Ruben Patterson/Joe Smith trade almost done

[ChumpDumper]

Nuggets close to trade deal
By Marc J. Spears
Denver Post Staff Writer

The Nuggets are close to finalizing a trade that would send swingman Ruben Patterson to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for forward Joe Smith, NBA sources confirmed today.

The Smith-Patterson deal is likely to be finalized no later than Friday. The arrival of Smith means the Nuggets probably will not go after Dallas free-agent forward Keith Van Horn because they fill the same role. Smith will make $6.8 million next season in the final year of his contract while Patterson will make the same in his final season.

Smith averaged 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 47.5 percent from the field in 44 games for Milwaukee last season. The 6-foot-10, 225 11-year veteran was the top pick in the NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors in 1995. Smith has averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds over his career, including a career-high 18.7 points with Golden State during the 1996-97 season. He also has also played for Philadelphia, Minnesota and Detroit.

Patterson's Nuggets career lasted only 26 regular-season games and five playoff games. The 6-foot-5, 224-pound forward was

acquired from Portland in a four-team trade on Feb. 23. Patterson started 20 regular-season games for Denver, averaging 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.31 steals. The eight-year NBA veteran is close with Nuggets and former Cincinnati teammate Kenyon Martin and had some words with coach George Karl during the playoffs regarding Martin's suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

The teams turned in the trade to the NBA office Thursday afternoon and are awaiting league approval, which is expected to come no later than Friday.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_4162791

Well, they're replacing Elson nicely, but the Nuggets are again thin at the 2 spot.

[Dre_7]

Whats up with the Bucks trading good players for crap??

[J.T.]

They're the bucks.

[ChumpDumper]

The Bucks' frontcourt was totally overloaded after the Magloire trade, and Smith duplicated Charlie V. Ruben will make a pretty decent 6th man for a previously nonexistent bench.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

:smokin

AWESOME

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Ruben wouldnt have got many minutes next season anyways. Nuggets have Melo, JR Smith, Diawara, Kleiza and Johnson (hopefully) for the 2 and 3 spots

oh and the biggest thing is the locker room. Joe Smith is a great locker room guy. The Nuggets are trying to unload Ruben and K, they are both known to be a little dsiruptive although Ruben has got better i think

[ChumpDumper]

But those last three guys < Patterson.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

But those last three guys < Patterson.

watch out for Diawara, the guy is apparently a stud in the making. He is a better defender than Buck, better shooter than Ruben and Buck (which isnt hard) and can play 3 positions.

Ruben brought energy but he only played a handful of good games. Joe Smith will be great and is expiring as well. The Nuggets also have $1mil extra to sign someone. They are now $4mil from the luxury tax

[ChumpDumper]

watch out for Diawara, the guy is apparently a stud in the making. He is a better defender than Buck, better shooter than Ruben and Buck (which isnt hard) and can play 3 positions.Of course - that's why he wasn't drafted.

He'll be awesome in Broomfield.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Of course - that's why he wasn't drafted.

He'll play awsome in Broomfiled.

yeh but look at his name DIAWara :lol :lol

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

the scouts know more than you and me. There has to be a reason why 4 teams were after him and Cuban was willing to pay alot more money for him.

[Bruno]

Nuggets will be very thin at SG (for the moment).

[Supergirl]

Yet another state Ruben Patterson will have to register as a sex offender in...

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Nuggets will be very thin at SG (for the moment).

maybe wells will bite the bullet and play for $4mil for one year and then test free agency again :lol

[ChumpDumper]

the scouts know more than you and me. There has to be a reason why 4 teams were after him and Cuban was willing to pay alot more money for him.Those scouts that passed over him in the draft?

I'm sure he has potential, but saying he's better than Patterson right now is silly.

[ChumpDumper]

maybe wells will bite the bullet and play for $4mil for one year and then test free agency again :lolThat actually makes sense, if he can take any minutes away from Diawara, of course....

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

That actually makes sense, if he can take any minutes away from Diawara, of course....

:lol come on, whats the fun in signing an undrafted player if you cant build them to be the next 'steal' ? :lol

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Those scouts that passed over him in the draft?

I'm sure he has potential, but saying he's better than Patterson right now is silly.

im not saying he is better in every area but he is younger, more versatile and has a good attitude by the sounds of it.

Nuggets seems to be trying to rid themselves of the bearcat brotherhood group that they had last season. Patterson is gone, K will be going some day soon, id like to keep Johnson but im not even sure if he will be resigned.

[ChumpDumper]

I'm just envious we didn't sign him. He'll probably make a better SF than Melzer of Jamar Smith.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

I'm just envious we didn't sign him. He'll probably make a better SF than Melzer of Jamar Smith.

really? i thought u guys would want him far away from the Spurs organisation.

[Bruno]

maybe wells will bite the bullet and play for $4mil for one year and then test free agency again :lol

Nuggets needs to do something because for the moment they only have JR Smith at SG (Hodge is a long term project and Diawara can't really play SG).
The max that Nuggets can give to Wells if they want to stay under the lux tax threshold is $3.5M.
Another solution is a trade, Nuggets have a lot of forwards (Martin, Smith, Nene, Anthony, Najera, Kleiza).

[ChumpDumper]

He's a little short, but he's the kind of player we are looking for.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

the question is whats next? Nuggets have another PF which means Reggie probably will sign with Cleveland. The Nuggets have another possible move to help the perimeter shooting, will be interesting to see who that is.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Nuggets needs to do something because for the moment they only have JR Smith at SG (Hodge is a long term project and Diawara can't really play SG).
The max that Nuggets can give to Wells if they want to stay under the lux tax threshold is $3.5M.
Another solution is a trade, Nuggets have a lot of forwards (Martin, Smith, Nene, Anthony, Najera, Kleiza).

Look out for Najera to be traded, him and Kleiza are basically the same except that Kleiza is younger and has a better offense.

Noone wants K but maybe someone will bite out of desperation early next season.

[Bruno]

Najera for Barry :smokin

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Najera for Barry :smokin

:lol

[ChumpDumper]

That would be an almost perfect trade.

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

C Camby/Nene
PF Martin/Joe Smith/Sampson
SF Anthony/Kleiza/Najera
SG JR Smith/Diawara/Hodge
PG Miller/Boykins

It's not bad.

[ChumpDumper]

Good enough for another first round exit.

[Bruno]

SG JR Smith/Diawara/Hodge

It's not bad.

Sory but it's really bad :
- JR Smith is still young : I don't see him playing 35mpg.
- Diawara played PF in Europe, his ballhandling skills are too poor to play SG.
- Hodge isn't nba ready.

[ChumpDumper]

OTOH, the 14ers are going to kick ass. I'd get season tickets if I were Nugfan.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Nuggs arent done yet. I'm sure another SG will be added b4 the season starts :smokin

and i hope K is gone, we need Camby/Nene as 5/4 starters

[Bruno]

What team will be ready to take Kmart's contract with his knees and his atitude ? It will be difficult to find a taker.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

What team will be ready to take Kmart's contract with his knees and his atitude ? It will be difficult to find a taker.


Only one name comes to mind :lol Im confused, as always, by Isiah's lack of moves. He has one year to fix the knicks, whats the good of him not using the exp contracts to get some other players?

Maybe Dolan has said to him "improve the team without using the exp contracts" :lol :smokin

[NBA Junkie]

That pretty much eliminates Reggie Evans from returning to Denver.

If Cleveland can somehow keep Drew Gooden, that could allow Evans to join the Timberwolves for the LLE since nobody else is banging down his door and Minnesota is on his short list.

He'd make a nice inexpensive replacement if KG opts out of his contract next season after the Wolves suck again. :lol

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

That pretty much eliminates Reggie Evans from returning to Denver.


thats what i thought but apparently the Nuggets are still keen on signing him and using the $4mil to get him. It may be kinda like the Watson signing, seemed redundant at first but it was purely a move to get some leverage for trades later.

Come midseason i am sure Reggie would make a nice trade commodity, if need be. Someone may just be crazy enough to take K and we wont need to worry about trading Reggie then :lol .

He is a great guy and a crazy rebounder, as we all know. He just has to stop grabbing nuts :lol

[NugzFan]

:smokin

AWESOME

[NBA Junkie]

thats what i thought but apparently the Nuggets are still keen on signing him and using the $4mil to get him. It may be kinda like the Watson signing, seemed redundant at first but it was purely a move to get some leverage for trades later.

Come midseason i am sure Reggie would make a nice trade commodity, if need be. Someone may just be crazy enough to take K and we wont need to worry about trading Reggie then :lol .

He is a great guy and a crazy rebounder, as we all know. He just has to stop grabbing nuts :lol

I saw on another site that they were only offering him about $2 million since they were only about $3 million from reaching the luxury tax.

Smith was an attractive pick-up since his salary comes off Denver's books next summer.

[NugzFan]

Nuggets will be very thin at SG (for the moment).

we were already thin. this doesnt change that. patterson was not a SG.

but now we have awesome depth up front and can make other trades.

this trade doesnt solve any problems but it also didnt create any new ones.

[NugzFan]

That pretty much eliminates Reggie Evans from returning to Denver.

no it doesnt. we actually can now offer him an extra mill per year.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

I saw on another site that they were only offering him about $2 million since they were only about $3 million from reaching the luxury tax.

Smith was an attractive pick-up since his salary comes off Denver's books next summer.

yeh he is an exp contract but $1mil less than Ruben. The Nuggets could offer Reggie about $3mil before the trade but now can offer him $4mil :fro

[NBA Junkie]

Wouldn't you guys rather have Bonzi for that money than Evans?

You yourselves said that the Nuggets are short at SG. Then, when Smith comes off the books, you could possibly offer Bonzi more later?

[ChumpDumper]

C'mon, the Nuggets aren't that stupid. They wouldn't give Evans $4 million to be the fifth big man. Give them some credit.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

Wouldn't you guys rather have Bonzi for that money than Evans?

You yourselves said that the Nuggets are short at SG. Then, when Smith comes off the books, you could possibly offer Bonzi more later?

well it depends if Wells would go for that. We need a Sg but we need one that can shoot and Wells doesnt fill that need.

I guess Evans or Wells would be nice trade assets but im hoping the Nuggets can unload Najera and K sometime b4 the mid season trade deadline. Id prefer Evans. I dont like the idea of getting another guy with attitude issues.

[Bruno]

we were already thin. this doesnt change that. patterson was not a SG.


:lol get a clue about your team.
Paterson isn't a natural SG but played a lot SG for Nuggets last season.
This trade makes Nuggets thinner at SG.

[ducks]

4 million to evans or wells

wells in a heart beat

[NugzFan]

:lol get a clue about your team.
Paterson isn't a natural SG but played a lot SG for Nuggets last season.
This trade makes Nuggets thinner at SG.


about my own team? sorry, but im pretty sure i know more about the nuggets than you :lol :lol

patterson only played SG because we needed him to. he wasnt a SG and we have smith to take his minutes.

[ChumpDumper]

Smith is taking Buckner's minutes.

[NugzFan]

fine with me. doesnt make patterson a sg though.

[Bruno]

about my own team? sorry, but im pretty sure i know more about the nuggets than you :lol :lol


It's sad for you that you don't even know your team. :lol

Patterson mainly played SG with Nuggets last season. You can say that he isn't a SG as much as you want (and it's true) but he played some minutes here and Nuggets needs to find somebody to play these minutes at SG.
As I said before, Nuggets will be very thin at SG if they don't do a trade or sign somebody.

[NBA Junkie]

Smith is taking Elson/Evans' minutes.

Not to mention more minutes if Camby goes down since he's as fragile as a china doll.

[NuGGeTs-FaN]

if the Nuggets are real desperate they can play Melo at the 2 :smokin :lol

Camby/Nene/K/Melo/Dre...........big lineup, probably not suited to the 'small ball' era :lol

[NugzFan]

It's sad for you that you don't even know your team. :lol

Patterson mainly played SG with Nuggets last season. You can say that he isn't a SG as much as you want (and it's true) but he played some minutes here and Nuggets needs to find somebody to play these minutes at SG.
As I said before, Nuggets will be very thin at SG if they don't do a trade or sign somebody.

playing SG and being a SG are two different things. try and pay attention. just because you start 5 guys doesnt automatically make one guy a pg, one a sg, one a sf, pf and center. same reason when we play earl and dre at the same time - does that make dre a SG? of course not.

patterson was not a sg. :lol

dont tell me you know the nuggets better than i do. what a joke.

[Bruno]

playing SG and being a SG are two different things. try and pay attention. just because you start 5 guys doesnt automatically make one guy a pg, one a sg, one a sf, pf and center. same reason when we play earl and dre at the same time - does that make dre a SG? of course not.

patterson was not a sg. :lol

Nobody's say that Paterson is a SG, read before writting and you will look less stupid.



dont tell me you know the nuggets better than i do.

It looks like I know better Nuggets than you, you can't even see that the loss of Paterson makes Nuggets thinner at SG.



what a joke.
you are.