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Nuggets view ejection, dejectionChris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News writes about Denver's humiliating loss to the New Jersey Nets. The Nuggets committed 32 turnovers and were never really in the game. All of this despite poor play from New Jersey and the courting of Jason Kidd. Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets No Kidding.. Denver walking fine lineThe NBA has rules against an NBA team illegally woo'ing an upcoming free agent, with the penalties ranging from strict fines to losing draft picks. Despite the clear penalties teams continue to break the rules year in year out - the Orlando Magic are famous for it - so why do they do it? They do it because there is such a fine line between tampering and what's friendly persuasion. The new collective bargaining agreement means that every team can pretty much offer the same financial packages to potential free agents, so team's are trying to find other ways to attract the cream of the crop. But when your team is losing - ask the Chicago Bulls - the odds at landing one of these top tier teams is slim to none. Taking the above into consideration is it any real suprise that the Denver Nuggets are pulling out all stops to woo Nets superstar Jason Kidd on his only trip to Colorado this season? As Mark Kiszla of the Denver Nuggets writes desperate times call for desperate measures, and heading into last night's blowout loss the Nuggets went into the match intending to drop not-so-subtle hints about how much they need the league's No. 1 point guard, and that they did. "It's probably far-fetched. But it doesn't hurt to ask," Nuggets forward Marcus Camby said. "I'll be in his ear throughout the game." "There's a lot being done behind the scenes," Kidd said. "There are always people talking." Kidd might not have been impressed with the Nuggets, his team barely breaking a sweat in a 92-66 win, but he was impressed with the weather. "I wish we could take this weather back to Jersey," said Kidd, enjoying another balmy winter day in Colorado. When the local NBA franchise has not won a playoff game in almost nine years, the Nuggets must sell what they can. "We couldn't order the weather," Denver general manager Kiki Vandeweghe joked. "But if I could've, I would have." The Nuggets believe a true leader like Kidd could be just the player the team needs to completely turn around their current season. Kidd is living proof that it is possible, after all he did it himself with his Nets. "I've often wondered if you took (Denver rookie) Nene Hilario right now and put him with a point guard like Stephon Marbury or John Stockton or Jason Kidd, how good would he be?" Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "Look at New Jersey before Jason Kidd got there. The Nets were 20 games below .500. And he took them to the NBA Finals. So one player can make a big difference, and he has. He's one of the very, very elite, MVP-type players in this league. In the context of it all, I don't think there's a better player in this league at bringing out the best in his teammates than Jason Kidd. If I get called in and questioned for tampering for saying that, they might as well fire me." And he has already been warned... "I recently was called in the office and got warned about tampering for just saying, 'Tim Duncan is a great player.' Sure, it's a dumb thing. Why can't I say what a great player he is?" Bzdelik said. "Tim Duncan is a great player, for crying out loud. Is that a recruiting pitch? That's stupid. But I have to be careful, because I don't make that much money as a head coach." Nets GM Rod Thorn stressed that he has no evidence any team is guilty of tampering with his All-Star guard, despite it being clear that some teams are walking that fine line. "Teams are not allowed to make contact with players at this time. If they obviously do it and they get caught, there is a huge fine involved . . . But it is something you can't be concerned about it unless you have evidence of it happening and I have no evidence at all if it is happening," Thorn said. "You can't contact, can't negotiate, can't call. You are not allowed to call an agent . . . when guys are under contract with another team." Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Nuggets may be in golden positionOHM YOUNGMISUK of the New York Daily News reports on Jason Kidd, his free agent status and how it all relates to Denver during the offseason. Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Nets Jan 2003 Archive
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