For Nuggets GM Ujiri it's hurry up and wait

The youthful new front office is eager to build on its early momentum by refining the roster this summer, but it looks increasingly likely that the NBA will follow the NFL's lead and lock out its players a week after the June 23 draft. Neither Ujiri nor any other NBA executive can map offseason moves until they know what the rules are.

"We feel like we've got a couple good young players, we have a couple of veteran players, and we're trying to keep the core of that team and start building again in a new era," Ujiri said.

He can't identify that core without taking a bunch of calls from unhappy players and agents, but for now, my sense is it includes point guard Ty Lawson, shooting guard Arron Afflalo , forward Danilo Gallinari and forward- center Nene. It could also grow to include 7-foot-1 center Timofey Mozgov, 24, whom coach George Karl has already penciled into next season's playing rotation.

Over the past month, Ujiri has met with Nene, who has an $11.6 million player option for next season, and Afflalo, who will be a restricted free agent. He has also met with their agents.

A month ago, Nene intimated to my colleague Chris Dempsey that he felt unappreciated in Denver and might test the market. Hired in August, Ujiri admits the drama surrounding Anthony dominated his attention.

"We were caught up in a storm," he said. "We acknowledge that. In our minds, we feel like Nene has always been a huge priority, and we want him to always be a Denver Nugget. We do apologize if he felt in any way like he was put on the side."

One of the Nuggets' selling points could be a chance for Nene to return to his natural power forward position, at least some of the time, with 7-footers Mozgov and Kosta Koufos now on the roster.

"That is definitely something we want to look at," Ujiri said. "You have to not only make use of the size we've acquired, but also grow the guys we've acquired."