Sportsfrog.com

The good news from last season:
The Nuggets won 50 games, the most in 20 years. Of course, due to the minefield that is the Western Conference, the Nuggets just scraped into the postseason, nabbing the final playoff berth in the final days of the season. Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony were a dynamic duo on the offensive end, scoring just over 52 points per game. They were driving force behind the Nuggets finishing with the second-most points and sixth-highest field goal percentage in the NBA. Save for Nene, the team’s prominent players were healthy for the majority of the season, as the top eight scorers on the squad all played a minimum of 70 games.

The bad news from last season:
Due to their uptempo style, the Nuggets finished next-to-last in points allowed. The defense actually was not that bad, as they were 14th in field goal percentage allowed. Anthony had a rough postseason, dropping from 49.2 percent shooting to 36.4 percent from the field. Of course, that postseason was very brief as the team was swept in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps even worse was the offseason trade that sent Marcus Camby to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a trade exception worth $10 million and the right to trade second round draft picks in 2010. Camby cleaned up a lot of messes both on defense and the glass and it is hard to imagine how the team will defend without him as its last line.

The revolving door:
IN: F-C Chris Andersen, F Renaldo Balkman, G-F Dahntay Jones
OUT: C Marcus Camby, F Yakhouba Diawara, F Eduardo Najera

Team overview:
The team that hoisted the second most shots in the league last year figures to have a similar result this year, primarily because they will probably have to score even more points this time around. As previously mentioned, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony do most of the heavy lifting, combining for over 38 field goal and 17 free throw attempts per game. Iverson’s shooting has improved significantly since coming to Denver, hitting over 45 percent of his shots as a Nugget, and Anthony shot a career high from the field, so this strategy works. Anthony Carter is the undersized point man who gives up the ball for the two stars. A journeyman now with his fourth team, Carter had a career season last year with his modest stats of 7.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Chucky Atkins will back up Carter when Iverson is not sliding over to the point to make space on the floor for J.R. Smith. Smith hit 157 triples in under 1500 minutes, leading the NBA with 5.3 threes-per-40-minutes. Smith is a taller version of Ben Gordon, having not started a single game last year, but cracking the 20-point barrier 13 times in 74 games, including a 43-point explosion against the Bulls. Renaldo Balkman has been imported from New York as a defensive stopper at either swingman position.

Nene is back from a battle with cancer and he joins Kenyon Martin in the starting lineup. Nene will get a chance as a starter for the first time since his career became marred by injury four seasons ago. While starting 130 games of his first two seasons, Nene contributed well, tallying 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds. He’ll have to improve on those numbers to help make up for Camby’s departure, but is nowhere near Camby’s shotblocking presence. Martin bounced back from a lost 2006-2007 season to pile up 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, but will also need to step up to create a defensive presence for the Nuggets. Linas Kleiza splits his time between the forward spots, particularly when the Nuggets go small and he plays the four. Kleiza gives them another shooter from deep, as he hit 94 triples last year and had a 41-point explosion against Utah in January. Chris Andersen returns from league suspension and joins Steven Hunter in a backup center by committee plan. Both are stringbeans with shotblocking potential, but if either is pressed into longterm duty due to injury, it should make for a long season.

Fantasy note:
If you are in a deep league, you should keep an eye on Anthony Carter. Should he get more minutes than last year (28.0 per game), he could be a decent reserve/fill-in guard. In January, the only month where he averaged more than 30 minutes a game (32.5 to be exact), Carter posted 8.9 points and 7.6 assists per game. Throw in his 1.6 steals and 0.7 threes per game over the course of the year, and he could be a decent contributor. Please note that a longterm uptick in minutes for him would likely require an injury to Iverson or J.R. Smith.

Best case scenario:
Iverson and Anthony take their offensive games to a new level while Nene and Martin form an effective defensive tandem. Smith and Kleiza provide even more scoring punch off the bench. The team will undoubtedly feel the loss of Camby and the ceiling is likely around 43 wins, which will not get them into the postseason.

Worst case scenario:
The team implodes. George Karl gets fired after several screaming matches with his team about their inability to play defense. Iverson and his contract are sent out for loose change and the team has to start from scratch after finishing with 28 wins.

The other scenario that’s in the middle:
The team realizes they are not going to make the postseason and trades Allen Iverson to a desperate “contender,” getting some young talent and picks in return. The team finished with 36 wins and rebuilds around Anthony and the parts received in the trade.