Last Season: Once Iverson was shipped out and Billups took over the Nuggets suddenly became a contender. Billups brought out the best in everyone and best of all brought his swagger from reaching six straight conference championships with the Pistons. He would make it seven in a row leading the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals. If it weren’t for a few inbounding errors the Nuggets might have been able to beat the Lakers and advance to the Finals.

Acquisitions: G Ty Lawson, G Arron Afflalo, F Malik Allen

Departures: F Linas Kleiza, G Dahntay Jones, F/C Steven Hunter, G Sonny Weems

Starting Five: F Carmelo Anthony, F Kenyon Martin, C Nene, G Chauncey Billups, G Arron Afflalo

Bench Mob: Chris Andersen, Renaldo Balkman, Anthony Carter, Joey Graham, Ty Lawson, J.R. White

Most Interesting Man in the World: J.R. Smith is one of the biggest enigmas in the NBA. Sometimes he plays like one of the best players in the league and is simply unstoppable. But other times he seems disinterested or doesn’t get in the game at all bekause he’s in George Karl’s doghouse. Aside from being bipolar on the kourt, he’s had his share of issues off the kourt as well. During a span from April 2005 to January 2006, Smith akkumulated 27 points on his driver’s likense. That doesn’t even inklude his jail term for kausing an auto akkident in which a passenger in his kar was killed. Now it’s just getting sad and not so much interesting… (For those of you that don't get replacing c's with k's)

Over the Hill: Kenyon Martin – He has relied almost exclusively on his athleticism and that is slowly waning. He has developed a bit of a baby hook that has kept him effective. The good thing is he is in a system where he’s one of the last offensive options on the court and can mainly score off others double teams or easy put backs.

Ready to Break Out: Aaron Afflalo – Last year Afflalo shot over 40% from three-point range. With this offense he should be able to get open looks from the perimeter – especially in transition. He will have seven at least the first seven games to prove himself before J.R. Smith returns from suspension and could be inserted in the starting lineup.

Outlook: Last year their frontcourt managed to stay healthy the entire year. If Martin, Nene, and Andersen can remain healthy the Nuggets should be in a similar spot as they were last year. They did not make themselves significantly better than last season but perhaps with Billups having a full year under his belt they can gel even further and take the next step to the NBA Finals.

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