Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets are trying to re-sign Timofey Mozgov to be their backup center.
Mozgov, who played professional basketball in Russia for five years, came over to play in the NBA in 2010 with the Knicks. He was traded later in the 2010 season to the Nuggets in the blockbuster trade that shipped Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks.
You may have never heard of Timofey Mozgov. He is a 7′ 1″ monster of a Center. The guy has a lot of potential. He can block shots with the best of them, and he has a decent mid-range jumper. There is more of an offensive game that Nuggets’ coaches have yet to tap into.
Should the Nuggets bother resigning Mozgov?
The price to keep him in Denver would be around four million dollars a year. That is a good chunk of change going toward a guy who averaged only 2.6 rebounds and points per game. While he has talent, his skill set is extremely similar to a guy the Nuggets are overpaying.
Denver dishes out 10.75 million dollars to Javale McGee in the 2013-2014 season. McGee is a shot blocking specialist who will show up on SportsCenter’s Top 10 list routinely. He also doesn’t have a great offensive game. He won’t be able to post anybody up and do a nice left handed hook shot or anything of the sorts.
Why pay a player four million dollars that you already have and you’re already overpaying? Mozgov doesn’t bring anything to the table that McGee doesn’t. Unless you want two below average Centers on your team, this guy isn’t worth the money.
The better addition would be trying to pursue Greg Oden. Why not take a swing for the fences with Oden? You have nothing to lose in a backup Center. Oden would be cheaper and has a wider skill set than Mozgov. We all forget Oden was a former number one pick. There is a player under that injury-filled body.