Nuggets Notes: Connelly, Arthur, Karnisovas
Nuggets GM Tim Connelly, fresh off signing his extension Tuesday, said he plans an aggressive approach as the trade deadline nears and added that he doesn’t like to see the team, which lost Tuesday to fall to 16-26, as far below .500 as it is, as Matt Moore of CBSSports.com relays. Still, he cautioned that he doesn’t want to rush the process of building a contender and wouldn’t rule out trading for another first-round pick, Moore notes, even though the team is likely to have at least two and could have as many as four this June. Denver also has the right to swap picks with the Knicks. Rumors have linked the Nuggets to the unprotected pick that the Nets owe the Celtics, but indications are Boston doesn’t intend to trade that selection, Moore writes. See more from Denver:
- Nuggets signees this past season lauded the culture that Connelly and his staff are building, and the extension was a sign that the franchise believes it’s found the right direction for itself after a 2014/15 that Connelly on Tuesday called an embarrasment, Moore relays in a separate piece. Denver is on track to succeed, though the missing piece is a superstar, Moore opines. “I think we’ve turned the corner,” Connelly said, “and now we have to be aggressive, opportunistic, but also patient.”
- Darrell Arthur was one of the Nuggets who signed this summer in part because he liked where the Nuggets were headed, notes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post, and retaining the power forward has paid dividends for the team this season, as Dempsey examines. That’s in large measure because Arthur has been healthy, Dempsey notes.
- The Nuggets had been working on extensions for Connelly as well as assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas and others in the front office staff for months, according to Dempsey, who adds that the franchise has long intended to keep Connelly and his aides (Twitter link).
- Denver is reportedly shopping J.J. Hickson while ex-Nuggets combo forward Kostas Papanikolaou has officially signed overseas. See details on those stories and more on our Nuggets team page.
Western Notes: Larkin, Kings, Miller, Robinson
The Mavericks announced, via press release, that first-round pick Shane Larkin underwent surgery today to repair a broken ankle he suffered last week in summer league action. The recovery time for the surgery is approximately three months, putting Larkin's return right around the beginning of the regular season. The team is reportedly in talks with Devin Harris again after nixing their original agreement with the point guard last week.
Here's more out of the Western Conference:
- The Kings will not use the amnesty provision before tonight's deadline, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, one of seven teams that can still use the clause, will apparently retain the amnesty eligible John Salmons. The team holds a player option on Salmons for the 2014/15 season.
- In a separate tweet, Jones adds that the Kings are unlikely to make any additions that necessitate guaranteed money unless they're first able to unload money.
- Should Mike Miller clear the amnesty waiver process, the Clippers should have interest in the veteran sharpshooter, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Washburn cites Miller's time in Orlando under new Clips head coach Doc Rivers as the main reason for the match. Miller was waived by the Heat today, and teams with cap space now have 48 hours to claim him on waivers.
- The Nuggets have named Arturas Karnisovas as their assistant GM, according to a press release from the team issued earlier today. Karnisovas, a native Lithuanian, was most recently the director of scouting for the Rockets under Houston GM Daryl Morey.
- It's only been about a year since Thomas Robinson was selected No. 5 by the Kings, but the Blazers forward has already been traded twice. Robinson, drafted into a bad situation in Sacramento and then a casualty of the Dwight Howard signing in Houston, says he feels disrespected as a result of the trades and is determined to get his career on track in Portland, writes Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge, who itemizes some quotes from Robinson from a couple of publications.
Nuggets Hire Arturas Karnisovas As Assistant GM
The Nuggets have reached an agreement with Rockets director of player personnel Arturas Karnisovas to bring him aboard as assistant GM in Denver, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Karnisovas will join new GM Tim Connelly with the Nuggets, who've overhauled their front office this summer. The Rockets, too, are enduring changes, having already lost executive vice president Sam Hinkie to the Sixers, where he's the new GM.
Karnisovas joined the Rockets as an international scout in 2008 after a playing career that gave him insight on the landscape in North America as well as overseas. The Lithuanian played collegiately for P.J. Carlesimo at Seton Hall before embarking on a professional career that saw him reach the Euroleague Final Four on three occasions.
The Nuggets lost GM Masai Ujiri to the Raptors this spring, while Pete D'Alessandro, Ujiri's top aide, became the new GM of the Kings. The team also replaced coach George Karl with Pacers assistant Brian Shaw.