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A tale of three guards
February 24th, 2003 by aswitzer
Having a hard time keeping up with the Denver Nuggets guards? Here’s the latest scoop:
Shammond Williams arrived via a trade with Seattle on February 20th for Mark Blount and Mark Bryant. Denver also received cash and a second round pick from Boston. Williams is a speedy point guard that has a decent 3-point shot - he averaged 7.3 points and 2.5 assists in 51 games with the Celtics this year. He’s also in the final year of his contract, and Kiki just got another 2 million in cap-room to play with.
Chris Whitney is suddenly the odd man out, and the rumor around Denver is that he may be waived this week, at his request to go sign with a playoff bound team such as the Lakers, Magic, or 76ers. Personally, I won’t be that sad to see him go. Yeah, he was injured quite a bit this year, but when we did get to see him play, he was slow to bring up the ball, and generally inconsistent. As one local sportswriter said - yes, he’s been in the league for almost 9 years, but there’s a reason he’s been a backup point guard nearly everywhere he’s been. In contrast, Junior Harrington (not pictured) has been playing better and better all year with hustle, superior defense, and an improving ability to run the offense. He’s now 2nd among all rookies for assists per game with 3.4. Not bad for an undrafted, Division II player - the guy’s got the work ethic to excel at this game.
Lastly, Gilbert Arenas will be here in Denver tonight when the Nuggets host Golden State. Arenas is a top-level point guard in his second year in the league, averaging 17.3 points and 6.2 assists a game. He’s an unrestricted free-agent at the end of the year, and Golden State is over the cap and will have a hard time keeping him. So Nuggets fans at the game tonight might want to take a good look, because with good fortune, he might be in a Nuggets uniform next year.
March 3rd, 2003 at 7:57 am
Whitney got his wish, and was waived by the Nuggets last week. He cleared waivers and was picked up by the Orlando Magic for the remainder of the season.