wordplay by Jon Lister

I love the off-season. I do. It's my favorite time of any season, any sport (does bowling have an off-season?). Hopes are high, all is possibility and potential, your favorite team begins to make those acquisitions and trades that could send them into the playoffs or vie for the championship at season’s end, no one knows. Although, there are some indicators as to how the future may turn, if you're careful and are able to read the subtle dialog.

“Man, they ain’t going well. Leave me alone.” Kenyon Martin, ladies and gentlemen. Blunt? Yes, but definitely worth paying attention to. That was his response in July to questions regarding his relationship with head coach George Karl after their chat at the Las Vegas Summer League. The last time things were going this well, K-Mart ended up on the bench, and the Nuggets…well you know.

Aside from that, the team has high expectations for the coming season, 'Melo has promised to be an All-Star in February, Karl has set about improving a defense whose rebounding presence all but dried up in the playoffs, thanks to the injury of Marcus Camby (who led the league in blocked shots), and the off-season acquisitions of J.R. & Joe Smith should allow Anthony the room to score we all want him to have. This should all work to keep the Nuggets as a top five scoring offense and improve the team's rank of fourteenth in rebounding. And we've seen the kind of leaner 'Melo can be after captaining this year's  World Championship squad. So no questions there.

But what about Martin? He’s still listed on the depth-chart as numero uno, with the aged Joe Smith behind him (who’s hardly an adequate replacement at 8.6 pts/5.2 rpg) and if the divorce papers are all ready being drawn up for Martin and Karl, why wait? It’s clear there should have been a prenuptial agreement. If Martin becomes or remains a liability, the Nuggets have little room to move him and a mixture of young and old to replace his 13pts and 6 rebounds per game.

If the old is Mr. Smith, the young appears to be 2nd round draft pick Leon Powe, a 6’8 Power Forward out of California. Powe averaged 20 pts. and 10 boards for the Golden Bears, and his pick could show that the Nuggets are beginning to look ahead to life without K-Mart.

Despite these factors, Coach Karl expects Martin to remain with the team. “I think so,” he said, “He’s on the team.” George Karl: blunt and worth paying attention to. Maybe that’s why he and Martin have such issues; they have very similar personalities. Maybe they'd be great fishing buddies, or go out to a Rockies game together, who knows? Right now, they both need to decide one thing: Is Kenyon Martin playing basketball in Denver and will he be happy about it?

"I've always had positive thoughts," Karl commented, "You guys [the media] are the ones that keep digging up the negative. I feel that things happen in pro ball. As long as you've got guaranteed contracts, there's a tug of war a lot of times between coach and player. You don't want it, no one likes it. But it probably exists in every team." Karl described the meeting between coach and player as "very professional" and "the beginning of a good process." Whether that is the beginning of a renewed relationship between Martin and the Nuggets, or the early indicators of a quick deal sending Kenyon elsewhere remains to be seen. Maybe Karl is right, I could just be digging up the negative.

DenverNuggets.com