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Looking healthy and energetic following his second defeat of cancer, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finally has the team he has always wanted.  On any given night, the Nuggets could dominate with their starting five or cobble together a win with contributions all the way down the bench.

The Nuggets currently lead all NBA teams in points per game at 105.5 – a tick better than the Miami Heat’s 105.4 – and are perched firmly at second place in the Western Conference.  Only the division rival OKC Thunder are better in the West right now, but watching these young Nuggets you get the feeling that they are still a month or two away from playing their best basketball.

George is living in a coaching dreamland in Denver.  He’s got the kind of depth and athleticism that even most big market NBA teams lack.  Karl just has to decide who has the hot hand, who makes the best matchup, and which of his ten floor-worthy players get time each night.

Coming over from the Milwaukee Bucks in 2005, George was heralded as a matchups guru with the ability to challenge the best coaches in the league.  Now that Phil Jackson has retired from Lakerland, Coach Karl may be the best matchups coach in the league.  And with Carmelo Anthony slowing the offense to a crawl in New York, the Nuggets have the cap space and floor time to run the most dynamic, team-oriented style in the league.

In his early years with the Nuggets, Karl had the pitiable task of making sure Melo got his points every game.  Now George can watch five players score double-digits and have a half-dozen guys geared up to make big shots in the final minutes.  Plus, an increased load on the bench means the Nuggets can throw a relentless up-tempo attack at their opponents for 48 minutes.  No wonder Denver leads the league at 24.5 assists per game.

On Wednesday night Karl’s Nuggets will have a chance to close out an undefeated five-game road swing.  Four victories so far include overtime triumphs versus the surprising 76ers and the struggling Knicks.  Now Denver draws the defensively challenged Kings in Sacramento.  With six Nuggets averaging 10+ points per game, Denver looks strong to return home Friday with one of the best records in the NBA.

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By knocking off the 76ers in Philly on Wednesday night the Denver Nuggets grabbed their 10^th win in 15 games played and handed Philadelphia its first home loss.  The improved 76ers were 6-0 at home this season, and have played as well as any team in the NBA to this point.  The final score in overtime read 108-104 in favor of the Nuggets thanks to a breakout 28-point effort by backup point guard Andre Miller.

Denver’s 10-5 record locks them into a four-way tie for the third best winning percentage in the Western Conference.  That group includes the LA Lakers and Clippers plus the San Antonio Spurs, with Denver legend Chauncey Billups keeping the Clippers afloat while Chris Paul recuperates from an injury.

In a topsy, turvy NBA season the Nuggets are still getting their footing like most other clubs.  On Wednesday it was great to see the guard duo of Lawson and Miller pick up where Lawson and the departed Raymond Felton left off last year.  Against the 76ers Lawson and Miller combined for 84 minutes of floor time, 41 points and 17 assists.  Nene chipped in 14 rebounds and 20 points, including 4 of the Nuggets’ 12 points in overtime.

Denver still sits behind the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder in both the Conference and Northwest Division standings.  But the Jazz are playing over their heads thanks to a favorable opening schedule where 14 of their first 20 games will be played at home.  Brutal February and March road trips will bring Utah back down to earth.

The Thunder are another story entirely.  OKC stands at the top of the NBA with a 12-3 record following their first bad loss last night in Washington.  The young, athletic Thunder are primed for this fast-paced season, and it will take some incredible consistency from the Nuggets to keep pace.  Oklahoma City is bound to have its share of off nights – like losing to the 12 loss Wizards – but stand to be the NBA’s best club barring major setbacks or a surprise run by another young team like the Clippers.

Luckily Denver has a pretty smooth schedule through the rest of January.  If the Nuggets can keep ahead of both Los Angeles-es and the Spurs, they can put pressure on these depth-challenged squads as the unusual 2011-2012 NBA Season wears on.  Just as younger teams have a chance to jump ahead in the standings, older clubs like the Lakers and Spurs will be dropping winnable games come March and April.

For the Nuggets – who have a nice blend of veteran presence and ample young talent – it will simply be a matter of building offensive chemistry and playing the brand of aggressive defense that made Denver a tough out in last season’s NBA Playoffs.  With a healthy and energized George Karl at the helm, the Nuggets may not be far off from realizing their potential as an elite Western Conference contender.

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The NBA is back after a marathon negotiating session in New York City on Friday night.  Both labor and the league will have to sign-off on this tentative deal, but it looks like we will have NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

For the Denver Nuggets the shortened season will be both a boon and a challenge.  The Nuggets have an established coach and system, but many of their players are scattered across world leagues or likely lost to free agency.  Pulling together core players as quickly as possible will be key.

Fortunately, point guard Ty Lawson included an exit clause in his contract with Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas where he has been playing since early October.  That gives Denver their most important offensive cog as soon as a deal is signed.

Unfortunately, forward Wilson Chandler along with pending free agents JR Smith and Kenyon Martin are all locked into contracts with China’s top basketball league.  While most Chinese teams have indicated a willingness to let their American players return to the NBA, the Chinese league itself was careful to point out to incoming western talent that their contracts would be binding through the conclusion of the season.

Most likely the Nuggets will consider Smith and K-Mart lost to free agency anyway.  Rookie power forward Kenneth Faried will hopefully be a long-term replacement for Kenyon, and fellow draftee Jordan Hamilton is being touted as a dynamic scoring forward/guard in the mold of JR.

Replacing Nene, who the Nuggets cut ties with in the offseason, will be a taller order.  The best free agent option at center is Tyson Chandler – an athletic big man who would fit Denver’s up-tempo attack.  Denver has dumped considerable salary between the Anthony/Billups trade and the loss of formerly burdensome Nene/Martin contracts.  They should have their pick of willing free agents.

The Nuggets’ ability to get immediately into a groove (as they did after the big Melo trade late last season) should give them a boost over NBA competition once play starts in late December.  Denver’s youth and above-average conditioning will be a major plus as teams play 66 games – not far from the typical 82 – in just over half a regular season.  This will be especially true for Ty Lawson and other Nuggets who will come to Denver in mid-season form after playing in foreign leagues.

In the end, it will be up to head coach George Karl and his staff to get the Nuggets ready for this condensed NBA Season in less than a month.  And it will be up to Denver’s relatively new front office to get prepared for what will be a brief and intense free agency period starting December 9th.

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Once upon a time the Nuggets’ armor was full of holes.  Denver was an offensively talented team that struggled on defense, especially late, and failed to match the intensity of lesser opponents.

Throw all that out the window.  The Nuggets battle now.  They did against a rising Sacramento Kings squad last night at Pepsi Center and earned a hard-fought 104-90 victory.  The win was good for ten consecutive in Denver.

Sacramento, playing in the second night of a back-to-back set, crumbled midway through the fourth quarter under the Nuggets’ constant assault.

Ty Lawson ran the Kings ragged early, then bowed to a minor injury and rested for almost a full quarter in the second half.  Enter JR Smith who took his turn running an intensely effective dribble-drive attack and then pulling up for wide-open mid-range jumpers when the Kings’ tired defense sagged into the paint.

Despite leading for most of the first three quarters, Denver did not panic.  They just played their game, recovered from missed shots and bad turnovers, and closed out so strong as to make a very tight game look like a typical Nuggets home blowout.

It was as much a statement win as any other recent Denver victory.  Sacramento was on a four-game winning streak behind the revelatory play of Marcus Thornton, and these Kings gave the Nuggets all they had.  But Denver doesn’t play down to its opponent (for long), doesn’t engineer comeback attempts from behind the three-point line, and doesn’t roll over versus tough physical competition.

Call it a big win.  Call it the fourth straight for the Nuggets and twelve in the last sixteen.  Call them contenders, Denver.

Read the full recap

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After scoring 110+ points in their last three games, the Denver Nuggets relied on defense to down the Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

None of the Nuggets scored more than 20 points, but five Denver players scored in double-digits on the way to a 103-87 road victory. After draining 18 and 17 threes in their last two games, the Nuggets attempted just 14 shots from beyond the arc in Atlanta. Keeping with their superb team shooting, though, Denver buried 7 of those threes to pace the Hawks.

Nene scored 20 and grabbed 7 rebounds, but it was his 4 huge blocks that forced Atlanta to play a perimeter shooting game. Once Denver forced the Hawks offense out of the paint, Denver’s excellent shooting offense took over. For the third game in a row, the Nuggets shot 50% or better from three-point range. Better yet, Denver connected on 53% of its field goal attempts.

In the post-Melo era in Denver, the Nuggets have adapted to a team-oriented style that was showcased in Atlanta on Wednesday. Aside from great ball movement leading to open looks and an incredibly high shooting percentage, Denver’s defense has improved at a remarkable rate. Since the big trade, the Nuggets are allowing almost ten points less per game to their opponents.

Against a tough Hawks squad, that shooting efficiency and solid defense paid dividends. Ty Lawson had another double-digit assist total (10) leading to easy makes for his teammates, and Kenyon Martin teamed with Nene to shut down Atlanta’s interior attack.

Aside from excellent two-way play by the Nuggets, the team turned around a trend of beating teams with bench depth. Denver’s starters all finished +10 or better, and Atlanta’s starters finished -10 or worse. In fact, the Nuggets hardly needed their bench until the final minutes of the fourth quarter when the game was already decided.

Denver has now gone 9-2 since trading Carmelo Anthony to go with their current four-game winning streak. Wilson Chandler led Denver with 10 rebounds in another impressive effort filling Melo’s old spot in the Nuggets’ starting lineup. Chandler scored 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting with a block and 2 assists.

The Nuggets have won the first two games of a tough four-game road trip. Next up are back-to-back games at Orlando and Miami on Friday and Saturday nights.

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The Denver Nuggets moved to 8-2 in their first ten games post-Melo.   A win on the road Monday night in New Orleans created some padding between the Nuggets and the Hornets in the Western Conference standings.

In a matter of a few weeks, Denver has gone from isolation offense and poor rotation on defense to an assist-heavy scoring machine that transitions off of an active, shifting perimeter D.

Coach George Karl, who landed a fresh contract with the team last week, sounds like a proud papa talking about his New Look Nuggets.

“They have a lot of freedom to create the game on their own, and tonight they were pretty special,” said Karl after his team trumped the Hornets 114-103 in New Orleans.  “We played with a lot of aggressiveness on both sides of the court, and I think that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s not very complicated. It’s pretty simple stuff.”

There you have it: the Nuggets’ new mantra.  Keep it simple, play aggressive defense, attack on offense, and make team chemistry more important than any one player.

Denver did all of those things on their way to a statement win in New Orleans.  After starting off with a series of bad shots and shoddy defense, the Nuggets charged back from an 11-2 deficit to grab a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Nuggets never looked back.

Karl called an early timeout after the Hornets jumped ahead in the first four minutes of the game.  After that Denver was a different team.  They shut down New Orleans for a full minute of game time that featured a powerful block by defensive leader Kenyon Martin.  From there the Nuggets’ high-powered offense got to work.

Wilson Chandler and Nene combined for Denver’s next 12 points before Chris Andersen tied the game at 15 with two free throws, drawing a New Orleans timeout.  Raymond Felton dropped two three-pointers on consecutive attempts to close the quarter, and the Nuggets never trailed again.

In fact, towards the end of the third quarter Denver pulled ahead by 23 before sitting their big starters and leaving cleanup to a trio of guards.  Ty Lawson, JR Smith and Ray Felton were the only Nuggets to score in the fourth quarter, pacing the Hornets with no less than an 11-point lead for the final 2:30 of the game.

Lawson and Felton, Denver’s thunder and lightening point guards, nailed back-to-back threes in the final minute to squash New Orleans’ comeback attempt.

Three Nuggets scored 20+ points, led by Lawson (23) and followed closely by Felton (22) and Chandler (21).  This new Democratic scoring approach has replaced the former ‘All Melo All the Time’ Denver offense, and was facilitated on this night by 22 assists between Lawson and Felton.  The Hornets got just 22 assists as a team.

Denver drained 17 threes two nights after knocking down 18 versus Detroit.  The Nuggets scored on more than half of their field goal attempts in both games, and shot a ridiculous 59% from beyond the arc against the Hornets.  Those numbers are a testament to great ball distribution leading to open shots and dunks.

More amazing still, the Nuggets are doing all of this without two starters – Danilo Gallinari and Arron Afflalo.  Both players should return in the next week, meaning the best is yet to come for the Denver Nuggets.

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The Nuggets won in Phoenix for the first time in seven years on Thursday behind a breakout performance by Ty Lawson.

Denver’s sophomore point guard pushed the Nuggets’ up-tempo offense to 33 fast-break points, distributed 11 assists, and scored 20 as he outplayed Suns counterpart Steve Nash.  By the end of the third quarter Nash had been relegated to the Phoenix bench while Lawson worked to buff up an already robust stat line.

Even the 116-97 final score does little justice to the Nuggets’ victory.

Led by Lawson and fellow point guard Ray Felton, often at the same time, Denver built a healthy first half lead on ball movement resulting in open shots.  In the second half the Nuggets pressed Phoenix into turnovers, charged the floor on possession changes, and built a sustained 20+ point lead.

Five Nuggets scored in double-digits, led by Nene’s 22 in abbreviated play.  With Denver dominating in the second half Chris Andersen came in to do cleanup duty, slamming home 12 points on 5 dunks and 6-6 shooting.

Gary Forbes, who started in place of the injured Arron Afflalo, grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds in just 21 minutes.  Forbes, who played in Europe the last two seasons, got the start over JR Smith.  Most Nuggets fans expected Smith, Denver’s productive 6^th Man, to start in Afflalo’s stead.  Coach George Karl decided to go with Gary the Grinder just two days after landing a three-year contract extension.

With job security and no Melo to force-feed possessions to, Karl is at liberty to take a “what I say goes” approach to coaching these Nuggets.  George runs the show and Denver has responded by playing great team basketball with scoring and defensive depth that is quickly becoming the envy of the league.

JR responded to the snub by dropping 12 points off the bench to go with 4 rebounds and 3 assists, a standard stat line for the athletic shooting guard.  Smith logged 24 minutes and drained three key treys; one that stopped a Suns min-run in the first quarter and another that beat the third quarter buzzer to put Denver up 90-66.

The Nuggets are 6-2 since trading Carmelo Anthony to the NY Knicks.  Denver has played five of those games without Danilo Gallinari, the small forward swapped from New York to replace Melo in the Nuggets’ starting lineup.  Despite missing Gallo, the Nuggets have maintained their league-best 107.4 points per game.

Denver’s smart, aggressive defense generated 15 steals and held the Phoenix starters in check for three quarters before backing off.  Since trading Anthony, the Nuggets’ D has held opponents to an average of 94 points per game.  That’s a full ten points below their season average before the trade.

Phoenix reserve Center Marcin Gortat led the Suns with 14 points and 18 rebounds.

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Denver head coach George Karl has signed a contract extension with the Nuggets that will keep him in the Mile High City for at least another three years.

While details of Karl’s new contract have not been released by the team, multiple reports have Karl signing with the Nuggets through the end of the 2013-2014 NBA Season.  Some rumors detailing the finer points of Coach Karl’s new contract have the Nuggets getting three individual optional years beyond the third season.

Karl has coached the Nuggets for seven seasons, bringing Denver to the playoffs each and every year.  The Nuggets went as far as Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals in 2009, and were expected to make a similar run in 2010 before Karl was diagnosed with neck and throat cancer halfway through last season.

Part of Karl’s close relationship with the Nuggets organization stems from his experience following that diagnosis and throughout the debilitating chemotherapy treatment that followed.  Speaking on the family that owns the Nuggets and recently transferred controlling interest from father Stan to son Josh, Karl said, “The Kroenkes have been great throughout this entire process. They’ve been very supportive of me as a coach and during my battle with cancer.”

Vice President of Basketball Operations Masai Ujiri took over Denver’s front office management last summer and oversaw the exit of Carmelo Anthony from the Nuggets.  That frustrating process ended last month when Melo and fan favorite Chauncey Billups went to New York in return for a slew of talented players.

As soon as those difficult negotiations ended, Masai was charged by the Kroenkes with re-signing Karl, and Ujiri did not disappoint.  “Extending George’s contract has been one of our top priorities,” said Ujiri after announcing the signing on Tuesday. “He’s done a tremendous job since arriving in Denver, and particularly with the unique challenges of this season. With George on the bench, we have a bright future and everyone here is focused on finishing the season strong.”

The Nuggets have gone 5-2 since Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks.  In those seven games, Denver has boasted five different high-scorers.

Karl became the seventh coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games earlier this season.  As happy as the Nuggets are to have locked up one of the best coaches in league history, Coach Karl is equally happy to be most likely finishing his long career in Denver.

“I’ve always said Denver is the place I want to end my career,” said Karl after inking his new contract. “This puts me one step closer to achieving that goal.”

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The Denver Nuggets defense did not allow the Boston Celtics to score in the final six minutes of the game.

The Nuggets’ 25^th-worst D held for six solid minutes against the Eastern Conference Champs.  Better yet, a Denver squad that led the league in personal fouls committed none in the final three minutes.

And what of the league-leading Nuggets offense… sans Melo?

Denver slashed, dashed, worked and treyed their way to victory with a fourth quarter explosion.  The boys in powder blue were athletic and aggressive, and their closing 16-0 run sealed a big 89-75 victory over the second-best team in the NBA.

New York transplant Wilson Chandler scored 16 points and the unstoppable JR Smith dropped 12, the two effectively filling in the Melo-hole in the lineup.  JR & Wilson combined for three key treys in the decisive fourth quarter.  That salvo of bombs fell just after TNT announcers declared that the Nuggets had no answer for a tough defense late in games without Carmelo Anthony to work one-on-one.

It was a telling mischaracterization of a team that had already proven two nights ago versus Memphis that it had the depth and speed to withstand the loss of a superstar.   Denver is playing a group game now without Melo to stop the ball on a quarter of their possessions.

The change certainly came out of necessity, but it has also been effective.  As if a blockage was cleared from a precision machine.

George Karl’s machine, in fact, which featured a component missing since this time last season when Kenyon Martin busted his left knee.  K-Mart’s season-ending injury came just before Coach Karl withdrew from the team to battle cancer.  The Nuggets struggled to a painful first-round playoff loss, and Karl watched as Utah mastermind Jerry Sloan overpowered Denver’s replacement coaching staff.

So it was fitting that Karl trusted Martin to attack the NBA’s best defense, and that Kenyon responded by scoring a game-high 18 points.  Martin missed the first third of this 2010-2011 Season, and he has been ineffective in his return.  Versus the Celtics, the sleeping giant awoke with 10 big rebounds, tough defense and a swagger that was missing from this Denver team for almost a year.

Karl’s Nuggets played fast, team offense combined with aggressive team defense.  They worked together in a vision of what veteran coaches ask for from their teams.

There were no distractions, and the only obstruction was learning to play together.  But Denver rarely wasted possessions, and ended up outworking the Boston grinders.  The Nuggets trusted their instincts, let their scorers create plays, and got double-digit contributions from five different players during a slugfest.

Leading the Nuggets into the fray were sophomore Ty Lawson and former Knick Raymond Felton, who traded styles at point guard throughout the game.  Ty cut deep into the Celtics’ lane and invented scores.  Ray worked Denver in slowly with a more veteran touch.  The two combined for 16 assists and worked together to keep the Nuggets playing an up-tempo game for four quarters.

The depth that the Nuggets acquired in the Anthony trade allowed them to overmatch the Celtics, who had to call up Development League center Chris Johnson to fill out their depleted lineup.  A trade-deadline deal sent veteran Boston big-man Kendrick Perkins and reserve guard Nate Robinson to the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier Thursday.

Meanwhile, Danilo Gallinari joined Felton and Chandler in playing their first game as Nuggets.  Gallinari drove for a powerful, athletic early dunk that set a tone for the Nuggets.  Then he filled in with 4 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals.  Felton led all players in plus/minus with a +15.  Chandler went 3-4 from deep, burying the lead-changing three that started Denver’s 16-point finish.

In a matchup of two trade-worn teams, Denver showed that their workmanlike win over Memphis was no fluke.  The New Look Nuggets downed the original Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett with the same great effort and a lot more depth.  Denver turned a close game into a runaway win with drive and style.

This is the Nuggets’ third consecutive win after going 3-7 in their previous ten games.  They are tied for fifth in the Western Conference with New Orleans, who has the tiebreaker over Denver.

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Denver’s reaction to the eventual Melo-to-Knicks trade said it all…

You were hard-pressed to find Nuggets fans who would admittedly miss Carmelo, most saying instead that they were happy to see him go and to get something in return.

No… Denverites were fine with Anthony heading to New York.  It was Chauncey Billups’ exit from his reunion tour with the Nuggets that stung.  Make no mistake about it: Denver sports fans are fuming about hometown hero Chauncey getting caught up in this mess.

So what does that say about Carmelo?  About his legacy in Denver?  Certainly it says something telling.

Not that Denver fans will soon be forgetting seven straight trips to the playoffs during the Anthony Era.  Not that Melo taking Chauncey to New York with him makes the Nuggets’ 2009 run to the Western Conference Finals any less awesome or memorable.

But you always got the feeling that Carmelo saw himself as bigger than Denver.  Perhaps rightfully so considering Melo’s success as an Olympian and his loyal league-wide following.

But Billups was a FIBA World Champion last year, a far rarer feat for US Basketball.  Billups has an NBA Title plus a Champ Series MVP under his belt too, and he was never bigger than Denver.  Chauncey the Champion, Big Shot Billups, was still the Prince of Park Hill.  Not bigger than Denver, Chauncey was Denver.

Even when he signed his first contract extension with the Nuggets in 2006, it was more that Anthony had poor representation and ended up jumping at the first big-money offer of his young career.  Had Melo hit the open market following his rookie contract, you better believe he ends up in Dallas, Miami or even Los Angeles.  Anthony had little loyalty to Denver, and so it was not entirely surprising to see that Denver had little loyalty to Melo.

Really, though, the Denver fan base has no reason to dislike the man.  (Carmelo didn’t drag Billups to NYC, Masai Ujiri sent him there.)  What we had with Melo was a business arrangement wherein all parties sought wins.  What we had with Chauncey was (still is) more real because it was a two-way street.  Billups loved being in Denver and the city loved having its hometown hero.  The contrast is perfect.

The Nuggets got their fair chances to grasp an elusive NBA Championship with Anthony around, but fate had other plans.  Were it not for the balky knees of Kenyon Martin, a host of injuries to Nene Hilario and the tragic timing of George Karl’s second battle with cancer, Denver gets more than one shot at winning the Wild West.  With the way this team was playing halfway through last season, a strong playoff run seemed inevitable.

Perhaps with the scent of a Championship Series on the wind, Anthony sticks it out in Denver and signs the Nuggets’ 3-year $65 million offer over the summer.  Despite his obvious desire to play on a bigger stage, Carmelo would have stayed in the Mile High City if he thought an NBA Title was in the works.  That’s just good business.

Somewhere along the way, though, Anthony decided that he was done betting his playoff chances on Kenyon’s knees or JR’s three-point shooting.  Even with a proven winner like Billups leading the charge, the Nuggets must have started looking second-rate compared to the continued dominance of the Lakers, the return to prominence of the Spurs, and the high ceiling of the Mavericks.

So here we are, Nuggets fans, watching Melo graduate from our mini-mecca on the high plains to the Big Apple – crown of the crowded northeast.

Anthony took his shots here, and either through circumstance or generosity Carmelo replenished Denver with a whole host of playable/tradable young talents as he left.  We should all think on him fondly, welcome him back once a year with cheers, and not begrudge him his opportunity to play every other night in the Manhattan basketball theater that is Madison Square Gardens.

The Nuggets are in a good place now despite the heart-wrenching loss of Billups.  A new Collective Bargaining Agreement looms, and Denver has such flexibility and fresh, inexpensive talent as to be the envy of the majority of the NBA.  We are no Cleveland, and even without Melo the Nuggets will likely remain a playoff team into the future.

Meanwhile, Carmelo Anthony has a whole heap of pressure to deal with.  Losing a playoff series in Denver was still bringing playoff basketball to Denver.  Losing a playoff series or, heaven help him, failing to make the playoffs in the top-heavy East will bring down a firestorm of media madness on Melo’s head.  He has never really dominated in the playoffs, and the Knicks are kidding themselves if they think this somewhat lopsided trade makes them an overnight contender.

So here’s hoping that Carmelo knows what he’s getting himself into.

Here’s to the memories, to a few unfortunate regrets, and to the still-bright future of the Denver Nuggets.

(And here’s to the Knicks buying out Billups’ contract, to his hopefully forgiving our rat-fink front office, and to Chauncey retiring as a Denver Nugget.)

Happy trails Melo, enjoy the bright lights.

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  Denver will host the division nemisis Utah Jazz to kick...