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Krieger: Nuggets' three-point cupboard looks bare

There is no way to shrug this one off. Not with 21-year-old Andre Bell dead.

Had everyone survived J.R. Smith's moment of driving dangerously back in New Jersey, it would no doubt have been chalked up as just another youthful indiscretion. He's only 21 himself, after all.

But the death of Bell, a passenger in the SUV that Smith is alleged to have driven through a stop sign into a head-on collision, going around a stopped car to do so, makes Smith's decision indelible.

We will be getting more particulars on both of the Nuggets' weekend off-court incidents, but this much seems obvious: They raised questions that go right to the team's character.

Just how big a role character plays in the Nuggets' continuing frustrations on the court is in the eye of the beholder, but Smith was benched in the middle of a playoff series, so it's definitely in there somewhere.

As it happens, Smith is the Nuggets' best three-point shooter. DerMarr Johnson is probably next, although he didn't play enough this season to show it.

At a minimum, it seems safe to say that Smith's poor decisions are not confined to the basketball court. And I'm guessing Nuggets coaches would tell you privately that if Johnson were half as tough getting through screens as he is in the parking lot of the Purple Martini, he'd play more.

But here's the point: This was already a Nuggets weakness. They finished 28th in the NBA in three-point shooting and played down to that billing in the playoffs.

A year ago, when the Nuggets acquired Smith to be their starting shooting guard, they were a young team building around a young star in Carmelo Anthony. They had time to let Smith grow up.

Since acquiring Allen Iverson in December, their timetable has moved up rather dramatically. A.I. turned 32 last week. He no longer has the luxury of waiting for young players to mature.

So let's talk about alternative perimeter shooters. Let's assume Johnson is history, his risk/reward ratio having just veered off the chart. And let's assume Smith is back, but without a contract extension, for a grow-up-or-get-lost season.

The Nuggets still need to add a couple of veterans who can make an outside shot. The economics are complicated, particularly if Silent Stanley Kroenke doesn't want to pay the NBA luxury tax, but let's put that aside for the moment. After all, the great advantage of having a billionaire owner is that you can do what you need to do to win. Right?

Here are a few players poised to become unrestricted free agents July 1 who have three-point shooting percentages of 33.3 or better both this season and for their careers:

• James Posey, 30, 6-8 swingman. Shot 37.5 percent from three this season for Miami; 34.6 for his career. Originally a Nuggets draft choice who played three seasons and part of a fourth in Denver before he became the accomplished three-point shooter he is now. Excellent defender.

• Jason Kapono, 26, 6-8 small forward. Shot a remarkable 51.4 percent from three this season for Miami (108-of-210). Career mark of 45.9.

• Mo Peterson, 29, 6-7 small forward. Shot 35.9 percent from three this season for Toronto, 37.1 for his career.

• Luke Walton, 27, 6-8 small forward. Shot 38.7 percent from three for the Lakers this season; 34.1 for his career.

• Derek Anderson, 32, 6-5 swingman. Shot 35.5 from three this season for Charlotte; 34.0 for his career.

• Ime Udoka, 29, 6-6 small forward. In his first opportunity to play serious minutes, shot 40.6 percent (89-of-219) from three for Portland.

• Matt Carroll, 26, 6-6 shooting guard. Shot 41.6 percent from three for Charlotte; 39.9 career.

And that's just scratching the surface. Matt Barnes of Golden State, Devin Brown of New Orleans, Smush Parker of the Lakers, and Earl Boykins and Mo Williams of Milwaukee also make our arbitrary cut, with DeShawn Stevenson of Washington compensating for a 33.0 career mark with 40.4 this season.

Jerry Stackhouse's 30.5 career average doesn't survive the screen, but his 38.3 this season for Dallas looks pretty good. Alas, Stack sounds like he's staying put.

Perhaps the Nuggets' multiheaded brain trust has another plan to address a need that has existed ever since Anthony's arrival. Perhaps it has a trade in mind. Perhaps it has no money to spend until it dumps one of the five big contracts - Anthony, Iverson, Nene, Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin - that threaten to produce a hefty tax bill next season.

But there are plenty of options out there, and not all of them will be expensive. The Nuggets should be ready to move on their targets early so they're not picking through the leftovers again.

We won't know all the facts of the Smith and Johnson off-court incidents for a while yet. But coming within 24 hours of each other, they sent a message the Nuggets should heed.

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