Since Kenyon Martin and Chris ‘Birdman’ Andersen are both expected to miss the start of the 2010-11 NBA season due to recovery from offseason knee surgeries, the Denver Nuggets were working hard to land a quality big man in free agency. It appears they have gotten their man. ESPN is reporting that as of late last night (or early this morning technically), Al Harrington has agreed to terms on a 5-year contract with the Denver Nuggets.
The Denver Nuggets reached an agreement in principle Tuesday night on a five-year, $34 million contract with free-agent forward Al Harrington, according to sources with knowledge of deal.
The Nuggets had to outbid the Dallas Mavericks to secure Harrington’s signature after Dallas followed up its trade acquisition of Tyson Chandler earlier Tuesday with a hard push for Harrington, which included an in-person recruiting pitch at the NBA’s annual summer league in Las Vegas from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
But Denver would appear to have a greater need for Harrington than Dallas, given that the Nuggets expect to start the season with Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen unavailable after both recently underwent surgical procedures.
That enabled Harrington’s agent, Dan Fegan, to land a deal starting at the full $5.8 mid-level exception from the Nuggets which extends for the maximum allowed five years.{via}
This move all but seals the fate of Linas Kleiza who signed an offer sheet with the Toronto Raptors. I highly doubt Denver will look to match the offer Kleiza received from the Raptors as it wouldn’t make sense financially to pay another guy who plays the small forward position. Carmelo Anthony already plays the bulk of his minutes at the 3, but with another versatile player like Harrington who can play the 3, 4, or 5 spot, they have a much more solid front court.
