Renaldo Balkman to the Nuggets?

By Andrew Feingold on July 28th, 2008 11:28 AM
This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 11:28 am and is filed under Basketball, Knicks Rumors & News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets have had serious talks discussing swapping former-first round pick Renaldo Balkman for point guard Taurean Green and small forward Bobby Jones. If the trade happens, the Knicks could cut Green and Jones, which would get them to 15 players, as well as saving $1.32 million dollars in cap space. Balkman has a team option for the 2009-2010 season which likely would not be renewed. Currently, the Knicks have 16 players on the roster with the signing of Anthony Roberson, and need to get down to 15. Currently, Green and Jones do not have guaranteed contracts. However, Green’s contract becomes guaranteed this Thursday and Jones’s on August 15th. After the Nuggets signed Chris Andersen and Dahntay Jones, both Green and Jones became expendable.

Balkman, is not a good fit in Head Coach Mike D’Antoni’s up-tempo system. He shoots under 20% from downtown and less than 50% from the line. With Danilo Gallinari, Quentin Richardson, David Lee, and Wilson Chandler on the roster, there is little room for Balkman. D’Antoni favors forwards who are versatile on offense and who can shoot from outside.

The third year player has not yet found a consistent role for the franchise and has only averaged 4.2 points for his career. He could seemingly be a good fit in Denver, because he is known for his defense, hustle and energy. The Nuggets allowed the second most points per game at 106.95.

Former team president Isiah Thomas reached for Balkman at No. 20 in the 2006 NBA Draft. Thomas claimed that the Suns (27th pick) were interested in the South Carolina product. That is ironic because former Mike D’Antoni was the Suns coach at the time and seems ready to ship him of New York. Isiah passed on Rajon Rondo, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone, Kyle Lowry, and Jordan Farmar. The 21-26 selections have had greater impacts in the league in their short time than Balkman has had.

If the Knicks decide to keep Green, he could add more competition at point guard. The 23 year-old was the starting point guard for the Florida Gators who won national titles in 2006 and 2007. The Florida native ranks second in career free throw percentage (.856), seventh in assists (400) and tied for eighth in three-point field goals made (186) in school history. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers in the 2nd round in the 2007 NBA Draft. Green only appeared in 17 games last season and was traded to the Nuggets for Von Wafer. Yes, the same Von Wafer that was on the Knicks’ Summer league team in Las Vegas. His father Sidney Green played two seasons for the Knicks in the late 1980’s. Bobby Jones has been in the league for only two years but has played with five different teams. He seems destined to be a career backup, but, like Balkman, is known as a defensive stopper. If this trade goes down, it makes fiscal sense for the Knicks and Donnie Walsh can focus his efforts on moving Zach Randolph.

There are currently 13 responses to “Renaldo Balkman to the Nuggets?”

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  1. 1 On July 28th, 2008, kjf said:

    I don’t like this trade at all. It makes no sense to trade a guy with a proven skill (in Balkman’s case defense) for 2 unknowns. When he became coach, D’antoni said he would be more flexible regarding his system. Balkman is a solid rotation guy and good defender and he is cheap. He shouldn’t just be given away.

  2. 2 On July 28th, 2008, Andrew Feingold said:

    With all the forwards I mentioned where does Balkman fit in? Also Walsh should be lucky that he found a team that would take Balkman. The Knicks primary goal in any trade should be clearing cap space and this deal accomplished that.

  3. 3 On July 28th, 2008, gozer said:

    Can we not overrate Renaldo friggin’ Balkman, please. This guy may not even be in the league in a couple of years. I like Balkman - a lot - but I also live in the real world. The guy was a hustler and played with attitude and flair, but that’s about it. He gave you effort on defense, which made him standout on a pathetic Knicks roster, but the guy is not a stopper, as some fans are trying to portray him now. Let’s see if Renaldo even cracks Denver’s rotation before we call him a “solid rotation guy.” In my mind, the Knicks did fairly well in getting a 2nd round pick for him - that’s probably where he should’ve been drafted in the first place.

  4. 4 On July 28th, 2008, kjf said:

    He should have been drafted in the second round, and by no means is he a star. But I would rather ship out the overpriced and injury prone guys (Jeffries and Richardson) than a cheap guy who has the ability to be an above average defender. Especially for two guys that may not make the roster. Saving $1.32 million dollars in cap space but keeping two guys with far worse contracts makes no sense to me.

  5. 5 On July 28th, 2008, gozer said:

    I would rather be somewhere in the tropics right now - Barbados, maybe - but it ain’t happening.

  6. 6 On July 28th, 2008, lo said:

    BALKMAN WILL PROVE HIMSELF IN THE LEAGUE!!! YOU WILL SEE GOZER, STOP BALKMAN HATING..THE KNICKS ARE IDIOTS FOR THIS TRADE!!

  7. 7 On July 28th, 2008, gozer said:

    haha. okay, i will see. for the record, i said I like Balkman. but whenever you’re critical of someone’s game, someone is bound to label you a “hata,” usually while typing in all-caps. this seems to be a feature peculiar to the NBA, and one of the reasons I get tired of the whole league at times, but oh well, that’s a story for another day…

  8. 8 On July 28th, 2008, Andrew said:

    how will balkman prove himself in this league?

  9. 9 On July 29th, 2008, pbausk said:

    ok interesting arguments here, i agree balkman stinks but as you said gozer hes a hustle guy and becuase he isnt very good and i think he knows it, he wont stop hustling which will keep him in the nba, this trade was good just cause balkman doesnt fit with the knicks and denver needs soeone who can defend melo in practice

  10. 10 On July 29th, 2008, gozer said:

    I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it ain’t earth-shattering. I’ve read some fans, in response to this move, say that Donnie Walsh is beginning to resemble Isiah. If you think that, it’s time to pack up the tent and quit watching basketball.

  11. 11 On July 29th, 2008, gozer said:

    from mike dougherty’s always insightful lohud blog:

    There’s probably a reason why he spent an inordinate amount of minutes on the bench last season.
    Balkman didn’t seem to make lot of progress during the offseason, and was immediately limited by a nagging ankle injury. We never got to see him practice, so it’s not easy to define what kind of habits were on display there. Perhaps the organization did not feel he was focused and hungry. Isiah Thomas had a habit of preaching life lessons on the court and in the locker room, and might have been limiting Balkman for issues off the court.
    Lots of hints were dropped last season, but nobody in the organization addressed the situation on the record.

  12. 12 On July 29th, 2008, andrew said:

    hopefully this move sets up another one…even though balkman hustles he is no charles oakley and is a 10-15 minute(at best) player per game

  13. 13 On July 30th, 2008, Andrew said:

    green and jones were waived

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