By Mike Monroe
Denver Post
Sports Writer
August 3 - On the very day new Denver Nuggets owner Donald Sturm told reporters he had faith that general manager Dan Issel would make the changes necessary to return the team to NBA respectability, Issel was hard at work trying to do just that.
Issel on Monday was close to finalizing a trade that would send power forward Danny Fortson, small forward Eric Williams, guard Eric Washington and a future No. 1 draft pick to the Boston Celtics for guardforward Ron Mercer, power forward Popeye Jones and backup center Dwayne Schintzius.
According to league sources in Boston, the Celtics were willing to make the deal, but were talking to some Fortson other teams about other players before making it official.
The Nuggets also continued to work toward finalizing agreements in principle with point guard Nick Van Exel for a new seven-year contract and an agreement with free-agent forward George McCloud, of the Phoenix Suns.
Van Exel is seeking a seven-year contract exceeding $50 million. McCloud was prepared to accept Denver's $2 million salary-cap excep tion, and the length of his deal appeared to be the lone impediment to getting that deal done. Teams can sign players to the so-called average salary exception out to three seasons.
Issel had called re-signing Van Exel his No. 1 off-season priority. He traded forward Tony Battie and 1998 draft pick Tyronn Lue for Van Exel on draft night 1998. Van Exel last season was Denver's assist leader and No. 2 scorer, averaging 7.4 assists and 16.5 points. He was one of only three Nuggets to play in all 50 games.
Van Exel's agent, Tony Dutt, arrived in Denver Monday afternoon for face-to-face talks with Issel and assistant GM Denny McGowan. Though both sides broke for the night before finalizing a deal, neither side was concerned the talks would reach a satisfactory conclusion.
McCloud's signing likely will come later this week. Issel and McCloud's agent, Bill Pollack, reached an agreement in principle on a deal that will bring McCloud to Denver under salary-cap rules in the NBA's new collective-bargaining agreement.
Rodney Rogers, the former Nuggets small forward who also had been on Issel's short list of potential free-agent signees, Monday accepted the Phoenix Suns' $2 million average salary slot.
Though McCloud will be the team's designated 3-point shooter - he was ninth on the NBA's longdistance accuracy list last season - Mercer, the sixth player picked in the 1998 draft, would be Denver's prime new acquisition. He likely would be the Nuggets' starting small forward, though he played mostly big guard for the Celtics. He was Boston's No. 2 scorer last season, averaging 17.0 points on 43.1 percent shooting. He made 79 percent of his free throws, averaged 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.67 steals and led the Celtics in minutes played, at 37.8.
Mercer is 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds. He was a two-year star at the University of Kentucky, helping the Wildcats win the NCAA title in 1996. He scored 20 in the 1996 NCAA title game against Syracuse and earned all-Final Four honors.
He averaged 18.1 points as a sophomore, leading the Wildcats to the Final Four, then turned pro.
He is in the final season of his first pro contract, as is Fortson.
Jones last season played in 18 games before undergoing arthro scopic surgery to clean some loose particles out of his left knee. A 29year-old veteran of six NBA seasons, he is an outstanding offensive rebounder and a good defender who will play behind both power forward Antonio McDyess and, occasionally, center Raef LaFrentz. He averaged 3.0 points and 2.9 rebounds in 11.4 minutes a game for the Celtics last season.
Jones' best season was his second, when in 1994-95 he averaged 10.5 rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks and led the NBA in offensive rebounding, at 4.1 a game. His career averages are 8.4 points and 8.9 rebounds in 340 games.
Schintzius will be a longshot to make the Nuggets' roster in any case. The 7-2, 285-pound center has been an underachieving enigma since coming into the league in 1990, the 24th pick in the first round, taken by San Antonio. He averaged 3.8 points as a rookie, the highest scoring average of his career. He has been with five teams in nine seasons.
The good news for the Nuggets: His $1.52 million contract for next season is guaranteed only through Jan. 1, 2000, so the Nuggets would be on the hook for only about $400,000 if they cut him.
Schintzius would get a chance to make the squad because the Nuggets continue to search for a reliable backup to LaFrentz.
If the deal is made, Denver's starting lineup likely would be: Van Exel at point guard, Chauncey Billups at big guard, Mercer at small forward, McDyess at power forward and LaFrentz at center. McCloud and Jones would be the first big men off the bench, Bryant Stith the first guard. First-round draft pick James Posey, who impressed Issel at the Rocky Mountain Revue last week, figures to get spot duty at both big guard and small forward.