Martin not worth big bucks

[Sage11]

Martin not worth big bucks

By Mark Kiszla

Denver Post Staff Columnist

Sunday, July 11, 2004 -

An NBA fool and his precious salary-cap money are soon parted. Feeling unloved and desperate, the Nuggets committed a mighty blunder Saturday, offering megabucks for a player they don't need.

Afraid of coming home from the free-agent market without anything to show for the bankroll in his pocket, general manager Kiki Vandeweghe panicked and tendered New Jersey's Kenyon Martin a deal that should make Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke blanch.

Denver reportedly is willing to pay Neiman Marcus prices for a K-Mart. Stupid is as stupid does.

Vandeweghe could blow his entire allowance from Kroenke on Martin, a 26-year-old power forward who has the potential to be the fifth-best player at his position at the Western Conference, if he's lucky.

All any thinking Nuggets fan can pray now is Martin will instead choose to sign a similar outrageous offer from Atlanta, or the Nets will end this madness by retaining him.

What the Nuggets actually needed through free agency is a guard who can A) shoot; B) run the floor; C) defend the perimeter; or D) do all of the above.

Instead, Vandeweghe seems bent on gathering the largest collection of power forwards in the Western hemisphere.

Wrong answer.

Martin can boast of exactly one more all-star appearance than Marcus Camby and owns no more reliable post moves than Nene. Sitting idly fourth on the depth chart at power forward is Nikoloz Tskitishvili, a name who might score more points in a game of Scrabble than he ever does in a Denver box score.

Martin is a solid B-list star in the NBA's constellation. Which is fine, if all the Nuggets aspire to be is a B-list team in the chase for a league championship.

If Martin really is one of the top power forwards on the planet, then why could he not garner an invitation when the NBA recently went begging for any healthy, red-blooded American male to represent our country on the basketball court at the Summer Olympics?

Go 1,000 miles from the Pepsi Center, give or take a traveling violation, and, without really trying, a general manager could find no fewer than four NBA power forwards more talented than Martin.

Think Minnesota would swap most valuable player Kevin Garnett for K-Mart? The only way Martin and Tim Duncan of San Antonio should ever be connected in the same breath is with laughter. Sacramento's Chris Webber is fully capable of averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, a dream that never has been realized by Martin. Dallas can run its offense through Dirk Nowitzki, while the Nuggets would be crazy to do the same with their alleged free-

agent savior.

Is Martin really a better power forward than Amare Stoudemire of Phoenix or Elton Brand of the Clippers? We could go on. But you get the point that has apparently escaped Vandeweghe.

While Houston traded for Tracy McGrady and the Suns signed Steve Nash, the Nuggets were too starstruck to make a meaningful move early in the free-agent shopping spree, instead wasting their time courting Kobe Bryant.

It made no sense to compound the error of dilly-dallying by hastily making Martin filthy rich, just because Denver grew scared nobody would take Kroenke's cash.

The Nuggets would have been wiser to invest frugally in a defensive stopper such as Minnesota's Trenton Hassel, then reserve the serious money under the salary cap to acquire a big-name shooting guard when the market conditions swung back in Denver's favor.

Too bad patience is a virtue Vandeweghe did not allow. With time and financial flexibility, the Nuggets could have examined whether Seattle guard Ray Allen, a proven all-star and Olympic gold medalist, has fully recovered from his knee injury. With a salary of $14 million in the final year of his contract with the Sonics, Allen could be the fire-sale steal of the upcoming NBA season.

Martin cannot lead the Nuggets to a championship. By obtaining him, however, Vandeweghe might achieve one elusive goal.

This is the move that could finally get Jeff Bzdelik fired as coach.

[Wretch]

This guy says that there are at a minimum 4 better PFs in the game, and I said a while ago during that big KMart debate that there are at least 10 that I'd take over KMart. But while I certainly do NOT believe that Kenyon Martin is worth maximum dollars, I think he has much more upside than this writer is giving him credit for. Regardless, I hope NJ and/or Denver can work something out, because I don't want to pin a max contract on the hopes that Kenyon will one day be a legit 20/10.

[DominiqueWilkins]

I would defently take alot of power forwards over Kenyon Martin, but I do agree about the writers not giving him the credit he deserves. Alot of people are bashing Kenyon Martin, but he will just have to prove he can become something without Jason Kidd.

[Weez]

what's funny is that all those dudes he's mentioned are getting Max contracts....

[emeans]

Yeah, while I would have like Kenyon on the Hawks, he doesn't have the outside game to garner such a contract that Denver is giving him. I is not worth the max the Hawks offered him.

The guy plays agressive and can slam with the best, but his shot from the outside is lacking. The mid-range jumper is inconsistent. Against big teams he is going to struggle if the baskets are not in transition.

They overpaid for his talent.

[OGRat]

I'm glad Denver got him. They have committed a significant amount of cap space to Martin and Camby. Maybe when Nene blows up, they will not be able to sign him.

This move also limits their ability to resign Chris Andersen. I would prefer him over Chris Mihm.