http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4rh9c7s

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It seems increasingly unlikely that the proposed three-team trade involving New Jersey and Detroit is going to happen.  I'm not here to opine on whether Denver should pull the trigger, or if New Jersey would even still be interested if Melo doesn't extend. Truth is, none of us know. We can only speculate and cross our fingers that the Nuggets get the best possible deal for Melo.

But if that trade DOES happen, then it creates an interesting dilemma at point guard. Devin Harris is a great player, but every Nuggets fan SHOULD agree that we all want this to be Ty Lawson's team. So what to do with Harris? Again, purely speculation, but it seems that this deal could work.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=4slzasj

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Not that I'm advocating for it, but I've read others in the Stiffs Nation saying Denver should trade JR and Kenyon.

I'd much rather just let Kenyon's contract come off naturally and keep the best bench scorer in the league, but that's just me.

But here's a 3-team trade that works and seems to help all sides.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=22tx26p

DEN gets a young shooter to replace JR, a coveted legit center, and a workhorse rebounder.

OKC gets a much more explosive scorer in the backcourt than Harden, and he's still young enough to build around with KD35, Jeff Green and Westbrook.

CHA gets $16M coming off of the books for next year that allows them to sign someone to go with Steven Jackson and Gerald Wallace. Martin would make an already good defensive team, a GREAT one.

Whaddya think?

Not here to criticize how the Nuggets played in the second half, nor debate the merits of whether or not DEN can beat LAL in a seven-game series...

I just want to do a little experiment. Simply give a +1 if you loved every second of Kobe being the spoiled, whiny little BITCH that he is when every Nuggets fan's new favorite player Arron Afflalo absolutely ate his lunch yesterday. He legitimately could have had like 5 or 6 techs last night. Attention refs, If you're gonna give him one in the first quarter, you have to give him one in the second, one in the third and two more in the fourth quarter for the exact same "showing up the officials" bullshit.

 I'd like to get it up to 7 or 8 thousand +1s, so tell your friends!

Brian Cook (6-9, 250) was just waived by the Rockets.

Decent player when he was with the Lakers a few years ago. Can stretch the defense with his shooting, though I don't think George would want him even touching the ball. Not much of a rebounder, but he's another body to bang with the Lakers.

Ugggh, has it really come to this? Are we better off with French Tacos?

Doesn't Rocky get on stilts from time to time during his performances? Should we roll with him or would he even accept the biannual?

My stomach hurts... :(

It was great and thoughtfully done. And while I applaud Wark, Sexy Rexy and the rest of the front office in making some astute moves, I'm flummoxed that we (I use the word "we" loosely, as it's just a lot easier than writing "the Denver Nuggets" every time) can't get another veteran big man for the playoff push.

Now granted, all that can change in two days, but having just read on HoopsHype that we were unable to pry D. Jordan and even older-than-dirt Ben Wallace away, it makes me wonder if trading away draft picks is such a good idea.

When you don't draft a couple young players every year (1st rd/2nd rd), it sets you up to only be able to fill your roster out with aging (often well past their primes) veterans, castoffs, and other guys who have little to no impact.

There are lots of teams in the same luxury tax situation as Denver, yet and still they are able to make moves because they have the necessary pieces that teams covet in order to get deals done.

The bottom line is that I know the front office desperately wants to make a move, but we've set ourselves up to fail, because there are no young players with upside that people want. No team, even ones trying to clear cap space, are going to want Joey Graham, Johan Petro, Anthony Carter, and Malik Allen.

Now, I also understand that everything is relative, and that some moves have led to other moves and so on... but if we had held on to Jameer Nelson, or not given up the moon in the KMart sign-and-trade, or actually held on to Leon Powe, or picked DeJuan Blair, or not given up so much for A.I., or at least gotten a young player back as a throw-in to the Camby deal, maybe we would have the pieces that we need to land Tyrus Thomas, or Haywood, or D. Jordan, or anyone else.

As it stands right now, we are having difficulty even landing cheap vets: Jason Maxiel, Tony Battie, Kurt Thomas, Chris Wilcox, etc.

Seems the only way we might be able to get one of those guys is to throw in a second-round pick, which, again, exacerbates the problem of having no youth.

This isn't really meant to rail on the front office, but more of just an observation and raising a question about the value of draft picks, even second round draft picks.

What do all y'all think?

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=yhk6c54

Legitimately helps every team involved: Denver - Washington - Cleveland.

Denver gets Brendan Haywood, Jawad Williams

Cleveland gets Antawn Jamison, Malik Allen, Anthony Carter

Washington gets Z. Ilgauskus, R. Balkman, Joey Graham

Why it works:

Denver gets their coveted big man to help guard the Lakers Tri-towers in the West Finals without giving up anyone in its core. Jawad adds depth to a now depleted bench. Signing Coby Karl would fill another roster spot.

Cleveland gets the player they feel could get them over the top in the East. The rumour mill is already abuzz with Jamison to Cleveland talk. AC gives them veteran PG play now that Williams and D. West are injured.

Washington sheds lots of salary and can start rebuilding. They get almost $13M coming off of the books for next year, and get a low-dollar energy guy, which is something they desperately need: energy.

OK now Stiffs Nation, tell me why this is an idiotic trade and how "this would never work" and what a giant douche I am, and blah, blah, blah, blah...

I'm sure it's a topic that's been discussed, but with Kenyon having his annual "I"m gonna miss every fourth game with various injuries" point of the season, doesn't it make sense to think about using one of the trade exceptions to get a backup big in here that ISN'T named Malik Allen or Johan Petro?

Some decent (and relatively cheap) options:

Jason Maxiell / Chris Wilcox / Kwame Brown - DET
With Villanueva playing the 4, Ben Wallace back from the dead, and Tay Prince coming back soon, there is a big logjam in the frontcourt. I like Kwame the most because his $4 comes off the books this year, but Wilcox's $6 over the next 2 yrs is palatable.

Kurt Thomas / Francisco Elson - MIL
Both are experience, hard-nosed defensive players that are cheap and can help guard the Tim Duncans and Andrew Bynums of the world in the playoffs.

DeAndre Jordan / Craig Smith - LAC
Jordan would be ideal because of his size and contract, but I LOVE Smith's game. And the fact that he owned us in a game last month.  When Griffin comes back in January though, something's gotta give in the Camby, Kaman, Griffin, Jordan, Smith frontcourt. Either is an upgrade over what we have now.

Josh Boone / Sean Williams / Tony Battie - NJN
Battie is on a one-year, $6M deal. He's slowly coming back from injury. He's always been a decent backup big man. Boone ($5M over the next 2 yrs) and Williams ($7.5M over the next 3 yrs) are on the hook for longer, but Lopez is clearly the big man of the future in NJ. And when you're trying to sign LeBron next summer, cap space is cap space. I'm sure the Nets would be more than thrilled to shed themselves of either of those guys.

What are your thoughts? We need to get some chatter started on the Stiffs Nation so Wark and Sexy Rexy have no choice but to pull the trigger on something! 

Allen, AC, trade exception (hell, I'd even throw in the rights to Kleiza) should be enough for one of those guys.