Arron Afflalo

[...] The choice of Jackson over the other candidates was deliberate, and only slightly motivated by cost. Andre Iguodala is better at small forward, ball dominant, not nearly as good of a shooter as he thinks he is, and not nearly the calibre of half-court creator he so desperately wants to be.²⁶ A backcourt of Derrick Rose and Monta Ellis cannot stop anybody, and while it would thrive in the open court, it effectively mitigates itself in the half court. J.R. Smith can't be trusted, and was once traded by the Bulls for Adrian Griffin and Aaron Gray, which is no endorsement at all. Anthony Parker is no longer starting calibre. Michael Heisley has seemingly made the cost of acquiring O.J. Mayo unnecessarily prohibitive, particularly for one so average. Jason Richardson no longer wants to dribble, defend, or do anything much to get open without the ball. Vince Carter is emphatically done. Denver should (or ought) match a full MLE deal to Arron Afflalo. Courtney Lee won't come for anything less than Omer Asik, which is not a deal worth making. The Daniel Gibson, Jamal Crawford and Leandro Barbosa-types would be most useful, but only as hard-to-acquire backups. And Richard Hamilton is.......well, no.

However, those savings won't last forever. New York's decision not to sign Chandler to an extension this past offseason not only inadvertently facilitated the trade - had Wilson signed one, his Poison Pill Provision would have significantly complicated the salary ramifications - but it has also created something of a welcome problem for Denver. While they have cut costs and accumulated young talent, it won't be long before Chandler needs a new contract, as will starting guard Arron Afflalo, another key piece moving forward who unfortunately won't be a bargain for much longer.

In the midst of his breakout season, a re-signed Wilson Chandler will not come cheaply, and the retention of both he and Afflalo will end any cap space aspirations that the Nuggets may otherwise have had. With Kenyon Martin's seven year deal finally expiring this summer, and with Nene potentially opting out of his final season, Denver currently stands to have only $30,047,610 in committed salary, split between the incoming Felton, Mozgov, Koufos and Gallinari, and the incumbent Al Harrington, Chris Andersen and Ty Lawson. However, retaining Afflalo and Chandler will not be cheap; the pair's cap holds will combine for $12,270,177 alone, before a single dollar has even be committed. That's how it stands to be under this CBA, at least.

So if they want to save more money, how about declining to match Chicago's full MLE offer to Afflalo next summer? Everyone's a winner if that happens. Except Denver.