Nuggets Discuss Free Agency

During Thursday’s press conference for the Denver Nuggets draft, the Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri discussed the Nuggets free agents.

Restricted free agent Arron Afflalo has been talking to the Nuggets for the past month and he tweeted ‘negotiating meeting 2maro’ on Wednesday and followed that up with saying ‘business isnt complete lol …. (andre ken hamilton) be extremely high on those guys nugg fans … executives putting in good work in the D’

If you couldn’t tell, he was talking about newly acquired Andre Miller, Kenneth Faried and Jordan Hamilton.

Ujiri also discussed in the press conference that the Nuggets are trying to hammer out a deal with Nene, who has a player option, but will more than likely opt out of his contract if a deal isn’t made by June 30. Ujiri said, according to Chris Tomasson, ‘We’ve been having good talks and we’re making good progress. I think Nene is excited.’

Ujiri also discussed Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith, both of which are not likely to come back. Ujiri said that the drafting Kenneth Faried doesn’t necessary mean that Martin isn’t coming back.

Chris Dempsey wrote that Josh Kroenke said

"“I wouldn’t say it diminishes the chances of re-signing Kenyon. Masai has had several talks with Kenyon’s representation and we’ve had continued dialogue since the end of the season. I wouldn’t say that anybody we drafted is a replacement for anybody on our roster, whether they are free agents coming in this summer or not. We were just excited about having the opportunity to add two quality players to our roster.”"

The problem remains with Martin is he willing to take a paycut and be willing to come off the bench.

Also according to Tomasson, Ujiri also said about Smith, ‘We’ll see how it goes..JR is a big part of our program..I think it’s very positive.’

Smith could return, but it wouldn’t be out of the question if he leaves for more money or for a starting job. One team that would be interesting is the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are an up and coming team, with a bunch of young players and need a shooting guard. Not to mention, they face the Nuggets four times a year.

Ujiri also sounded optimistic about Miller being willing to come off the bench and let Ty Lawson start. Miller will see playing time, and most likely a lot next to Lawson. There it was no secret how much George Karl wanted him.