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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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A 101-94 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Denver on Tuesday night probably ended the Nuggets’ pursuit of the Northwest Division Title.  Denver shot poorly but came from behind repeatedly through the game.  OKC finally turned back the Nuggets for good in the closing minutes.  It was an important lesson for these new Nuggets, and maybe even a blessing in disguise.

Barring an uncharacteristic slip by a suddenly stout Thunder squad and the Nuggets winning out, Denver seems destined for the 5^th seed in the NBA Playoffs.

That seeding would pit Denver against whichever top West team ends up 4^th, with OKC currently sitting in that spot.  The rapidly rising Thunder would be a tough first round playoff matchup for the Nuggets, as Oklahoma City is actually playing better than either the top-seeded Spurs or the #3 Dallas Mavericks.  With the trade-deadline addition of center Kendrick Perkins, the Thunder join the Lakers as the teams to beat going forward.

Something that the media has predominantly missed in declaring this divisional rivalry a sure-thing playoff matchup is that those slipping Mavericks sit just two games ahead of the Thunder.  Denver will trek to Dallas on Wednesday for the second half of a back-to-back, but the Mavs have been weakened by two key injuries in the last week.  A win for the Nuggets coupled with OKC finishing strong could lift the Thunder into the 3^rd playoff slot.

That would be a dream-come-true for the Nuggets, who have dominated the Mavericks in playoffs past.  Dallas is a jump-shooting team with a nearly nonexistent paint presence, and the Nuggets’ athletic defense could give the Mavs fits.  Plus Denver has twin paint threats in Nene and Kenyon Martin along the starting front backed by Birdman and Mozgov off the bench.

Not only is Denver v Dallas a better matchup for the Nuggets, but it would leave the Thunder to fend off a tough #6 Portland Trailblazers team in their first round test.  The Blazers are another Northwest Division rival, and would wear down Perkins to expose the soft underbelly of Oklahoma City.  Aside from having a chance to win the series, Portland would do Denver the favor of taking the Thunder’s best shot.

The Nuggets play at Oklahoma City on Friday night before returning home for a couple of soft matchups that should guarantee Denver stays ahead of Portland and the rest of the Western Conference pack.  Counting tomorrow at Dallas, the Nuggets, Mavericks and Thunder all play five more games apiece.  With the Mavs on a 3-game losing streak and losing steam, OKC could pleasantly postpone what will surely be a brawling series against the Nuggets until the Western Conference Finals.

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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 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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On the eve of the 2010-2011 season, Carmelo Anthony is still a Denver Nugget…

And he couldn’t be happier about the Nuggets’ first opponent.

Denver will host the division nemisis Utah Jazz to kick off what could be Melo’s last year, month or week with the club… depending on which trade rumors you believe.  For his part, Anthony is just happy to have an early chance for revenge after Denver’s playoff run ended in a first round collapse to the veteran Jazz.

“I think the NBA was reading my mind. They granted my wish,” Anthony said. “I wanted Utah the first game. I know there’s going to be a lot of excitement. They got us out in the playoffs last year. We kept that in mind.”

The rest of the Nuggets likely feel the same, and should like their chances given a healthy George Karl manning the Denver bench.  Karl missed most of the latter half of last season to throat and neck cancer treatment.  Assistant Adrian Dantley filled in for George, and was simply overpowered by Jerry Sloan’s two decades of mastery as Jazz head coach.  The Nuggets were 42-21 under Karl last season.

The Nuggets won the season series last year 3-1.  Denver clocked 114, 105, 119 & 106 on the pointsometer in those four games, and were able to generate a grinding 105-95 win in Utah without Carmelo Anthony & Chauncey Billups.  That road win featured George Karl’s favorite bench players outworking Jerry Sloan’s workmanlike Jazz in a preview of what the team might look like without a superstar on the roster.

Denver will begin ’10-’11 without the services of big men Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen after twin offseason knee surgeries.  K-Mart & Birdman are questionable through the first month of the new season.  Free agent acquisition Al Harrington will try to fill the void at Power Forward.

For now the Nuggets should get the job done at home with Denver still auditioning for Melo’s love.  Anthony has maintained all along that he simply wants to keep his options open, and calls the Nuggets his team at every opportunity.  A lot of “us” and “we” talk for a man on the move.  If the Nuggets play like a Championship contender early it will raise Anthony’s trade value… and give the organization a reason to keep Melo in Denver as long as he’ll stay.

“As of right now I’m starting the game against Utah on our home court which I’m excited about,” offered Anthony on “The Scott Van Pelt Show” on Tuesday.  “I can’t predict the future so whatever is going to happen is going to happen. But right now I’m just focusing on the upcoming season.”

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When ESPN’s Ric Bucher published a short article guessing that Carmelo Anthony would leave the Nuggets, he was not engaging in any sort of responsible journalism.

Bucher cited “league sources” as claiming that Anthony was on his way out of Denver, that it was just a matter of time until Carmelo found his way to New York City.  Whether by sign-and-trade or free agent departure, Melo’s days in Denver were sadly numbered.

Of course, “league sources” could mean almost anyone with ties to the NBA.

Ric could have been chatting up a towel boy or waxing philosophical with a front office paper-pusher from any NBA club.  He could then cite that blatantly non-expert opinion as a “league source” with “special knowledge” of the situation.  Even though “special knowledge” could mean anybody with half a brain who has kept up with Carmelo’s offseason refusal to sign a lucrative 3-year extension with the Nuggets.

“…he’s going to make it real clear that he’s not coming back,” said one of Bucher’s league sources.

A nebulous quote that says nothing in particular, but which harkens back to Lebron’s definitive decision to “take my talents to South Beach.” The perfect line to kick off ESPN’s inevitable three-week coverage marathon on The Decision II: Melo’s Dilemma.

I won’t go so far as to say that ESPN’s editors put all of their NBA writers’ names in a hat and drew for who got to “break” this invented story, but it is unlikely that Ric Bucher made it up all by himself.

ESPN needed another juicy headline to fill out the front page until the US Ryder Cup team is selected in September (because nobody is sick of reading about Tiger Woods yet… somehow.)  And Carmelo left an opening when he failed to downplay toasts made by several guests at his wedding reception insisting that he take his talents to the Big Apple ASAP.

Shake, stir, add a dash of hearsay and a heaping spoonful of conjecture… BAM!  Headline news.

One Wedding & a Funeral

It was July 11^th, the day after Carmelo Anthony finally tied the knot with long-time girlfriend/fiancé La La Vasquez.

A host of high-profile guests included some prolific representatives of Melo’s NBA clique.  Lamar Odom was there.  Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin both attended.  Lebron James may have been somewhere nearby.  But it was Chris Paul of New Orleans Hornets fame who stirred the pot by offering a half-joking toast to Carmelo and his future with the New York Knicks.  (Paul is also rumored to be looking for a road that leads to the NYC.)

Stoudemire who signed with New York this summer kept the pressure on, and Carmelo’s brother Robert added more fuel to the fire.  The whole unseemly interruption into an otherwise civil celebration got ugly when Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke stood up and offered a toast to Anthony’s future in the Mile High City.  (cue crickets)

The end result was a world of speculation as to why Carmelo would not interrupt his own wedding reception to discuss in-depth his plans for the latter half of his NBA career.  (cue ESPN speculators)

It is unclear as to whether the reception will appear alongside the wedding ceremony on the VH1’s La La & Carmelo Reality Show this September 19^th.  However, with Melo’s decision still entirely up in the air, an offer from the Nuggets still on the table, and The Man himself unwilling to give up any potential plot twists, we have to figure out the dirty details ourselves for now.

Or we could let Ric Bucher and his towel boy figure it out for us.  According to Bucher’s source, Melo’s silence during the reception says it all:

“There were other people saying, ‘We’re going to get you guys together,’ but it doesn’t become a runaway train if Melo says something,” said one source. “Maybe he didn’t perpetuate it, but tell people to stop or say, ‘Stan, I’m sorry.’ He didn’t do any of that.”

Suffice to say that Carmelo’s wedding reception may have been a funeral for his career as a Denver Nugget.

The Real Story

In reality, Bucher was just writing what most of America was thinking.

Nobody expects Carmelo to stay in a small market like Denver with the bright lights of New York awaiting him.  And while Anthony can make more money staying in Denver than by testing the free agent market next summer or forcing a trade this fall, there is an option that would be beneficial to both parties.

A sign-and-trade to the Knicks would at least give Nuggets fans a reason not to despise Melo throughout the inevitable rebuilding process that would follow his departure.  If Denver could garner a player and a couple of first round draft picks after signing Anthony to a max deal this offseason and trading him to the wayward Knicks, it would make Melo look like a saint compared to Benedict James in Miami.

While it is no foregone conclusion, the sign-and-trade seems like the only way for the Nuggets to approach break-even on this deal.  If Carmelo plays the entire 2010-2011 season in Denver without a new contract, I would be utterly shocked.  Nobody in this town wants to see Carmelo Anthony on prime time television announcing that he’s leaving while the Nuggets get approximately squat in return.

In fact, I just got the latest from a janitor at the NBA League Offices on 5^th Avenue in NYC:

According to an unnamed league source, “Carmelo and his max deal for Danilo Gallinari and two first round draft picks.  My buddy at the copy center heard some suit from accounting talking about it.  Good as done.”

It’s been swell Carmelo.  Enjoy the bright lights.

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The Denver Nuggets will open next season at home versus the Jazz and finish in Utah against that same division nemesis.  With the release of the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 schedule on Tuesday, we see a clear focus on Northwest Division games when it counts.

Carmelo and the boys welcome the Jazz to Denver on October 27^th to kick off Redemption Year in Nuggetsland.  After injuries (Kenyon Martin, Chris Andersen & Ty Lawson) and coach George Karl’s battle with cancer derailed the Nuggets’ 2009-2010 campaign, this team is bound to come into the new season with a chip on its shoulder.  A home opener versus the same Utah Jazz that rocked the Nuggets right out of last season’s playoffs is the perfect place to start.

Couple that with a regular season wrap-up in Utah on April 13^th exactly 24 weeks later, and we get an idea of how the NBA expects this Northwest Division battle to shake out.

But to add both clarity and confusion to this picture, the NBA’s scheduling czars threw the Nuggets a curveball with two games versus the rising Oklahoma City Thunder in the stretch run.

Denver will welcome Kevin Durant and the Thunder to town on April 5^th, travel to Oklahoma City on the 8^th, and return home to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on the 9^th before finishing in Utah.  That’s four of the Nuggets’ final six games against Northwest foes.  Even through the long NBA season, that final stretch will likely determine the division winner.  The rapidly-improving Thunder are the early favorites to come out on top.

More on the Stretch

Two of three games versus the NBA Champion LA Lakers will be played in Denver.  That’s good news.  The one road game in LA comes two days before the final six-game stretch mentioned above.  That’s bad news.

After their only trip to Los Angeles to face the Lakers, Denver will sandwich a trip to Dallas between those two OKC games.  A trip to Sacramento, where the Nuggets have always struggled, and a home game versus the high-scoring Golden State Warriors round out the Nuggets’ eight-game April schedule.

Just to re-cap, Denver will play five of its eight April contests on the road.  Four of those will pit the Nuggets against divisional competition, and three of those four come versus the two teams that Denver will most likely be vying with for the division crown.

The moral of this story?  The Nuggets will need to be playing hot or have a bit of a lead going into April if they want to be a top seed come playoff season.

The Best of the Rest

The Nuggets will have a chance to get off to a hot start with their biggest home stand of the season just 15 games in.

After hosting Chicago & Phoenix on November 26^th & 28^th, Denver gets the road-weak Bucks, Clippers & Grizzlies on December 1^st, 3^rd & 5^th.  The only elite road games preceding that home stand come back-to-back at the Mavericks on November 6^th and at the Bulls on November 8^th.  (Make special note of that visit to an increasingly dangerous Chicago team that added old Nuggets nemesis Carlos Boozer in the offseason.)

Kobe and the Lakers come to town early (Game 9) on Thursday, November 11^th.  LA visits Denver again smack in the middle of the season on January 21^st.  Both games are nationally-televised on TNT and ESPN respectively.  Altogether the Nuggets will play 25 contests before a national television audience in 2010-2011.

If you’re looking to catch the suddenly Champion-favorite Miami Heat, grab your tickets early.  We’ll know a lot about the playoff potential of James, Wade & Bosh by the time they visit Denver on January 13^th.  Last year’s Championship runner-up, the Boston Celtics (plus recent FA acquisition Shaq), will head to Denver on February 24^th.  Both games are part of TNT Thursday night showcases.

Link to the Nuggets’ 2010-2011 Schedule

Download a PDF of Denver’s 2010-2011 Schedule

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The Denver Nuggets are on the verge of signing veteran free agent Al Harrington after being stymied all offseason in their efforts to fill the gaping hole at power forward.

The Nuggets had pursued an assortment of other veteran free agent forwards, most notably Jermaine O’Neal and Udonis Haslem.

O’Neal went to Boston to fortify their bulky interior.  Haslem took less money to re-sign with Miami in pursuit of another Championship in his hometown.  Other big-time PF’s on the open market included Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire, but Denver watched as each in turn chose large-market Eastern Conference teams Chicago, Miami & New York respectively.

That left Denver scraping the bottom of the barrel… and willing to pay a steep price for the privilege.

Harrington played with the New York Knicks most of the last two seasons, and has had a renaissance of sorts following a couple of down years in Golden State.  The 12-year veteran played the first half of his career in Indiana after being drafted by the Pacers in the 1^st Round of the 1998 Draft.

Post-Pacers, two seasons with Atlanta and two with Golden State drew a stark comparison on Harrington’s career.

In Atlanta he was at the apex of his productivity, averaging 18 points and 6.9 rebounds a game.  The following two seasons with the Warriors (briefly interrupted by a return to Indiana) saw his stat-line decline precipitously through the end of the 2007-2008 campaign.  Harrington averaged 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year in New York after being traded to the Knicks early in the ’08-’09 season, a move that spurred his rapid return to relevance as he had the best statistical season of his career.

We in Nuggetsland have to wonder, though, if the 5-year, $34 million deal that Denver has reportedly offered Al will be worth it in the long-run.  The move wreaks more than a little of desperation, but was actually the product of a bidding war with Dallas as both the Mavericks and Nuggets scrambled to keep up with the rest of the league’s contenders.  The offer that Harrington appears ready to sign would constitute the full mid-level exception, effectively a max deal for a second-tier free agent.

Harrington will be 35 by the time the proposed contract expires, though, and his inconsistent career promises nothing in the way of guaranteed production.

The Nuggets are obviously frantic to show Carmelo Anthony (who has still declined to sign a contract extension) that they are willing to do what it takes to surround him with the talent required to win a Championship.  But Melo could be gone after next season if he doesn’t re-up, and the Big Al Signing would go down as another in a litany of poor choices by the Nuggets’ front office since drafting Nene & Melo in consecutive seasons.

Then again, Harrington has typically been on teams light in talent, and his glory years in Atlanta mirrored their rise to semi-prominence in the East.  If Al can be a healthy alternative to the perpetually injured Kenyon Martin & Chris Andersen at big forward, he may provide those two with the light early-season load necessary to keep them fresh until the playoffs.  (Neither K-Mart or Birdman are expected to start the ’10-’11 season after matching knee surgeries in this offseason.)

The Nuggets were scary good when they were all healthy in the first half of ’09-’10.  Kenyon’s potency at 100%, combined with Harrington’s added length (6’9”) off the bench and the inspiring return of coach George Karl could be enough to keep Denver afloat in the stacked West.

But another disappointing early exit from the playoffs would likely pave the road to New York for Carmelo, and with him would go the Nuggets’ hopes of winning an NBA Title.

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