Masai Ujiri pulls off another great move.
The Denver Nuggets were involved in a 4 team trade which saw the Nuggets give up Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington in return for Andre Igoudala. Essentially Igoudala will be replacing Afflalo as the starting 2 guard. To see the effects of the trade I will break down what the Nuggets had before the trade and what they will be getting from the trade.
Arron Afflalo: His role on the team was a consistant above average wing defender who could provide solid 3 point shooting. He was appointed the job of containing Kobe in the playoffs and brought a defensive mindset to a not so defensive team.
Al Harrington: Al was one of the rare oldies on this Nuggets team and brought his veteran leadership and experience to the locker room for a very youthful team. His role on the court was merely to provide a scoring boost off the bench usually being a volume shooter who was inconsistant but still managed to put up points.
What the Nuggets are replacing AAA and Big Al with is...
Andre Igoudala: His role on this team will be somewhat of a combination of the two Nuggets departures. Igoudala plays strong on the wing and listed at 6'6, can play both the 2 and 3 guard comfortably. He is a slight upgrade at just about everything Afflalo brought. Iggy is bigger, MORE athletic, better at shooting, and can finish the break better too. Being 28, he is entering his prime and will be one of the more aged players on the Nuggets roster but brings great experience and leadership. He was the franchise player for Philly and is currently ballin' it up with the USA olympic team. Plus, he will be the only player on the current roster to boast an All-Star appearance.
Just as a quick overall look, the Nuggets upgrade their starting line up but lose some depth in the post. However, with this 2 for 1 trade the Nuggets open up their roster giving space to sign the rookies. Plus, losing a big doesn't hurt at all since the Nuggets have McGee, Faried, Mozgov, and Koufus already. Infact, look for both McGee and Faried's minutes to increase as they share Harrington's.
The final roster coming out from this fantastic trade looks very promising for our rising team.
McGee/ Mozgov/ Koufus
Faried/ Randolph
Gallinari/ Chandler/ Brewer
Igoudala/ Hamilton/ ?Fournier
Lawson/ Miller
Perhaps the only downside from this trade is that now in the locker room there will be two Andre's. But Miller and Iggy played together in Philly so all should be good. Hope this gives a rough idea of what the trade means for Denver before the accomplished writers publish their analysis eg. Roundballminingcompany.
Cheers.
