through its actions, any sort of clear direction or goal in team building. The following two seasons would see Denver’s win total plummet staggeringly from 57 to 36, and then even further to 30 in 2014-15. The contention by critics that the Nuggets organization had lost its way started gaining substantial credibility. Hickson and Nate Robinson to multi-year contracts, Connelly locked into place most of the roster pieces which, along with the ill-fated Shaw hiring, would define his first two seasons as Nuggets general manager. That this situation did not provide much flexibility for Denver’s new GM to significantly imprint his stamp on the roster was one major hurdle for Connelly, but he further aggravated his own difficulties from the start as he stumbled out of the gates in a series of moves which belied his lack of experience and preparation at the time.īy gifting the 27th pick in his first draft to the Utah Jazz (on whose behalf he drafted Rudy Gobert) for Erick Green and cash, trading Kosta Koufos to the Memphis Grizzlies for Darrell Arthur and the rights to Joffrey Lauvergne, shipping out the disgruntled Andre Iguodala in a sign-and-trade three-team deal which brought Randy Foye to Denver, and signing free agents J.J. With about $54 million of guaranteed salary on the books, or over 91% of the 2013-14 salary cap of $58.7 million (per ), Connelly would at most have under $4.8 million in cap space (less than the $5.15 million mid-level exception that season), along with a handful of exceptions to work with in starting his roster retooling project. Other key figures Connelly received on the roster included Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier, Ujiri’s first-round draft picks in 2010, 20, respectively, along with JaVale McGee, Andre Iguodala and Andre Miller, who Ujiri had brought to the team by trade.Īt that time, the Nuggets had over half their payroll invested in three players making over $10 million annually apiece: their two best, Lawson and Gallinari, and the virtually untradeable McGee. The players and assets sent to the Nuggets in the blockbuster deal, including Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov, were a major component of the Nuggets core which Connelly inherited upon arrival in Denver. The most impressive and significant accomplishment Masai Ujiri made in his three-year tenure with the Nuggets had been to secure a trade to the New York Knicks of All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who had essentially given the team an ultimatum to deliver him to New York or lose him for nothing, for a return which recouped a much better value than most analysts expected was possible, or most teams usually are able to land when trading a star player of Anthony’s caliber and stature. And one week later, Connelly’s first major action in his new role would be, with Kroenke, to hire Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw to replace Karl’s vacated head coaching position.Ĭonnelly Inherits a Convoluted Legacy – and Does Some Convoluting Himself It did not take long, however, for Kroenke to fill the vacuum at the top of Denver’s front office, hiring New Orleans Pelicans assistant GM Tim Connelly, who had a reputation in NBA executive circles as a promising up-and-comer, just three weeks after Ujiri’s departure. With the two most public faces of Nuggets leadership suddenly gone from the picture – one by choice, the other by the axe – the future direction of the team was enshrouded in doubt, and irrespective of deeply divided fan and media opinions on whether Karl should have been fired, or how potentially damaging Ujiri’s departure might be, the deeds were done and for better or worse the reset button had been hit definitively. The dramatic rollercoaster ride in such rapid-fire succession from great regular season success to yet another playoff failure to what-in-the-world-is-happening was bizarre, unprecedented, and seemed to have both the Nuggets organization and fan base in a tailspin.
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