Jock Itch The trade wind blew for the Nuggets

With George Karl facing cancer for a second time and the rest of the Western Conference loading up for battle, the Denver Nuggets did what any team in the middle of all this and on the cusp of making a run at an NBA championship would do: nothing.

The NBA trade deadline came and went and the Nuggets chose not to make any moves. The team has publicly stated that it is confident in its current roster, but this inaction has caused a wave of nausea to spread through the Nuggets fan base who felt that the team needed to add a big man to have shot at defeating the Los Angeles Lakers come playoff time. Anyone feeling the team had a decent chance to ascend to the NBA finals last week now thinks that disappointment is inevitable. At first, I chalked it up to typical fan hysteria. But after watching Nenê get pushed around by a large yet grandfatherly Shaquille O’Neal last Thursday in Cleveland, I’m starting to think now that those sweet, yet irrational fanatics are on to something.

Trading for someone, however, would have meant giving up one (or more) of our own. Many would suggest a utopian scenario that involves moving players no one wants—or better yet, J.R. Smith. Smith can be dynamic at times, but based on his very public pouting and inconsistent play, no team in its right mind would take on this streaky head case.

Trades in professional sports aren’t the same as when you fleece some dummy in your fantasy league. Most of these teams are run by competent pros who know when they’re getting a good deal. (Renaldo Balkman, Johan Petro, and a basket of muffins wasn’t enough to pry Amare Stoudemire away from the Phoenix Suns, for example.) But trades are exciting—that’s why fans clamor for them—and we’ve been spoiled over the years with splashy trades: Our own Colorado Avalanche did the trade deadline master stroke for years, and ended up luring a disgruntled superstar away from his club for the promise of a good shot at a title. The Nuggets can likewise offer that shot, but have nothing to tender a trade suitor. Nothing they’d want to part with anyway.

The Nuggets were plying for the Chicago Bulls’ Tyrus Thomas, but when the bill came (two players plus a future first round pick), they passed and the Charlotte Bobcats (winners of the worst logo in sports award) picked up the tab instead. The Los Angeles Clippers shipped ex-Nug Marcus Camby off to the Portland Trailblazers in this last trade, after rumblings that the Nuggets were considering bringing Camby back. This, of all the deals, would have made the most sense for Denver. 

The Nuggets bench is desperately thin and lacks in sheer size to bang with some of the bigger bodies in the NBA. But the Nuggets are playing great, and the team is still in a good position to make a run at the title. (I’ll stay with my prediction that the Nuggets will meet the Boston Celtics in the finals, although Boston might not hold up their end of the bargain.) The Nuggets are extremely confident in what they have headed down the stretch. Are you?