RealGM

1. George Karl, Denver Nuggets. If you flip Karl upside down and turn him around, you will see it: his expiration date. Karl's 20 seasons as an NBA head coach have been divvied up among five franchises so far, an average of four seasons per. That puts him right at his "best if used by ..." calendar number with Denver, where things could get a little overripe in this, Karl's fifth season there.

Management has handed Karl a lesser team and, by dumping Marcus Camby's salary to the Clippers, deprived him of his most accomplished and committed defensive player, a must-have on a squad dominated by scorers Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson and J.R. Smith. Giving up too many points, regardless of how many your team scores, is high on the list of reasons NBA coaches get fired, ranking up there with playoff failures and player mutinies. Come to think of it, Denver already is heavy on the former and could face the latter if the Nuggets -- and their coach -- let management's cost-cutting undercut their own motivation.