Minneapolis, MN (My Sportsbook) - The
Denver Nuggets travel to the Target Center tonight to take on the
Minnesota Timberwolves in what will be the season-opener for both teams.
The Nuggets made the biggest splash of any NBA team on Draft day. Citing the loss of Dikembe Mutombo a few seasons ago, GM Kiki Vandeweghe didn't want to allow the franchise to make a similar mistake under his watch by allowing a star player to leave via free agency with the Nuggets getting nothing in return.
The end result was a blockbuster trade with New York that supplied the Nuggets with a young and exciting makeover. The Nuggets traded power forward Antonio McDyess and their second of two first-round selections (No. 25 overall) to the Knicks in exchange for New York's first-round pick (No. 7), center Marcus Camby and point guard Mark Jackson.
"Antonio's agent informed us that his client would opt out of his contract after the 2002-2003 season," said Vandeweghe. "I didn't want to see what happened with Dikembe happen again to this franchise with Antonio.
"Antonio will be a great addition to the Knicks. He's healthy and will help New York immediately. I have no doubts that he will succeed there. From our standpoint, we added some big-time talent and got younger. I'm in this for the long haul in Denver."
Since the trade's paperwork wasn't completed until after the Knicks had to make their pick at No. 7, it was agreed upon that New York would select Brazilian power forward Nene Hilario for the Nuggets.
Hilario and Nikoloz Tskitishvili, who was drafted by the Nuggets with the fifth pick, are two highly-skilled, ultra-athletic players. However, both are two or three years away from making a big impact. Hilario has been compared to NBA rebounding champ Ben Wallace. The Brazilian star is very athletic, blocks shots and rebounds very well, but his offensive game is nearly non-existent. Tskitishvili, who has a sweet stroke from the outside, is further along than Hilario, but still needs time to adapt to the physical nature of the NBA. However, his athletic ability is not a question mark.
As it turned out, neither of the principle NBA players in the trade will have much impact on their new club. McDyess was hurt in a preseason game and will not play at all this season for the Knicks, while Camby needs hip surgery and is sidelined indefinitely for Denver.
Vandeweghe continued to wheel and deal right into October. Denver made a deal three weeks ago with the Detroit Pistons: sending Don Reid, Mengke Bateer and a future first round draft pick to Detroit in exchange for forward Rodney White. The team also acquired point guard Chris Whitney from Washington for George McCloud.
For this contest, Denver will be without its best and most expensive player. Forward Juwan Howard was suspended for two games and fined $15,000 by the NBA for throwing punches during his team's preseason game against Indiana.
Howard, who will miss tonight's game and Friday's clash with Portland, swung at the Pacers' Al Harrington and Jermaine O'Neal in Denver's 96-89 loss Wednesday.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Howard was upset with Harrington and threw a punch, at which point O'Neal went after Howard. O'Neal and Howard began pushing each other before Howard started to throw punches.
Both Howard and O'Neal were ejected from the contest.
For years now, the Minnesota Timberwolves have been linked to mediocrity, continuously searching for the key to Western Conference success. Relative regular-season success has been overshadowed by multiple first-round playoff exits.
Despite the presence of All-Star forward Kevin Garnett, Minnesota has been sent packing six straight years in the first round of the postseason. Following the frustration of the T'Wolves' three-game sweep at the hands of Dallas last year, there were even rumors that the club would petition the league to switch places with New Orleans so that it could move into the Eastern Conference.
The league office balked at the idea and the T'Wolves didn't get the easy way out of the Western Conference. Now, head coach Flip Saunders needs to come up with the magic formula to get his squad beyond past struggles. It won't be easy for Saunders, who essentially will be working with the same tools.
Minnesota was expected to make a major overhaul of its roster in the offseason, but very little got accomplished. Instead, the focus was shifted to Wally Szczerbiak and Garnett, who each made the headlines.
Szczerbiak and his agent made it clear to the club that they believe the Miami (OH) product deserves the max contract when or if he re-signs. This prompted the Minnesota front office to work to deal Szczerbiak to a team that could afford him, but nobody was biting.
Meanwhile, Garnett did his now infamous AND 1 commercial where he stated that he was "underpaid" despite making $22.4 million last season. Garnett did his best to set aside the controversy by saying that his comments were part of the script, but the damage was done.
Nonetheless, Garnett has come into camp with a new energy, hoping to erase the memories of past failures.
"I'm ready. I can't even describe it," Garnett told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "You've got to get an X-ray machine and look inside me. 'Cause I'm ready.
"I feel like it's rookie season all over again, with the energy I have. You guys have been talking all that bull, so I'm ready to prove all you wrong."
Minnesota has won four of the last six and 16 of the last 23 meetings between the teams. The Nuggets have dropped eight of their last 11 at the Target Center. Denver leads the all-time series, 34-24.
