Report: Faried Wants To Stay In Denver, Currently Talking Extension

It was hardly long ago that Kenneth Faried’s days with the Denver Nuggets seemed numbered. Trade rumors swirled almost immediately after Denver hired Brian Shaw as coach last summer, and the Phil Jackson disciple made it clear he’d slow the Nuggets’ tempo and subsist on traditional low-post play. That philosophical switch directly clashed with Faried’s strengths, obviously, and after he played fewer than 20 minutes per game in December, the writing was on the wall. With Shaw preferring a different type of big man and surely contentious extension talks looming, Faried was all but gone.

Those winter days are a scant memory now as Faried follows up a fantastic spring by dominating for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup. After showing improved touch on his jumper and a burgeoning back-to-the-basket game in March and April (it helped that Shaw abandoned triangle offense tenants as the season wore on, too), trade winds calmed and it appeared ever-likely that the Nuggets would test restricted free agency with Faried at the very least – or perhaps even ink him to an extension before the 2014-2015 season.

And according to ESPN’s Marc Stein, that’s exactly what Denver is trying to do as the stock of its unlikely star continues to rise.

Part of Denver’s initial reluctance to retain Faried was the mostly uncharted territory of contract negotiations for a player of his unique style and caliber. And despite his surprising success as a primary scoring option for the Nuggets late last season and his inspiring play with the national team, Faried’s improvement doesn’t make extension talks much easier. For all of his production and obvious talent, there’s still no consensus on the actual value Faried brings to Denver.

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski inadvertently touched on that uncertainty while describing Faried’s worth to the United States.

Well [Faried] plays with amazing energy and really is as good of a rebounder as there is I think. He plays hard every second he’s out there. I think these guys would tell you they love playing with him. He doesn’t need the ball much; he gets the ball for people. Overall from the start of training camp, he’s been the biggest and best surprise and has turned out to be a very, very important player for us. He’s made that happen. We never call a play for him, although we posted him once today, but he did that on his own. He just makes plays. I guess that’s why they call him a player, he makes plays.

It’s highly unlikely that Faried ever develops into a viable top option on offense. His bread and butter will always be running the floor, feasting on the offensive glass, and taking advantage of creases created by teammates. That’s fine – Faried is incredibly well-suited for those tasks. But that reality puts a tricky disclaimer on his price tag.

If most any other 24 year-old big man in extension negotiations was averaging 14.3 points and 8.3 rebounds for the national team while shooting a laughable 81 percent from the field, the discussion would be a short one: “Here’s your max contract, franchise player.”

But Faried is a different breed of big offensively, and has deficiencies on the other end – of both nature and nurture – that made him a major defensive negative for the Nuggets last season. His recent play indicates that those limitations and flaws are in the process of being somewhat mitigated. Krzyzewski, for instance, has lauded Faried’s work on defense for the Americans.

The Manimal, though, is exactly that because there’s nobody else like him, and Faried’s play for Team USA only makes that distinction even clearer. And unfortunately for Denver, it makes his financial worth even less so than it was previously.

Will Faried sign an extension with the Nuggets?

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