November 11, 2008 11:33 PM

An Atkins deal could provide assist to Kroenke

By Chris Tomasson
Rocky Mountain News

Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke is determined to get under the luxury-tax threshold by the end of the season.

Point guard Chucky Atkins could provide a final assist.

Likely relegated to being the team's third point guard when he soon returns from Sept. 24 knee surgery, Atkins realizes he could be dealt by the February trading deadline. So, if he gets that call, he won't be surprised.

"I don't feel like I'm untouchable,'' Atkins told The Rocky Mountain News on Tuesday. "They talked about it earlier about me possibly being moved (Atkins was discussed earlier this fall about being sent along with Steven Hunter to Indiana for Jamaal Tinsley). I can't sit here and say I'm not going to be traded.''

While it doesn't help Atkins' cause he's destined to be the third point behind recently acquired Chauncey Billups and former starter Anthony Carter, he also could provide the Nuggets their best chance of getting under the tax threshold.

The Nuggets are now about $900,000 over the $71.15 million tax line. So adamant is Kroenke apparently about avoiding the dollar-for-dollar tax that he nixed the Nuggets re-signing forward Juwan Howard, waived Nov. 3 when Denver needed to roster space in the deal in which Allen Iverson went to Detroit for Billups, since-waived Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb.

The Nuggets already have lost the 7-foot Hunter due to upcoming knee surgery and 6-10 Chris Andersen was lost Sunday for two to three weeks with a broken rib. Still, the quest to get under the tax line apparently has precluded the Nuggets from considering soon bringing in another big man.

But Atkins could provide some monetary relief. Those close to the situation expect him to be shopped as the trade deadline approaches if it's a deal that could get the Nuggets under the tax line.

Atkins has a contract that can be moved. He's making $3.24 million this season and $3.48 million next season, with just $760,000 guaranteed. That means he's not a big burden next season on a team's books.

To deal Atkins, the Nuggets would have to entice a team with a draft choice and well as possibly cash. If they're playing good ball and it's not going to be a high pick, the Nuggets could consider dealing their own 2009 first-round pick, although a future first-pick that once belonged to Charlotte is sacred.

The Nuggets also have a less-than desirable contract belong to Hunter (making $3.86 million this season and $3.7 million next season), but that one would be much more difficult to move. And, even if Hunter doesn't play this season due to his bad right knee, his contract wouldn't come off the books this season because he appeared in last season's playoffs.

"I'm comfortable with this situation (in Denver),'' Atkins said when asked if he would welcome a trade to a team that would give me more playing time. "Nobody wants to get traded. But given the right situation, of course, who wouldn't? But I'm not even thinking about that. The whole thing is just to get healthy.''

Atkins anticipates returning by the end of the month from his knee trouble. Although some of it might have to come in garbage time, he could end up holding an audition to show teams that, at 34, he still has something left.

During the process, the Nuggets figure to put in a call to Memphis, where Atkins played before signing with Denver in the summer of 2007. The Grizzlies, well under the salary cap, are one of the few teams that easily could absorb Atkins' contract if they are enticed enough with a draft choice or cash.

Interestingly, Atkins' agent is Andy Miller. He's also the agent for Billups, whose presence in Denver has made Atkins more expendable, and for McDyess, whom the Nuggets bought out for about $6 million of the nearly $15 million left on his contract.

Perhaps the Nuggets will be having conversations with Miller about moving Atkins as the trade deadline approaches.

Posted by Chris Tomasson at 11:33 PM | Comments (2)