Ty Lawson shouldn't overshadow Denver Nuggets' otherwise sound offseason

If you’ve been paying any attention to BSNDenver.com lately you’re likely well aware of my stance on the recent Ty Lawson escapade. While I firmly stand by my premise regarding the neglectful manner in which the Denver Nuggets addressed Lawson, it absolutely must be noted that aside from this catastrophe the Nuggets have had an outstanding offseason. I’d even go so far as to suggest this summer has been one of the Nuggets’ best over the last decade.

Nuggets’ general manager Tim Connelly and his cronies kicked off their impressive series of moves in mid-June by hiring new head coach Michael Malone, a move that was universally praised around the NBA blogosphere. A few weeks later as Malone finalized his assistant coaching staff I expressed my unbridled approval of the Nuggets’ holistic crop of court marshals:

On a more personal note, from a fan’s standpoint, and from the viewpoint of someone who’s watched this team play basketball for the last 12 years, I cannot tell you how floored I am about the Nuggets’ long overdue acknowledgement of defense. Even if Malone flares out in similar Brian Shaw fashion, even if the Nuggets continue on a downward spiral towards the top of the lottery (not always a bad thing!), the fact they actually decided to place defense before running like a flock of headless chickens on offense makes me absurdly pleased. It should you as well. Because for far too long this team has totally and entirely disregarded one half of the floor — the one side they should have always emphasized first and foremost, just as all title contenders do.

So count me as a member of the camp incredibly thankful of the direction Malone appears to be taking this team. Again, I’m not willing to sit here and play Nostradamus, to predict exactly how many games the Nuggets will win next year or the year after. But what I can say with fair confidence is that your general basketball philosophy and attitude — your personal basketball religion, for lack of better phrasing — says everything about you. Are you the type who recognizes the imperative nature of defense or are you more concerned about selling tickets for pure surface-level entertainment? Often fans can excuse short-term failures if they recognize your heart and commitment to certain sides of the court are in the right place. With the hiring of Malone it appears the Nuggets are finally on the proper side of that equation.

Ed Pinckney is such a great hire for Denver. He’s been one of the top assistants in the NBA for years. I liked him as HEAD coach of Nugs. — Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe) July 6, 2015

Around this same time the Nuggets partook in the 2015 NBA Draft and with their highest selection in over a decade nabbed a young Congolese point guard who’s turned out to be perhaps the single greatest steal of his entire class. Shortly after Emmanuel Mudiay became a member of the Nuggets’ family I had this to say in instant-reaction article:

The Nuggets have done it again. With their second lottery selection in the last two years they’ve come away with a steal. Last year it was Jusuf Nurkic and this year it’s Emmanuel Mudiay…

But whatever impairment was done to his stock clearly benefited the Nuggets. Because in the end, even though they failed to move up on lottery selection night the Nuggets still ended up landing a player with the talent to be a top three pick in nearly any draft.

Great pick.

As Mudiay’s long-anticipated Summer League debut came and went it became immediately apparent just how talented and mature — both on and off the court! — he already was. As the Nuggets’ series of games in Las Vegas concluded Mudiay finished as one of — perhaps THE most! — impressive rookies in the desert showcase, which I touched on in my Summer League recap piece:

Though it’s difficult to project the arc of Mudiay’s career as a 19 year old, what is obvious is that the Nuggets once again have a star for the first time since Carmelo Anthony left town. This sentiment alone is incredibly comforting; however, winning at a high rate in the NBA isn’t about obtaining one superstar. Any team with a disastrous season can achieve this through the lottery. The real challenge for the Nuggets moving forward is what they put around Mudiay, how many more stars they can collect, how many more premier role players they can retain. Nevertheless, Tim Connelly and his crew deserve all the credit in the world for targeting and ultimately drafting Mudiay. This really cannot be overstated.

For as promising as Mudiay was throughout each and every game in Vegas, so too were many of the Nuggets’ young draft picks over the last two years cultivated under Connelly, which I detailed in my recap of the Nuggets’ opening game in Sin City:

In closing I’d just like to acknowledge the superb job Tim Connelly and his staff have done in working the NBA Draft over the last few years. It’s times like these where you really get to witness the manifestation of the work put in prior to the draft. This Nuggets Summer League squad is loaded, and it doesn’t even include last year’s lottery selection, Jusuf Nurkic. To put things into perspective, take the Nuggets’ opponent, the Atlanta Hawks for example. This is a team with a combined six draft picks from 2013-14, yet only one of those players is on their 2015 Summer League roster and most aren’t even with the Hawks organization anymore. The Nuggets, meanwhile, have nearly every one of their draft picks over the last two years suiting up in Vegas this week and each and every one looks promising. Keep in mind also, outside of Emmanuel Mudiay not one of these guys has been a top-10 pick, while Green, Jokic and Lauvergne were each second rounders!

In projecting where the Nuggets will be two to three years down the road it’s often Summer League where you’ll place your bets. Even though Mudiay and Nurkic appear to be high-level starters in the NBA, it’s still anyone’s guess as to how good they’ll actually become. But what’s certain in analyzing the Nuggets’ up-and-coming core is that this is a talented group of players who understands the game of basketball and will therefore be able to find a role in the NBA. And for a rebuilding team without any top-five picks over the last two years, that’s about all you can ask for.

During the Nuggets’ admirable showing at Summer League, as fans got a chance to see most all of Connelly’s player-projects in their infancy, the Nuggets’ GM was also quietly going about his business re-signing not only the incumbent free agents he expressed a desire to ink prior to July 1, but also some of Denver’s core building blocks who’ve been with the team since 2011. Over the last month or so I’ve commented about many of these outstanding signings on Twitter:

Really love the Will Barton signing. He reminds me of a young Corey Brewer. Lots of heart, hustle and athleticism. Can’t go wrong there.

— Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe) July 11, 2015

That’s a great deal for Jameer Nelson. Remember, he wanted playing time. Given he re-upped, that has to mean Lawson is gone by Game 1. — Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe) July 13, 2015

Also, the Nuggets are quietly having a really nice free agency. They’re re-signing the guys they want to solid, inexpensive deals.
— Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe) July 13, 2015

Definitely don’t see the Gallinari re-signing as a coincidence. Nuggets needed this after the Lawson debacle. Great move either way.

— Kalen Deremo (@PrincePickaxe) July 21, 2015

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As stated in the opening paragraph of this article, I’ve been incredibly critical of the Nuggets organization in light of the Ty Lawson situation — and rightly so. As a member of the media I will always consider it my first and foremost duty to hold the Nuggets accountable for their decisions. The role and sole purpose of the press throughout time has always been to ensure those in power, those who often collect money from the proletariat, are acting in accordance with proper ethics and the consideration of the greater good. And as long as you and I are contributing to the pocketbook of Kroenke Sports Enterprises I will continue to uphold an unbiased recording of the Denver Nuggets narrative as my undertaking.

That said…

One of the other cornerstone principles of journalism is fair analysis, to always tell both sides of the story in equal proportion. In this regard I fully admit that I sometimes fall short of the necessary standards required of my position. Though I repeatedly praise the Nuggets in independent instances for moves made individually — as seen above — it’s rare that I compose an article encompassing a comprehensive approval of the franchise and its chosen direction as a whole, which as you might have guessed, I’ve decided to do now…

No matter how frustrating Lawson’s departure may have been — especially from a managerial standpoint, which is often the frame I try and view things through — there can be no denying how quietly astute Connelly and his staff have otherwise been throughout the summer. Not only have they addressed most of their needs heading into free agency, they’ve also established a franchise identity through the hiring of Michael Malone, landed a star player in the 2015 NBA Draft and even re-signed two of their top five players to extensions despite neither being eligible for contract renewals until an entire year from now!

There’s been a lot of chatter surrounding the Nuggets’ newfound “direction” over the last several months and while I agree with this premise I also think the term “direction” is somewhat misleading diction. The better terminology is “identity,” as direction supposes a linear model of success or failure, winning or losing, while identity characterizes a landscape of possibilities wherein your most important attributes are harnessed and solidified regardless of how good you are.

Over the last few years the Nuggets have had a clear direction in that they’ve wanted to be patient with their young core and see what they were capable of individually (which we kind of already knew in the first place) despite the product they embodied on the floor. Yet for over 600 days we never once had any idea of who the Nuggets were as a group, what they stood for, what they were trying to accomplish, how they wanted to play — in other words, we had no idea what their identity was, and quite frankly, neither did they.

For years under George Karl the Nuggets had one of the more bold and immutable identities in the entire NBA. They were fast, they ran their opponent’s under the hardwood, they had a free-flowing style of offense with few set plays, and for several seasons they even played solid defense with the goal of generating turnovers to help ignite their offensive firepower. In addition, the Nuggets collected players who could better foster this identity — guys like Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Andre Iguodala and Corey Brewer. By the time Karl was terminated, after close to a decade of up-tempo, run-and-gun basketball, the Nuggets had won over 400 games and made the playoffs nine years in a row.

While the identity Karl bestowed on the Nuggets franchise was reliable and made for exciting regular-season basketball, it was also extremely flawed. I detailed this extensively at my old site RoundballMiningCompany.com. Because for each and every season, though Karl’s offense managed to blindside his opponents by utilizing Denver’s mile-high altitude to win single games at home, his system repeatedly failed in the postseason when teams had the opportunity to analyze the Nuggets’ identity and repeatedly isolate its weaknesses throughout a seven-game series.

Under new head coach Michael Malone not only do the Nuggets once again have an identity — they have the right identity. An identity that won’t break down when simply analyzed under a microscope. An identity that will remain consistent whether the Nuggets are playing at home, on the road, in the playoffs or on the surface of moon. An identity that can pull the Nuggets through inevitable offensive mires even when their shots aren’t falling. Because for once, the Nuggets have an identity predicated on defense, stopping their opponent before getting theirs on the offensive end, doing the dirty work first and foremost with nothing but heart, determination, pure unfiltered physical zeal, courage and effort. This is the identity champions employ. This is the identity that wins games when they matter most.

Similar to the way former Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri put in place the correct pieces to complete Karl’s puzzle of fastbreak basketball, Connelly has also complied an excellent group of two-way players to assist Malone in bringing his vision of defensive-minded basketball to fruition. Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler are all solid defensive talents, solid offensive talents, all figure to play major rolls in the Nuggets’ rotation next year and are all locked down for at least the next three years. Meanwhile, lesser-known talents like Will Barton, Nikola Jokic and Joffrey Lauvergne have also displayed exemplary defense in their brief televised cameos and are all similarly locked down beyond three years. According to recent reports the Nuggets have even re-signed their best pick-and-roll defender, Darrell Arthur.

Collecting specific types of players builds culture. Add a coach and GM with similar beliefs that align with those held by the players and you begin to create a lasting identity. But, throw in a potential star to the mix, as the Nuggets did in the draft with Mudiay, and you have the potential for something special, something that can translate into on-court success in the form of wins. But take this formula one step further by combining all the elements together and you get something the Nuggets have possessed in only rare circumstances during the franchise’s near 50-year tenure: appeal.

As I’ve stated on multiple occasions over the last few months, players in the NBA care about two things: money and winning. “Location, location, location” is as antiquated as Donald Trump’s political views. What players care about most are the two articles mentioned above: They want to win and they want to get paid doing it.

Exhibit A: This entire summer.

Heading into free agency this past month all anyone could talk about was L.A. and New York. Both teams had tons of cap space and were therefore expected to sign not only one, but several of the best players on the market. What actually proceeded to happen was the exact opposite.

Greg Monroe chose to live in Milwaukee and join a team that won 41 games last year.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard chose to live in San Antonio.

Kevin Love chose to live in Cleveland.

Marc Gasol chose to live in Memphis.

And why, you might ask, did so many of these All-NBA talents decide to avoid the bright lights and celebrity status awaiting them in two of the biggest markets in the world for more casual municipalities? Because, as stated above, players just want to win. They don’t want to be part of losing teams with uninspiring head coaches and disheveled cultures. They want stability, success, high-character teammates, savvy GMs and coaches who rally their troops like Alexander the Great. What they want most is identity.

Thanks to the job Connelly has done over the last year, especially this summer, identity is finally becoming a tangible characteristic for the Nuggets franchise once again. Connelly jumpstarted this process by hiring Malone, a coach grounded in defense and charisma. He then solidified the Nuggets’ novel identity by drafting one of the more mature, talented, good-hearted point guards we’ve seen in years, a player who’s already championing the Nuggets’ history and future both on and off the court. And finally, in retaining Chandler and Gallinari — two of the Nuggets’ best players since Carmelo Anthony — as well as Will Barton, Jameer Nelson and Arthur, Connelly had made a statement heard loud and clear round Denver: that the Nuggets are now a franchise embedded with good people, high-character athletes, players from across the globe who share the rock with their fellow comrades, guys who hate losing more than they enjoy winning (to paraphrase Malone) and that those who don’t want to be a part of the Nuggets’ culture will be jettisoned while those who do will be rewarded, pampered and deeply revered.

Whether the Nuggets’ identity under Malone materializes into immediate on-court success is yet to be seen. To be completely honest, there’s a chance that what the Nuggets are doing might not ever work the way Connelly desires. What matters most, however, is that Connelly’s heart and mind are in the right place. The Nuggets are doing the right thing. They’re going about building a team the right way. By signing players who want to be in Denver he’s in turn creating an enticing environment where other players will want to be as well. And for a newly hired GM still learning the ins and outs of a multi-billion dollar professional sports conglomerate, that’s more than enough to pacify one of the Nuggets’ toughest critics over the last five years, yours truly.