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Kickin' It With Kiki

Vandeweghe Vandeweghe

Kiki Vandeweghe became General Manager of the Denver Nuggets last August and will be a busy man in the upcoming months. Vandeweghe announced last week that he and other Nuggets personnel will be embarking on a goodwill tour of U.S. Armed Forces overseas May 18-23. In addition, the Nuggets will hire a head coach this summer and have two first-round picks (1-7 pending the lottery and 25) in the NBA Draft.

Vandeweghe joined the Nuggets after serving two seasons as Director of Player Development/Assistant Coach with the Dallas Mavericks. He began his 13-year NBA playing career with the Nuggets in 1980 and was an All-Star in '83 and '84. He twice finished in the top five in the league in scoring as a Nugget.

jeff(denver): How are the Nuggets and the salary cap. Can the Nuggets sign any big name free agents this year?

Kiki Vandeweghe: We will be significantly below the salary cap not this year but the following year. This coming year we will not be below the salary cap but we will have the mid-level and veteran exceptions to utilize.

Matt ( Havertown ): Hey Kiki, who in the NBA right now do you want on your team that you think could make the Nuggets better?

Kiki Vandeweghe: I can think of a bunch of them, starting with Shaquille O'Neal, but you can always dream and hope that you can get some of the greatest basketball players. A lot of times that doesn't happen and they're already under contracts with other teams. We have a list of guys that we would love to get, but right now, we have to keep that list private.

Georges (nyc): Kiki, will you be doing any scouting while you're on this trip?

Kiki Vandeweghe: I'll be doing a lot of scouting. You can never tell where you might find the next star in the NBA. The NBA is truly a global game that has global reach. There may be some guys and possibly some women who are great basketball players in the military. I love people with a fighting spirit and certainly our military instills that. And who knows, I might even find a coach over there.

Owen (Denver): Kiki, Any plans on taking the coaching reigns for yourself next year? I've heard Larry Brown, Don Nelson Jr., and Mike Evans mentioned as possible coaches for next years run to the title. Am I leaving anyone out and, ideally, what exactly are you looking for in your new head coach?

Kiki Vandeweghe: First of all, I'll eliminate myself as a candidate. I think you have to look for somebody who's a teacher, somebody who can communicate his ideas and the team takes on the personality of the coach many times. So you want somebody who's intensely competitive and has a great understanding of the NBA game.

Ryan (Denver): Kiki, Bateer seems chocked full of potential. I remember when Detlef and Smits were our only examples of international toughness and talent.. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve that would translate to the Nuggets shopping the globe for international talent in the off season?

Kiki Vandeweghe: We scour the globe for talent and if we can find a player in inner Mongolia, who by the way I think is a very good player in Menck Bateer, we'll be on the lookout wherever we go. There are tremendous players as you can see from everywhere. I think that all young men and women grow up watching the NBA now from all over the world so there's certainly a lot more to choose from.

Alex (Bethesda): If the Nuggets were to get the number one pick, would you take Yao Ming? If not, how high do you think he will go in the draft?

Kiki Vandeweghe: I was very impressed with Yao Ming in his Chicago workout. I think it's very clear that he'll be one of the top draft picks. Our process is to bring in all of the top candidates and look at them very closely and then make a decision, which we will do. We'll do that between basically now and the draft time. But I think certainly Yao Ming warrants top consideration.

David (Los Angeles): Hey Kiki, I saw the 1983 triple-overtime scoring show against the Pistons. That was really awesome! Is defense tighter now or were you, Alex English, and Isiah just better than today's players?

Kiki Vandeweghe: I think that the style was different. The defensive strategy is better today. The coaches spent more time watching film, devising strategy and overall, they've learned from the past. So defenses are more difficult to beat. But it also comes down to the strategy of the offense. For example, the Dallas and Sacto series, that was much more similar to the way we played in the early to mid-80s. I think that the new rule that the NBA instituted this year really helped direct it back to a higher scoring game.

Justin (Winona): Ryan Bowen showed great improvement in the exteneded minutes that he was offered. His defense is outstanding and he brings an energy to the Nuggets. What are your the Nuggets plans in resigning him this summer?

Kiki Vandeweghe: Ryan has an option in his contract this year but we hope to obviously have him on our team next year. He's a tremendous hustle player and hopefully has a very long future here.

Pietro (South Orange, NJ): Kiki- Saw you on the NBA Turner studio last night. What will you be doing on this trip to Europe?

Kiki Vandeweghe: The trip to Europe is our way, meaning the Denver Nuggets, the fans in Denver and really the whole NBA, it's our way of saying thank you to the young men and women who sacrifice and put their lives on the line to defend our freedom. We will be going to Naples, Italy first, Bosnia, Turkey, stopping at military bases along the way where we will put on clinics for the military personnel. We will also stop in some war zones visiting some groups of war orphans, giving away lots of NBA t-shirts, basketballs and hopefully generating a lot of goodwill. The NBA is obviously well-known in these areas and I think it really demonstrates the commitment, both Stan Kroenke, who is the owner of the Denver Nuggets and David Stern, to our troops and to the sacrifices that these young people are making. We will be doing a live remote on Sunday for the draft lottery from a base in Naples and we will have as our representative, Sgt, Major Shawn Boute. He is a decorated war veteran of Afghanistan and Desert Storm.

Eric, Lorton: What key pieces do the Nuggets need to be a playoff contending team?

Kiki Vandeweghe: First of all, we need good draft choices, building through the draft, hopefully a few select free agents. But I think the places we need shoring up are the point guard position and our center position.

Kiki Vandeweghe: I want to thank everybody for their support of the Nuggets, all the Nuggets fans and I want to thank everybody who is the fan of the NBA for making this one of the greatest playoffs that I've seen. Also, for giving us the opportunity to go over and visit our troops that are fighting to keep our way of life safe.