The Denver Nuggets have a number of questions to address this off-season, and it's not just on the court. Their front office situation is totally up in the air too. Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien, for example, hasn't yet been offered a contract extension, so he recently sought and received permission to speak with other teams.
This week, Warkentien was granted a phone interview with Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver according to Chris Tomasson of Fanhouse.com.
A source told FanHouse that Warkentien, the Nuggets vice president of basketball operations, was granted permission to speak with the Suns, and he talked this week on the phone to Phoenix owner Robert Sarver.
The source said Warkentien’s preference is to remain with the Nuggets after his contract expires Aug. 31. But no deal has been reached on a contract extension, and Warkentien wanted to speak to the Suns.
The source said no formal interview has been set up by Phoenix with Warkentien, and it’s believed the Suns are going to take their time in searching for a replacement for Steve Kerr, who will not return when his contract expires Wednesday.
Sarver, of course, is looking to fill the front office hole created by the loss of general manager Steve Kerr and assistant GM David Griffin.
Over at SB Nation's DenverStiffs.com, jpage78 reacts mostly optimistically to a potential Warkentien departure.
While he MUST be commended for essentially waiting out a desperate Joe Dumars in 2008 for Chauncey (considering Dumars really wanted Melo and not Iverson) we also must take a look at some rather sketchy deals he was a mover and shaker on. He acquired JR Smith from the Bulls in 2006 for essentially nothing. Depending on your point of view this has either been a good move or a regrettable one. 2008 dumping Camby to the Clippers for a pile of dirt and some lawn clippings. Yes, it freed up a trade exception, but it left a gaping hole at center....and while Camby's value has been overstated, it must be said that losing a defensive center in the starting lineup has hurt the Nuggets very much.
The same year he allowed Karl to veto a trade with the Knicks that would have sent David Lee to us for what amounted to Linas Kleiza. While we understand George's value to this team, it cannot be understated that this was an enormous blunder considering what has happened since (LK in Europe, Lee coming in to his own in NY) He also orchestrated most of the deals in the 09 offseason including bringing AAA in (yay) and shipping off Stephen Hunter for Malik "tacos" Allen (boo!)
EDIT: I forgot to mention the Lawson draft. It was a thing of beauty....until you realize it left us without a pick for this years draft. So while picking up Lawson was great, it again left us out of the draft.
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