Arron Afflalo sticks with Denver Nuggets; Signs a five year contract - NBA Update
A shortened NBA season is just around the corner and free agency activities are on the high. Quite a few important trades have already been made and the process is expected to pick pace in the coming days.
Just moments ago, another new deal made it to the headlines, after it emerged that Denver Nuggets star and a restricted free agent Arron Afflalo, who was coveted by many teams in the league, has opted to stay with the club by signing
a new five year deal that would guarantee him $ 43 million.
Denver Nuggets have already lost three of their main players in J.R Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler to the Chinese Basket League this offseason, so retaining Arron and centre Nene Hilario, another important player, were
amongst the top priorities of the team.
Six days back, the franchise pulled off a major coup when they successfully re-signed Nene; however they had a bigger task at hand when it came to preserving Afflalo. Many other teams, such as Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers,
were trying to lure him and his departure would have left the Nuggets scraping for replacements at the eleventh hour.
This was precisely the reason why Nuggets General Masai Ujiri manager was so excited after the deal was signed with Afflalo. Ujiri rates the guard as an excellent player and believes his presence in the team is vital. Talking to
sports illustrated, Ujiri added
"He's an asset. He's tough. And the way we're building our team, with good guys and strong guys and guys that are competitive, he has always lived up to it. At first they said he couldn't be a McDonald's All-American...and then
he became a McDonald's All-American (while at Centennial High School in Compton, Calif.). We're really happy to have him back."
Afflalo was selected by Detroit Pistons in the 2007 NBA draft. After he failed to make an impact in his rookie and sophomore years, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets in 2009.
Nuggets employed him intelligently and in his first year with the Bronchos, his performance and stats improved significantly The very next year, his stats augmented further, and despite losing Carmelo Anthony midway through the
last season, Nuggets ended with a good record, 50-32, courtesy of some polished displays by Arron and his teammates. Arron therefore elevated his standing within the Nuggets’ ranks and became one of the leading players on the team.
At 26 years of age, he is still young and has a lot of basketball left in him. The Nuggets believe that in future he can become one of the elite NBA players and take Denver to a whole new level in the process.
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