DENVER -- The Denver Nuggets pulled off another deal Wednesday that had both owner Stan Kroenke and coach George Karl smiling.
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The resurgent Nuggets, who have been building momentum ever since sending Allen Iverson and his big contract to Detroit for Chauncey Billups two months ago, sent point guard Chucky Atkins and a protected first-round pick in this summer to Oklahoma City for center Johan Petro and the Thunder's second-round pick this year.
"George has been asking for another big man," Nuggets executive Mark Warkentien said.
Here comes 7 feet, 255 pounds.
Forward Nene also has been begging for another big man to eat up some minutes from him and Kenyon Martin, and Karl has been angling for more beef with an eye on the playoffs, where the Nuggets will need all the big bodies they can throw at the likes of Yao Ming or Shaquille O'Neal.
"You have Portland who plays big. The Lakers play big. I think Shaq is always a factor, so you've got four or five teams out West that there's probably a 10-15 minute window you might want to play a big guy," Karl said. "Chris (Andersen) is good, but he's not a physical big."
The deal also put the Nuggets under the $71.15 million luxury tax ceiling, even if all the players on their roster hit all bonus benchmarks, quite a feat for a team that began the year with more than $90 million in payroll and had to dump defensive star Marcus Camby for basically nothing but salary cap relief last summer.
The trade makes just as much sense for the rebuilding Thunder, who potentially get a third first-round draft pick this summer along with Atkins, whose time in Denver has been marked by injuries and who fell behind Billups and Anthony Carter on the depth chart.
As long as the Nuggets make the playoffs, the Thunder will get their first-round pick next season. If it's a lottery pick, however, the Nuggets keep it and owe Oklahoma City a first-rounder down the road.
With an NBA-worst 5-30 record, the Thunder have an eye on their future -- and Petro wasn't a part of it. The 7-footer got a chance to be a starter earlier this season in Oklahoma City, but didn't pan out and the team signed restricted free agent Nenad Krstic last week to replace him.
Still, Petro has averaged 1,000 minutes a season during his career, so he brings experience and muscle to Denver. He can also provide some presence in the paint for the Nuggets to get through the next month or so without All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony, who broke his right hand Monday night.
Oklahoma City gains a veteran presence in Atkins, who has averaged 10.4 points in nine NBA seasons but played in only 14 games this season in Denver after a knee injury in camp.
The second-round pick Denver gets from Oklahoma City is potentially a very valuable chip at the trade deadline because the Thunder is on pace to finish with the league's worst record. Because second-rounders make significantly less money and teams don't have to guarantee two years of their contract as they do first-rounders, the 31st pick is the wild-card in the NBA draft deck.
