The de-Masaiing of the Nuggets has begun
When Masai Ujiri remained the GM of your Denver Nuggets he was held in very high regard as one of the NBA’s finest wheeler-dealers. In his absence, though, some of his roster moves have proven to be perplexing. The most maddening of these was the trade that sent shooting guard Arron Afflalo, a Denver favorite, to the Orlando Magic along with Al Harrington as part of a four-team deal that netted the Nuggets Andre Igoudala from the 76ers.
Iguodala had only one year left on his contract. He waved goodbye to Denver the first chance he got and joined up with Golden State.
Today, with the NBA draft upcoming, we learned that the Nuggets swapped Evan Fournier and their 56th pick to Orlando to get Afflalo back in the fold here. The trade was inarguably very favorable for Denver. NBA scribe Bill Simmons Tweeted that Denver paid $.30 on the dollar in the deal and that it made no sense. Regardless, the swap is clearly part of the de-Masaiing of the Denver at the hands of new GM Tim Connelly.
Arron Afflalo would seem to be precisely the type of character player that Brian Shaw covets. He’s not likely to leave candy bar wrappers on the team plane.
