As trade deadline looms, Nuggets stress “control”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone recently pulled Malik Beasley aside after the second-year guard’s name surfaced in reports as a possible trade piece.
“He doesn’t know how to handle that,” Malone said. “That’s a lot to process for a young kid.”
Yet it’s an NBA reality ahead of Thursday’s 1 p.m. trade deadline for players and coaches who have little say in how the various moves unfold but whose on-court careers and off-court lives are directly affected. A common theme has permeated through the Nuggets’ locker room of late: Control what you can control.
“That’s life. That’s not just the trade deadline,” Malone said. “If you worry about things that are out of your control, you’re wasting your time.”
This year’s trade season began with a splash more than a week
ago, when star Blake Griffin was dealt from the Clippers to Detroit. It was the latest reminder for Nuggets guard/forward Will Barton, who was traded to Denver from Portland at the 2015 deadline, that “it can happen to anybody.” Players like Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, who are now considered foundational parts of the Nuggets’ present and future, were once floated in trade rumors. This season, Kenneth Faried, Emmanuel Mudiay, Wilson Chandler and Beasley have been reported as players who could be moved.
Malone insisted that the looming trade deadline was not an “elephant in the room” over the past week or so, when the Nuggets navigated a difficult schedule. But the coach recognized it could move more into players’ minds during Denver’s three-day break following Monday’s victory over Charlotte. That’s why Malone has made an effort to connect with those who may see their names pop up on Internet reports or social media.
“You should be worried when your name is no longer mentioned,” Malone said. “Because that means nobody has any interest in you.”
Veteran Richard Jefferson has seen just about every trade deadline scenario play out over his 17year career. Teammates who have been blindsided by a trade. Teammates who wanted to be traded but were not. Teammates who were about to be traded before a deal fell through at the last moment. And Jefferson acknowledged it can be mentally taxing to be talked about as a commodity, particularly when being shipped to a new team more than 50 games into the regular season can mean living in a hotel for a couple months while one’s family stays back in the previous city.
“That’s one of the not-so-glamorous things (about the job),” Jeffferson said. “It’s a part that people don’t fully understand.”
Yet it’s a part of the NBA life that players and coaches must embrace, though they can’t control.
“Just keep going on about your day as you usually would (and) going about your work,” Barton said. “If something happens, it happens. And if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”