Denver and Minnesota: KG Not Included

(FortCollins-CO) The latest rumor surrounding the Denver Nuggets and their volatile power forward Kenyon Martin involves the Minnesota Timberwolves, but does not include Kevin Garnett. Not that KG and Kenyon would have been a realistic trade to begin with. However, the potential trade does make me a little wet on the chops.
The rumored trade includes the shipping of Kenyon Martin to the Timberwolves for the duo of Marko Jaric and Ricky Davis. On the surface of this trade it would look like the Nuggets are getting a raw deal, but it is with deeper scrutiny that you can see the value.

The Nuggets need scoring, badly, and the addition of Ricky Davis could pay huge dividends in the long and short term pictures. Davis is coming off a season where he averaged 19.1 points per game and squeezed almost five boards. The Nuggets could desperately use a score-first guy at the two spot while Andre Miller continues to just be a pass-first kind of guy. Ricky Davis could potentially be that for the Nuggets.

Marko Jaric is also a player that could flourish within the Denver system. Jaric doesn’t put up awe-inspiring numbers, but what he does do is play solid defense for a point guard and contributes in the scoring column. Last season he averaged 7.9 points per game and 3.9 assists. Modest digits I know, but within the high octane offense of Denver those numbers are surely due to rise, even if slightly. He is also a career 33% from behind the arch, 200-600, and that helps Denver tremendously.

So if you do the math, and I’m sure some of you already have, that’s almost thirty points coming in to the Denver picture. While only giving up less than half of that, which Kenyon Martin was accountable for. Add Nene’s return on the boards and on defense and you got a scenario that would seem to work.

I like this trade because it addresses what problems the Nuggets have currently while keeping in mind who they have returning for next season. One thing that I hope isn’t retuning is the schizophrenic play and persona of Kenyon Martin. Doing this trade wouldn’t be that bad of an idea when all things are considered.