Nuggets a lotto team this season?

[noypi]

I've been reading some General Board discussions and people there seem to overlook at the Nuggets this season. I mean, how are lotto teams last season like Blazers, Clippers, Warriors bounces the Nuggets out of the playoffs picture? We've lost Camby but I think a healthy Nene is better than him. We've lost 1 hustler in Najera but gained 2 hustlers/energy/weed guys (Birdman & Balkman). We still got AI+JR+Melo+K-Mart's talent to carry this team. Chucky will be healthy & Kleiza still can hit the corner 3. Though we still got AC's bricking & Karl's fat ass, I think this team is still capable of winning 50-55 games this season w/c could make us land on 5-8 spot.

[corona]

like any teams playoff chances...it depends on health.

if iverson/melo/kmart/nene all play 65+...i don't see how we miss out.

people may say "lol...look how injury prone those guys are...chances for playoffs dont look good if you're counting on their health"
but on the same token...davis & camby have never been beacon's of stability through nba seasons. oden hasn't played an nba game because of injury. maggette always has a strained this or that. stoudemire has the same microfracture kmart does, nash is old, shaq is old and has never been healthy. yao & mcgrady have been plagued for years and i don't expect it to change. it wasn't long ago boozer missed the good portion of a season with a hamstring ailment, no need to mention ak47. peja missed the entire season two years ago with a back injury. mavs looked pretty awful with kidd at the point after that trade. duncan/ginobili/finley aren't getting any younger. bynum hasn't played an nba game in a long time. artest/jackson are as volatile as anyone out there.

so as strong as the west is....everyone has issues. and ours aren't so great that they knock us out of the playoffs by default.

if nene/kmart/iverson can all stay on the court, i like our team better than last year.
we'll almost no-doubt see improvement from smith, and likely more minutes as well. he came on strong at the end of last season, on both ends of the court.
balkman is the perimeter defender we didn't have, and karl will certainly play him more than khouba because he's a bigger impact player offensively.
nene & kmart are better defenders than camby is or was. not to mention better offensive players.
atkins healthy, hopefully less carter.
i like having two tall energy bigs that can run the floor and finish, and won't stand around on the perimeter.
can expect more improvement from kleiza after a solid olympic tournament.
and maybe karl will decide to coach because his job is on the line.

[ambiglight]

There are so many unknowns with this team. Its hard to call. Who knows whether Nene is actually going to be in game-shape for enough of the beginning half of the season. Its quite likely that AI will get traded for some fodder and capspace. Although they resigned JR, I still dont hear anything from Karls direction indicating that he plans on playing him significant minutes let alone starting him.

So its hard to call.

All you can say is that under certain conditions they can not only make the playoffs but get a good seed. If JR starts with AI playing the point, and Nene averages over 30 minutes a game for at least 65 games, they should be good.

[almost famous]

I don't mind our team flying under the radar. I know Melo and AI don't play well together, but I really don't understand how you can possibly count out a team with both of them on it.

Personally, I'd much rather have a healthy Nene than an overrated Camby. Add in a healthy Atkins, a solid perimeter defender in Balk, a energy big man that we never had last season, a bigger role for JR, and multiple trading chips. Anything can happen. For everything we lost, we gained someone just as good or better.

[Ewingfan]

I dont think they are a lottery team this year. They can make the playoffs especially if they take care of business at home like they did last year. Im hopin they improve on the road because they were woeful away from Denver. As much as I despise Karl right now he's goin to be coaching his fat ass off because all eyes are on him. I dont think this team can contend for a championship though unless A.I and Carmelo play outta their minds. Who knows bein a lottery team may be the only way this team can get better. Maybe the Nuggs need to get another top draft pick to start rebuilding around Carmelo.

[The Rebel]

You are going to listen to the general board, where Carmelo is the biggest thug in the history of the league, the Nuggets are the worst defensive team in the league, if they did not have such a great offense they would be last in the nba, Nene should be out of the league, Kmart would be lucky to stay uninjured for more then a month, and Camby is the greatest defender of the last 20 years. In other words they get all their info from ESPN, with very little of it is based on reality.

People do not realize that Camby is one of the most overrated and selfish players in the NBA, and he was our third best big man at defense (would have been 4th if not for Nene getting cancer). I am fully comfortable with Nene and Hunter playing the majority of minutes at center (people forget that Hunter played meaningful minutes with a very good Phoenix team and a solid Philly team) being backed up by Andersen who is a solid hustle guy. Add in that Nene is said to be healthy and working with Hess this offseason (only a short trip to Brazil which means he should be in great shape), and Atkins will be healthy and on the court to help JR spread the floor a little, and this team should actually be better then they were last year.

I think this team will be a 50 win team again, and should make the playoffs but once again I do not expect them to do much more then that, simply because AI and Melo still do not fit together.

[MHZ]

I don't see them winning 50, for a variety of reasons. I can already see a slow start, which will fire up the trade Melo garbage, which will lead to maybe sneaking into the playoffs, maybe just missing. Either way, they're going nowhere. Wooo pessimism.

[Ewingfan]

I expect the Nuggets to make the playoffs. I am so confident that I am willing to bet 100$ that they will. I am expecting them to compete for the division title. That should be the #1 goal for the Nuggets this season. last year the goal was to win 50 games. They accomplished that. Now its time to win the division and a first round series.

[SnakefromHell]

It feels like we're a lottery team every year anyway... first round out, first round out...