Getting to know new Nugget Darrell Arthur

Mar 23, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies power.

forward Darrell Arthur (00) dunks the ball during the game against the Boston Celtics at FedEx Forum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Boston Celtics 110-106. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY

At Thursday’s NBA draft the Denver Nuggets trade Kosta Koufos for Darrell Arthur and Joffrey Lauvergne. So I thought I would give Nuggets fans a little insight on who Darrell Arthur is.

Arthur is a 6’9″ 235 lb power forward. He was born March 25th, 1988 in Dallas, Texas. He led his high school to back-to-back Texas 4A state titles in 2005 and 2006 and was the tournament’s MVP both years. Arthur enrolled at the University of Kansas. Darrell would play two years for the Jayhawks winning a national championship during his sophomore season against Memphis led Derrick Rose and John Calipari. He would enter the NBA draft following that season.Arthur was selected by the New Orleans Hornets as the 27th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, but was promptly traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for cash. The Trail Blazers then traded Arthur to the Houston Rockets for draft rights to 25th overall pick Nicolas Batum. Soon afterwards, the Rockets traded Arthur to the Memphis Grizzlies for draft rights to the 28th overall pick Donté Greene.On September 3, 2008, Arthur and fellow former Kansas Jayhawks teammate Mario Chalmers were excused from NBA’s Rookie Training Camp following a marijuana-related incident. Police responding to their hotel room following a fire alarm at 2:00 a.m. claimed that the room smelled strongly of marijuana but none was found and no charges were filed. Fellow NBA rookie Michael Beasley was also reported to have been in the room at the time, but was not asked to leave camp.Beasley was later fined $50,000 for his involvement in the incident Arthur later released a statement denying any involvement with marijuana. Arthur was later fined $20,000 by the league for missing the rookie camp, but was not fined or suspended for any drug-related violations.  He has played four seasons in the league all for the Memphis Grizzlies. Arthur has posted career averages of 6.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per game.

Interesting Facts:

His nickname is Shady or in high school Slim Shady

Full name is Darrell Antwonne Arthur

First cousin is former Los Angeles Clipper  Quinton Ross

Interview taken from Nate Timmons at Denver Stiffs https://t.co/redirect?url=http://t.co/R6itOC3xQO&sig=1bc08b4d2e2a6f4dd2d08dd4e47c6cdeecc5bc97&uid=428706480&iid=32323d08-e86f-44fc-b32b-aa964601cdbc&nid=27+1268&t=1

General Manager Tim Connelly’s thought on the acquisition of Darrell Arthur:

Here is what Connelly had to say about the Koufos for Arthur and Lauvergne:

Connelly: We tried to be aggressive with our pick. It was a difficult evening, we traded a key piece of our team last year. A guy that has a really bright future, it was not easy. We targeted a certain type of player and Arthur fits that role. He’s an elite front-court defender. He’s able to spread the court [on offense]. He has been part of several successful playoff teams. It was not an easy trade. Koufos is a consummate professional and a great kid.

Connelly on what Arthur can do:

Connelly: His ability to defend the pick-and-roll, his athleticism is rare at that position. I know coach [Brian] Shaw and I were really impressed with his ability to spread the floor, maybe create space and he comes from a winning program. I think it was a good trade for both sides and hopefully it kind of balances our front-court a bit and compliments the skill sets of our other front-court guys.

When I took over this job I tried to be objective as possible with what we needed – potentially to take the next step. We had three very good centers and it was hard to get those guys on the court. I thought potentially that was an area where we could address a different need. We had a need for a spread four and we had a need for a high-level pick-and-roll defender in the front-court.

The last couple days this deal came together and we’re really excited about what [Arthur] can bring to our team.

Does this move have anything to do with getting JaVale McGee more playing time?

Connelly: Not really. I think it’s unfair to the three centers that we had. It’s hard at times … you can cannibalize each other. That wasn’t the purpose. I think the purpose was to find a guy that was more complimentary to JaVale and [Kenneth] Faried.

And we’re excited about [Timofey] Mozgov, we tendered him his restricted offer today. We’re looking forward to having him back. We thought that maybe it was a better fit.

I’m a big believer in consensus decision-making. Over the course of the last week I’ve canvased everyone’s opinions. There were pros-and-cons on both ends. Both players are excellent and we’re going to miss Kosta, but we want to see what’s behind this door with Timofey. We want to give him a chance and see if he can run with it.

(Mozgov is now a restricted free agent with a $3.9 million qualifying offer. This means he can either sign the offer and play one season with Denver for $3.9 million and then become an unrestricted free agent, or he can sign an offer with another team and the Nuggets would have three days to match that offer, or he can just re-sign a new deal with Denver at whatever price his agent and the team agree on.)

Does the addition of Arthur mean the starting power forward job is up for grabs? Is there an issue with Faried and McGee playing at the same time?

Connelly: That’s up to coach Shaw. That concern [Faried and McGee together] has been echoed by a lot of guys on this staff. I’ll leave that up to the coaching staff. I will say that I think Arthur bring a complimentary skill set to those guys that maybe we lacked in the past.