Only, the anguish Tuesday had as much — if not more — to do with Chauncey Billups' departure as it did Carmelo Anthony's.
Coach George Karl echoed a community's sadness in seeing its hometown hero, who wanted to stay put, leave for the Big Apple along with the superstar who wanted out. Anthony was one of the best players in Denver Nuggets history, but Billups was possibly its most popular.
In a three-team swap that was finalized Tuesday, the Nuggets dealt their top two players along with three backups to the New York Knicks for a package of four young players, three draft picks and cash in a megadeal that reshapes both franchises.
Karl said he was relieved the Anthony trade saga was finally over but, like several of his players, he lamented the loss of Billups, who led the Nuggets to the Western Conference finals two years ago after he was acquired from the Detroit Pistons.
“I can't deny that when the trade went down last night, I was kind of more sad than happy,” Karl said after his team's short-handed shootaround Tuesday. “I think most of that sadness was because of Chauncey — and A.C. a little bit, too.”
The blockbuster three-team trade also sent Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams and Renaldo Balkman to New York for Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov. The Nuggets also got center Kosta Koufos from Minnesota.
The Nuggets could have lost Anthony to free agency without any compensation after the season like the Cleveland Cavaliers did when LeBron James bolted for Miami last summer.
So, that kind of haul led Karl to exclaim that the new front office team of Masai Ujiri and Josh Kroenke “hit a home run the first time up.”
“I think they did a great job,” Karl said. “And the kitchen got hot. The kitchen got hot and they did a great job of keeping their composure and direction. I think they get philosophically what they want and we get philosophically what we want as a coaching staff. So, it's a win-win. And I think it's a win-win for the Knicks, too. So, I think Donnie Walsh and Mark Warkentien in a strange way, we all I think worked the dynamics of a very difficult situation into a win-win.”
Except for losing Billups, that is.
Billups is a former NBA finals MVP and All-Star who remains one of the league's top point guards at 34. He grew up in Denver and attended the University of Colorado and had hoped to finish his career with the Nuggets.
Ty Lawson said he had mixed emotions about his new role as the starting point guard because he was losing his mentor who helped groom him for this moment.
“It was more than about basketball,” Lawson said. “We hung out. So, I'm going to miss him.”
The Nuggets aren't rebuilding with this trade, but are rather reinventing themselves, Karl said.
With the newcomers not expected to take their physicals until Wednesday, however, the Nuggets had just nine players available for their crucial game against Memphis on Tuesday night, only seven of whom participated in the shootaround, with assistant coaches chipping in to make it 5-on-5.
Although the trade leaves the Nuggets with a leadership void, Karl insisted Denver will make the playoffs this season and predicted they might even do something they did just once in seven trips to the playoffs with Anthony: advance out of the first round.
“When we get the players here, there's going to be a refreshing attitude, a regrouping,” Karl said. “I might be crazy, but I think we can make the playoffs and I also think we can be a threat to win in the playoffs.”
