Yea Kobe, he has been on our minds as well.
So, I am just going to assume, for the following article that it is a 100% certainty that Arron Afflalo will be joining us next year and that his return is only dependent on the agreement to which his contract will be and the finer print, I don't think that many teams will overpay for him, and even if they do the Nuggets will most likely match because we still have the payroll we need to match and since there is no player left to give that money to that is worthy, I'd imagine it will be Afflalo.
I don't really think anyone needs to worry about Afflalo, he has said he likes it here, hasn't been a pout, not to mention the fact that we have plenty of cap to sign him unless he gets offered a 10 mil+ contract which I don't think anyone in the NBA is crazy enough to throw at him, no matter how good a role player he is. I also believe that since he is a restricted free agent, it makes it a lot easier to have him back on our team. Anyway, since I'm 100% sure he is coming back, I see no reason to not add him into this discussion.
Shooting Guard - Aaron Afflalo / Rudy Fernandez / Corey Brewer
Afflalo, AKA AAA, was without a doubt a huge reason for our success last year. Yea, we can talk about the early part of the season with Melo/Billups carrying the load, or how the hefty load from New York made us such a deep team, or how J.R. Smith was the most exciting player in the entire world, but the reason we kept winning constantly was because our third option on the starting lineup, Afflalo was consistent. You knew what you were going to get every single night with him, he was going to shoot a couple of corner pocket three pointers, play defense on the opposing shooting guard like a beast and travel once or twice when he tried to dribble the ball.
Not to say he hasn't improved his dribbling ability, from his first season with us to last season his offense has been a thing of beauty, many saw him as just Dahntay Jones 2.0 but really he is much more than a defensive specialist, he is now becoming a sharpshooter. We knew that once AAA got that ball for a wide open corner three, that it was going in and it is sad that with Carmelo Anthony and his selfish ball hogging isolation that we didn't see enough of it. It is no coincidence that our best season in this playoff stretch of ours was when Melo isolation's were kept minimal.
However after the trade went down, I noticed that Afflalo was dribbling the ball more often and really went aggressive to the lane, he even developed a post game that was full of high percentage fade-aways. He demanded the ball on occasions and his overall demeanor seemed to had changed after Carmelo Anthony was traded.
Afflalo really stepped up his offensive game this past season, getting more aggressive attacking off the dribble and drawing fouls while still maintaining his deadly 3-point threat (42.3 percent on the season, 40.8 percent career). As a result, he led all shooting guards in TS% at 62.0.
Afflalo isn't noted for his finishing skill, but he chose his spots well when he attacked. Most of his drives were to pass, but he also shot 67.1 percent at the rim and a stellar 52.7 percent on shots from 3-15 feet -- an area where most players shoot in the high 30s. He's not a great athlete but he is a good ballhandler for his size, and he showed it by ranking 10th at his position in pure point rating. - John Hollinger
10th! That just goes to show you, that this guy is invaluable to this team. when I see Arron Afflalo, I see something different: A player who can be on the floor, helping the team immensely, while his teammates are maximizing their potential. And that's hard to find. To me, he is the type of player people like Denverstiffs reader Chantech drool over.
With a name this off putting, he might as well be European because anyone without a media guide is going to whisper it to themselves three times, with different pronunciations on each attempt, until finally they settle on something like "Aaron Aflo." Arron Afflalo’s name is the opposite of economic–it’s like paying for premium gas when you drive a Beretta.
Rudy Fernandez
Rudy is obviously a fan of the movie "Pans Labyrinth"
To say I was overly excited when I first found out we signed him is an understatement, maybe that was because I was in a very ska/punk mood in terms of music and ironically listened to the Specials "Rudy" and The Clash's "Rudie Can't fail" earlier that day so perhaps it was just an odd coincidence and I knew that when I found out we had him that I was beyond static and felt it was a message to me of some sort. Maybe there is a God and he is trying to communicate with me through sports, I'd never thought I'd have faith in a quarterback who throws like a girl, but from his ability to win games, I do now.
People say that Rudy isn't on par with J.R Smith, well I tell them they are wrong, because people overlook one thing, and that is that Rudy was playing with the slowest team in the NBA. The Trailblazers played 91.2 possessions a game last year, and when you are a guy like Rudy, who was playing behind the supposed up-and-coming Brandon Roy, and just struggling to find minutes behind a all-star, which would not at all be the same as playing behind Afflalo because you know you are going to get a lot more minutes playing behind someone who isn't an all-star, as good as AAA is. Rudy has the chance to unleash himself in a George Karl styled offense, because where Portland was dead last in Possessions per game, Denver was the 5th highest last season averaging 98.8 a game, and their offense was much more efficient than the 4 other teams ahead in the list in the Suns, Knicks, Kings and Minnesota.
Simply put, Rudy is built for this style of offense. He is a great passer from the video clips I've seen.. very good in fact. I feel that Karl will know how to handle Rudy because if George Karl is good at anything, it is managing egos and keeping them in check, for the most part. Rudy is athletic, a great three point shooter, a good passer and has the ability to be a good defensive player as well. There are conflicting views on his persona though, as BlazerEdge readers had this to say about him.
Abufatimah: He is a prime example of a lack of humility.
Timmay!: Rudy didn’t live up to expectations. He had a great start, but got an ugly injury toward the end of his rookie season (Ariza undercut him on a fast break, eventually leading to back surgery). He never seemed the same afterward.
cavejunctionblazer: Rudy can flourish, I still believe that. Karls style should benefit Rudys game allot, allowing him to be what he is- an offense first type of player. The Blazers have always been overloaded at certain positions and undermanned in others which inevitably leads to the development of some and the stagnation of others. Rudy fell into the stagnate category, thus meaning he was playing behind our then superstar BRoy and basically was fighting for minutes behind BRoy, not to mention recovering from back surgery.
Meru: He is an unorthodox and intermittently very effective player. He is an excellent passer, particularly when it comes to feeding the post (I bet you he has better court vision than Ty Lawson) but is hampered by a rather average handle. This means that he is no good at penetrating. If he starts dribbling back and forth I guarantee it’ll end in a step-back three. But the good news is, he makes a lot of those, and sometimes at opportune moments.
Read more here
Overall, I'd say even if there is a slim chance that AAA does not resign, Rudy might just shock the Nuggets community and flourish here, even with AAA I really think he'll be happy here, at least with his role I think. I think that like J.R, his ego needs to be handled in a certain way, not to say they have similar personalities but you get what I mean. Consider him my favorite Nuggets player right now.. I have a lot of faith in this kid.
Reports indicate a spike in women nugget fans sky rocket to 120%
Rudy Mix-
Corey Brewer
I feel Brewer needs his own love here because I think he is vastly underrated. His defense is actually what I refer to and not his offense. In fact, let us forget about offense all together because I will tell you right now, he can't shoot to save his life. I've seen him try, and he has a really bad form, along with a slow release. His PER is a very poor score of 11.05, below average in 3 point percentage and despite being 6'9 at the 2, his rebounding is poor as well. In fact, he has no discernible passing skills to speak of either, clipping 1.7 his entire career. Let us just say that his offense is more or less around Kenyon Doolings skill level, and no.. that is not a good thing.
What he is good at though however, is the other end of the floor, which makes him the perfect situational player. Brewer is the kind of guy the Nuggets would of loved last year against the Thunder in the playoffs, he is 6'9 and simply put, a very good defender off the perimeter. The Nuggets didn't really have an answer for Kevin Durant last year in the playoffs (I will say I am very guilty of not watching the entire series, not a single game, because my ex-girlfriend kidnapped me, let us just say). Brewer is the type of guy you want to put in when you are trying to protect the lead, not when you are trying to play catch up, which is what Minnesota was trying to do all of last year in games because they were full of suckage. However Brewer becomes much more useful in a team with a winning mentality and he might just be this teams best defender at the 3-2-1 positions. Check the follow links for examples of his strong defense.
1.
Corey Brewer gets the steal and runs for dunk here. His read on the pass was perfectly timed and his dunk showcased his pretty good athletic ability.
2.
Corey Brewer hustles back on defense and gets the block. This is a very good showcase of his hustle, despite the block coming from Al Harrington..
3 .
Corey Brewer Blocks Eric Gordon. This displays his athletic ability pretty well. It was hard to find any videos of just examples of his perimeter defense, but you'll see what I am talking about when he is put into games, he will for his defense alone. However, he is not someone I'd want in a close game unless the opposing team is trailing close with a minute to go. His defense is good for securing a spot also when we are playing against Durant just because I think Brewer has the right tools for the job, overall though I don't think his role will be all that big for the Nuggets, but he is a great player to have on the bench for his defense alone.
Looks like we are 2 deep at the goofball position, move over Al Harrington!
So yea, anyway.. I might be in the minority, yea I am. I want Rudy to start.. I really do. I know most of you will say AAA Anyways, but what are your views?
My Grade for this shooting guard duo? B+
Also a note to Nate, Jeffery and Andrew, if you see any grammatical errors in my posts, I'd ask for permission from you to correct them, I can't correct all of them you know, but that is only if you'd like to do so.
