During the 2009 offseason, almost every contender in the wild Western Conference improved through free agency, and it seemed the Denver Nuggets stood pat.
The World Champion Lakers got All-Star Ron Artest from the Rockets. The aging Spurs added an older Richard Jefferson. And in the Nuggets’ Northwest division, the Trailblazers picked up ex-Nugget Andre Miller, although he’s underutilized as of now.
What did Denver do in response? They started by resigning Chris “Birdman” Andersen to a multi-year deal. Then, after Dahntay Jones left to the Pacers, the Nuggets traded a future second-round pick to the Pistons for Arron Afflalo—a third year player and relative no-name in the NBA.
Possibly the biggest pickup of the offseason was a draft-day trade with the Timberwolves for speedy Ty Lawson.
Both Nuggets newbies Afflalo and Lawson didn’t act like they were inexperienced when they came to Denver, as each have made a significant impact on the team since day one.
Afflalo, a 6’5” 215 pound sho ...
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Article written by Rich Kurtzman