Denver Nuggets free agent guard Jon Barry sees the disinterest he's been shown by general manager Kiki Vandeweghe as a sign it may be time for him to hang it up.

Barry said Thursday he will consider retiring if he doesn't get what he considers an acceptable offer.

"Sure, that's an option if I don't get a situation that I like," he said.

Barry would like to return to Denver, but doesn't see an opportunity there. Atlanta, where he makes his home, and the Los Angeles Clippers are other possible destinations.

But Vandeweghe thinks Barry may be getting ahead of himself.

"Jon is way too talented and has too much basketball left to retire," Vandeweghe said.

Rodney White spent last year with the Denver Nuggets and knows that he must leave that exciting young franchise, with the plethora of good frontcourt players they have on their roster.  He is reportedly being contacted by both the New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings.  Both are playoff teams with lofty expectations this coming year.

Lookout world, Carmelo Anthony has a message for you, specifically Argentina, Lithuania and the other best basketball teams:

"We're guaranteeing a gold medal. We're bringing it back."

Coach Larry Brown when informed of Anthony's guarantee, said "That's just a young kid saying that, but as long as he respects the people we're playing against and understands how good they've got, I don't have any problem with that."

There haven't been any replies to the guarantee from any other world teams yet.

"I guess that's going to make the games more fun," Anthony said. "Right now, teams are not scared of us no more. Why not hype the games up? It's the Olympics. We're having fun, man. We've got to go over there and win."

The trade which saw Kenyon Martin become a Nugget had a better effect on young bigman Nene than even the top Denver official could have ever imagined.

Criticized for not spending more time working out in Denver last summer, he has canceled a scheduled promotional tour in Brazil and plans to begin working out regularly at the Pepsi Center beginning next week.

"The last two weeks, I saw a change in him," Nene's agent Michael Coyne said. "He's really fired up. There's a nice energy around the whole team right now, and Nene's definitely feeling it."

Just the words GM Kiki Vandeweghe wanted to hear.

"That's great," he said. "I'm very excited. Nene and I talked about that. . . . Competition is always great."

Nuggets owner, Stan Kroenke, is now calling his team, ?one of the top three teams in the West,? with the addition of Kenyon Martin.

"With our team from last season, we could match and compete with most teams. Now if you come in (to Denver) and you're one of the best teams, we can beat you. Last season, we thought we could beat you. This season, we're going to strap it on. ... I think we're one of the top three teams in the West. You can make that argument."  Kroenke said.

Kroenke is very excited about the addition of ex-Nets-center Kenyon Martin and believes he will be the catalyst, along with last years stand-out, Carmelo Anthony, to a championship team in 2005.

"I've watched him (Martin) play since college. He was head and shoulders above everyone before he broke his leg (as a senior). He was still drafted first (in 2000). He is a great player with leadership qualities."

Oft-injured center, Marcus Camby resigned with the Nuggets, giving Denver a powerful big-man tandem (Kenyon Martin).  Camby signed a six-year deal that incentives could push between $65 million and $70 million, according to a source.

After being riddled by injuries that led to him playing fewer than 60 games the previous two seasons, Camby had a breakthrough year during the 2003-04 season that led to the long-term contract.

Camby averaged 8.6 points, was ninth in the NBA in rebounds per game (10.1) and fifth in blocks per game (2.6). Most notably, he played in a career-high 72 games, eclipsing his previous high by nine contests.

Free agent guard Trenton Hassell continues to get attention this offseason after his stock rose during the season with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Hassell is being courted by the Denver Nuggets, who according to the Denver Post have about $2.5 million left to offer a free agent.  The team would like to add a defensive oriented guard to go along with Voshon Lenard, who was terrific for the team last season.

Meanwhile Chris Andersen, the odd man out after the Nuggets signed Kenyon Martin, says he is sad to leave the organization which gave him his shot in the NBA.

"(They) will always have a place in my heart," Andersen said of the Nuggets. "They gave me the only opportunity I had. I'm grateful. It ain't the end of the world. I may be back one day. I'd love to. Denver is the place where it all started."

Andersen accepted a two year offer with the New Orleans Hornets for their million dollar exception, worth $1.6 million a season.  The second year is at Anderson's option.

According to the Oregon Live the Portland Trail Blazers are in serious discussions with free agent guard Trenton Hassell.  Hassell was waived last season by the Chicago Bulls before signing on with the Minnesota Timberwolves where he made a name for himself as a defensive stopper.

Hassell is also at the top of the Denver Nuggets wishlist for a swingman, but their $4 million remaining capspace may not be enough to land their target.

If you listen to the New Jersey Nets then you might think that they lost Kenyon Martin thanks to the front loaded offer made by the Denver Nuggets writes Brad Parks, but according to Martin's agent it never had to be this way.

Brian Dyke said the Nets were given numerous opportunities to offer Martin a non-front-loaded contract and he would have happily signed and remained in New Jersey, but the offer never came because proposed owner Bruce Ratner would not allow the team to do so.

"The day we received the promise of a maximum contract from Atlanta, I called Rod and informed him of that offer," Dyke said. "We were very disappointed we didn't hear anything back from the Nets. The Nets knew fully well what Kenyon had been offered and they never made a counteroffer. If they had made a counteroffer at that time, Kenyon would still be a Net right now."

"We're not bitter about that," Dyke said. "There are no hard feelings. It was very obvious to us that Rod's hands were tied by Bruce Ratner."

With yesterday's trade for Kenyon Martin; the Nuggets may not have the minutes for some of their other big men.

"Two sources said restricted free-agent forward Chris Andersen has an offer to sign with the New Orleans Hornets and probably will leave the Nuggets after three seasons. And forward Nikoloz Tskitishvili reiterated he would not oppose a trade."

'Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he would not oppose it if Andersen were to want to leave.'

"He is pursuing some other options" Vandeweghe said. "I told him I would not stand in his way."

Chris Anderson is still restricted because the Nuggets did not renounce his rights; because they were able to sign Martin without doing so.

'It's possible, though, Denver, which still can carve out up to $3 million in salary-cap room, soon will renounce him, making him unrestricted.'

Anderson's agent says that there is an offer on the table but they are not saying who. A source with the Hornets says that it is probably a 2 or 3 year deal and that they are not making it official in hopes that Denver will renounce him and it won't tie up the offer for 15 days.

'Vandeweghe would not rule out trading Tskitishvili.'

"It's always an option," said Vandeweghe.
"I'm not saying we're currently looking at it. I'll have to talk to Skita. But he's looked awfully good in the summer."