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Who Stays and Who Goes?

We are heading into training camp in Denver and the squad doesn't look to have changed since before the draft. There are still a few questions about who will eventually return to start the season, with Canaan, Bazemore, Deng, and Pachulia all on expired deals hanging around till they resigned or picked up elsewhere. If any of these players leave, who will step in to fill the shoes, as no picks were kept heading into the draft.

Firstly though is Bazemore worth $70M over 4 years?
Baze is most likely to return of the bunch of expired contracts due to his recent breakout NBA season and the likely flow through to NLL. Much is expected of Baze to step it up further now that his asking price is out there, with possible point guard responsibilities or at the very least a guy who will initiate the offence, we look to see Baze put up some numbers on the court better than his 10 points per game in 19 mins of time during the preseason. If Bazemore does return we will see him slotting in anywhere from the 1 to the 3 depending on point guard eligibility and that flexibility that he has makes him such a potent weapon on offence and defence. On the offensive side of the game we expect Baze to knock down triples from the corner on a regular basis and attack the hoop whenever an opportunity presents itself. While he may not have the length the worry many bigger small forwards, his quickness, hustle and speed are the factors that will disrupt the offence.

Will Canaan make it through training camp?
While Isaiah received consistent minutes off the bench as the primary back up point guard all regular season, the team found that once he injured himself and declared himself unfit for the whole playoff run that he may be dispensable. He may sneak through to the starting roster only for the sake of his Point Guard eligibility and his low salary being exactly what the team needs with a number of well paid players already on the books.

Zaza Pachulia, good contract, lots of GMs needed to keep.
Is Zaza worth the GM spend for the Nuggets. There is no doubting that Zaza was a key cog in the run to and through the playoff for the Nuggets, putting up great numbers and leading the team in rebounds on any given night. He has then kindly asked for only a vet minimum salary to stay on so that he can chase a ring. But as he was only brought over to the Nuggets at the trade deadline and his NBA counterpart signed with the NBA version of the NLL Nuggets the cost to resign him through the GM point outlay may be too steep. He might resign with the Nuggets on a whim or he might walk. It is a fine line that will be walked there.

You cant tell me you can find a way to sign Luol Deng and Bazemore!!
At this stage the Nuggets will struggle to find a way to keep both with the team while staying under the cap. Deng was a significant addition mid way through the season and as the games went on he seemed to find a bit of a rhythm. There will need to be some wheeling and dealing prior to Free Agency to ensure that Deng returns, otherwise he may walk for nothing, and no ring to show for it.

The team looks forward to hitting the gym and working on their systems prior to the season starting and look to take two bigs steps this year towards winning the championship.

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