The dominant Denver team many predicted in 2005-06 began to unravel only three minutes into the season opener.
Nene's season-ending knee injury was a harbinger of tough times in Denver, where the Nuggets never lived up to lofty expectations, bowing out to the lower-seeded Clippers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Sure, they took some consolation in winning the Northwest Division, but their 44-38 finish was so disappointing that the NBA had to adopt a rule change to keep teams of their ilk from being awarded a top three seed. Ouch!
Will the 2006-07 edition resemble the squad that finished 32-8 under George Karl two seasons ago, or the squad depleted by injuries a year ago, when Nene, Marcus Camby (26 games missed), Earl Boykins (22 games) and Kenyon Martin (26 games) were all banged up?
Nene was re-signed to multi-year deal despite the injury, and will be expected once again to join Martin and Camby in forming one of the best frontlines in the NBA. To insure themselves against an injury to one of their bigs, Denver re-signed Reggie Evans to a multi-year deal and acquired Joe Smith from Milwaukee for Ruben Patterson.
The offseason acquisition that could have the Pepsi Center buzzing this season is that of J.R. Smith, who came via Chicago at the inexpensive price of two second-round picks and Howard Eisley. Smith, only 21, could emerge as the team's starter at shooting guard if the team doesn't leverage one of its big men to find an established starter.
Smith does possess three-point range which could make him a valuable asset on the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA last season. For all of Carmelo Anthony's talents, he hit only 24.3 percent of his 152 attempts from downtown a year ago. He needs to start hitting them or stop shooting them as he continues to develop an overall game to match his scoring prowess.
Anthony emerged as one of the game's best 'go-to' players, hitting 11-of-19 shots in the final 24 seconds of games in which the Nuggets were tied or trailed by two points or less. The NBA's eighth leading scorer (26.5 ppg) undoubtedly enters the season with his confidence sky high after emerging as Team USA's best player during the FIBA World Championships.
Expectations in Denver are much more modest than they were a year ago, even though this Nuggets team is still loaded with talented big men, solid point guard play and a go-to star.
The volatility of Martin may be one reason. He and Karl, no stranger to volatility himself, feuded last season. Both have said they've put previous disagreements behind them, and Martin is vowing to perform better than he has the last two years.
If this team stays cohesive, it has the talent and the coaching to pick up where it left off two seasons ago; among the NBA's best. They certainly figure to be among the NBA's most improved teams, if only because their disappointing 44-win season shouldn't be tough to top.
-- Bill Evans
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I think a question mark for Denver is Kenyon and how he's doing.
Nene: A forgotten man due to his injury last season, Nene could be a very late round steal at the center position.
Marcus Camby: Camby has played in an average of 55 games per year during the last four seasons.
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