Kroenke, Ujiri face major decisions

On Feb. 12, the Nuggets president watched the New Jersey Nets host the New York Knicks, who played without injured all-star Amar'e Stoudemire. Kroenke was smitten.

"The ball was just moving — Bang! Bang! Bang! — Wilson Chandler was hitting 3s, (Danilo) Gallinari was pumped up, Raymond Felton was high-fiving everybody," Kroenke said. "They were getting so excited for each other. And that's a heck of a trait to have.

"I have a firm belief in the way basketball can be played. You've got to have talent, obviously. But the personalities have to match. Have to match."

Nine nights later, the deal was done.

Now, Kroenke and fellow Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri have major personnel decisions to make heading into the offseason. But the crux of any decision will be: How will it affect the chemistry of the Nuggets, whose personalities and performances blended together well in their season-ending run.

"If you have the right players and the right personalities," Kroenke said, "it's amazing what you can do as a group."

At a recent lunch, Kroenke opened up about his passion and purpose as team president. He said the goal is simple: "We want to win a championship — hands down."

Asked if he'd be willing to go over the luxury tax line, if it meant having a team he's happy with, he said: "I think we've shown that, yeah. It's a tough model to be over the luxury tax in the Denver market, but we're not afraid to spend if we think we're going to win."

"My hope is Raymond and (Ty) could stay together and kind of work the point guard position into a two-guard position," Karl said. "When we play them together, I still think that is one of our most powerful weapons. It wasn't as successful against OKC, but in those last few games, (but) it was really important to us. I still think that both of them are fantastic little guards, and I would like to have both of them back next year."

Felton, however, is prideful. When he was with the Knicks, he was one Rajon Rondo away from making the Eastern Conference all-star team. With Denver, he comes off the bench. Felton dropped hints this spring that he wants to be a starter. To do that likely would require a trade.

The Nuggets surely will listen to offers for Felton. The 26-year-old is entering the final year of his contract and will make $7.5 million next season, compared with Lawson's $1.6 million.

Asked what they do about Felton, Ujiri said, "I think with what we've done so far, there's chemistry. Is that going to continue to next year? That's something we'll have to evaluate in the next couple of months. But Felton has had a great spirit here and has brought us leadership and a tough point guard mentality.

"Does Felton think he's a starting point guard in the NBA? Yes, he does. Is Felton a starting point guard? Yes, he is. He has proved that. So we'll figure it out."