Oklahoma City Thunder: Nuggets just got better - NewsOK.com (blog)

on August 10, 2012M at 3:30 pm

The Western Conference got tougher with the Dwight Howard. And I don’t mean the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Denver Nuggets traded Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington and Nikola Vucevic for Andre Iguodala. The three Nuggets went to Orlando, and Iguodola came over from Philadelphia. And suddenly a team that has been short on top-tier talent but long on toughness and fight, has a little more star quality.

In the last two post-seasons, Denver has gone out in the first round â€" to the Thunder in a spirited five-game series in 2011 and to the Lakers in seven games last spring. Since the Carmelo Anthony trade, the Nuggets have had a bunch of good ballplayers, just not enough great ballplayers. So this is a great trade â€" Denver jettisoned three players, none of whom will make your heart stop â€" for that rarest of player. An underrated all-star and Olympian.

Iguodala is a wonderful defender. He’s 6-foot-6 and rangy. He’s not a high-volume shooter, but he’s an effective shooter. Iguodala made 39.4 percent of his 3-point shots last season for the Sixers. He rebounds (6.2 last season; 5.6 for his career) and he passes (5.5 last season, 4.6 for is career). Iguodala is a heck of a ballplayer. I’d take him over Carmelo Anthony, straight up.

So now Denver has a roster of Ty Lawson and Andre Miller; Iguodala, Danilo Gallinari, Corey Brewer and Kenneth Faried; and centers Timofey Mozgov, JaVale McGee and Kosta Koufos.

Much better. Lawson and Iguodala are the cornerstones. Denver just got better.

-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.

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