Vandeweghe era appears on brink of being erased
By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Staff Columnist
DenverPost.com

Los Angeles - The Nuggets exited the playoffs with a shrug rather than a fight. What can you do? This is a broken team that has lost its way, its commitment and its sense of harmony.

Will general manager Kiki Vandeweghe get a chance to fix what's wrong?

"I don't know," Vandeweghe said Monday night, when Denver was eliminated from the NBA playoffs with a 101-83 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. "I'm not going to worry about it now. When am I going to start worrying about it? Maybe tomorrow."

Vandeweghe's contract expires Aug. 1. He professes love for the Nuggets. Franchise owner Stan Kroenke, however, refused to discuss the uncertain future of his general manager.

The mess on the court is a reflection of backstabbing among the team's disjointed leadership, with ugly infighting that has left Vandeweghe's reputation bloodied.

The rap sheet against Kiki, being leaked by his detractors, hints why Vandeweghe's days with the Nuggets are numbered.

Although beloved by Denver players, Vandeweghe is viewed as lax whenever discipline is required, allowing Carmelo Anthony to pout during his rookie year and letting forward Kenyon Martin believe practice was an unnecessary evil.

Vandeweghe was too wishy-washy expressing displeasure with former coach Jeff Bzdelik, delaying his inevitable dismissal to the point where a messy situation left everyone feeling dirty.

The selection of draft bust Nikoloz Tskitishvili in 2002 demonstrated the weakness of Vandeweghe's scouting department, which has never produced a contributing player from any pick outside of a lottery choice.

It seems painfully apparent Kroenke now trusts the basketball judgment of confidant Bret Bearup more than that of Vandeweghe.

The problem? Bearup, a financial adviser in private business, cannot be found on the team's organizational chart, yet was in the room when the decision to suspend Martin from the playoffs was made.

What happens when somebody not on the payroll has a significant say in personnel decisions?

"There's no accountability," Vandeweghe said.

What's next for your local NBA franchise? Extreme makeover: Nuggets edition.

Coach George Karl and Martin have lost that lovin' feeling. But what's harder to trade than a player with a bad contract, bad knee and bad attitude?

Andre Miller is the ultimate warrior, but is he's not the man to push the pace in Denver.

So long as the team's most effective shooting guard is 5-feet-5, the team's time in the playoffs will always be short.

How much money are the Nuggets willing to gamble on the unfulfilled potential of Nene?

"It was obvious guys didn't want to be here," center Marcus Camby said. "Guys are pouting and frustrated with one another. Arguing with Coach. And all that stuff is not necessary. We need to bring guys in who want to be committed to winning and playing and doing things the right way."

Before Denver can make any of these tough choices, however, Kroenke must decide who's in charge.

A sign of the times: Kroenke no longer sat alongside Vandeweghe on the baseline at the Pepsi Center during home playoff games. The owner hid out in his private box, with Bearup's ear a whisper away.

If Vandeweghe departs, don't count on Kroenke to spend big money on a new GM. It seems far more likely to be management by committee, with Karl's voice the loudest at the table.

King George and his court.

Someday, we will look back at this and it will all seem funny.

"If you believe in basketball karma," Vandeweghe said, "and you believe you've done things the right way, then you have to believe good things will happen."

But nothing good is happening here for Vandeweghe.

The Nuggets could've been a contender. Nevertheless, it's time to stop pretending that Kroenke and Vandeweghe can work together. Their differences seem irreconcilable.

"Kiki brought me here," Anthony said. "I'd hate to see him leave."

From Chauncey Billups, who grew up to be MVP of the NBA Finals, to Mike D'Antoni, who somehow got smart enough to be named the league's coach of the year, the Nuggets have demonstrated a nasty habit of running winners out of town.

It's about to happen again.

Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-820-5438 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.

i'm not a huge fan of kiki's but he did have a plan. he dumped big contracts in van exel and lafrentz for a shorter deal in juwan howard. he moved dice for the #7 pick and matchstick many camby...who turned out to stay healthy. with those dumps, he also "tanked" for a season and ended up with the #3 pick...which turned into melo. he strategized for cap room. the cap room yielded andre miller and kmart. but he did have a plan that has been hindered due to injury. his entire frontcourt was down for a good chunk of time this year: nene, kmart, and camby. he also pulled off a VERY good deadline deal to get patterson and reggie for pretty much earl watson, voshon leanard, and byron russell. his drafting history isn't the most stellar either (outside of the melo no-brainer).

his coaching hire of bzdelik worked for a year or so. then he dumped him and brought in karl who had them go 30-4 or something obscene like that. they just ran into the spurs juggernaut last year.

i would grade him a B-

No thanks to Kiki... he over paid for Martin (3 first rounders and a max contract) and never got the team a SG.

Kiki has been there 4 years.

As a first time GM his Nuggets made the play-offs 3 [straight] of those 4 years and have a division crown.

Yeah he sure does sounds like a failure. If only the bar were that high in NY.

I don't know if kiki could fix this crap or not but some hings about his dealings as GM need to be reviewed a little more in depth.

the KMart trade

its not like KMart isn't a force on the court. He didn't pay for a Jerome James. Is the contract excessive - YES. Whats the history of getting top free agents to sign in Denver?

and the picks involved 2 were from other teams. Its not as if he traded 3 to the letter Nuggets first rounders like some other GM we know.

btw
Skita [and White] were dealt for a future 1st - 07 to be exact wich many are anticipating to be a star studded draft.

kiki didn't bat 1.000 but he didn't bat .300 either. he's somewhere in the .500-.700 range. he took over a crappy team and made them a consistent playoff team. that's good. but like nalod said, the team never took the next step and injuries played a part in it.

but whatever he did and whatever is about to happen to him, he still did a better job turning around denver than isiah did "turning" us around.

or an ex-player like Houston

Posted by rvhoss:

I'd say he batted .300. what move has actually panned out besides getting a top 3 pick.

that didn't even pan out for isiah because it belongs to the Bulls

nothing personal. I jut didn't know Kiki marganilized some powerhouse Nuggets franchise. Seems under his direction, Denver actually got back on the NBA map.

2 links that will help

http://www.hoopshype.com/general_managers/kiki_vandeweghe.htm

http://www.nba.com/nuggets/history/history_index.html

Kiki never had Zeke's cap hell to deal with so just please stop with all the " He is great crap " !!!!!

Posted by OngBok:

Kiki never had Zeke's cap hell to deal with so just please stop with all the " He is great crap " !!!!!

This is true. Like Isiah or not, Kiki walked into a situation that was 1000 times easier to work with than ours.