Denver Nuggets Enter Big Z ‘Derby’

by Marcel Mutoni@marcel_mutoni

To the surprise of precisely no one on Planet Earth, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the Washington Wizards went their separate ways late last night. Big Z, of course, never once suited up for Washington, something he (and they) never intended to happen.

Though everyone understands what’s going on (namely, that Ilgauskas will land back in Cleveland by late March) — including the League front office — teams will continue to go after Big Z, and his camp will continue to make it seem as though there’s the possibility he won’t be wearing a Cavs jersey again this season.

The Denver Nuggets have become the latest team to express interest in the big man’s services.

The Denver Post reports:

“There hasn’t been a day go by that I haven’t heard from Mark (Warkentien, the Nuggets’ vice president of basketball operations),” Herb Rudoy, Ilgauskas’ agent, said Wednesday. “He had a great relationship with ‘Z’ (back in Cleveland). Mark has been very aggressive to convince me to convince ‘Z.'”

Ilgauskas is currently at his home in New York City, waiting to hear what happens next. He was traded by Cleveland near the trade deadline to the Wizards. And the plan is for the former all-star center to get bought out of his contract so he can sign with a contender. “He wants to win a championship,” Rudoy said.

Though Cleveland remains the heavy favorite to re-acquire the coveted big man, Denver joins Atlanta, Utah and Dallas among the teams who would like Zydrunas Ilgauskas to spurn the Cavs.