After acquiring Chauncey Billups, everything clicked for the Denver Nuggets. One of the strongest second half teams in the NBA made a remarkable playoff run, breezing past the Hornets and Mavericks during the first two series of the NBA playoffs. The Nuggets eventually met the Lakers, and put on a pretty respectable effort before bowing down to the would be champs.

After Chauncey Billups put on a show against New Orleans, Carmelo finally got to work against Dallas and kept it going. Melo was simply in a zone; Carmelo was averaging 27.3 points, 4.2 assists and was shooting 45% percent from the field. The Nuggets main problem was inbounding the balll in my mind, the Lakers wouldn’t have even gone to the finals if not for the Nuggets’ poor inbounding. Two proper inbounds passes instead of the ones they threw away could have easily sent the Nuggets to the finals.

If the Nuggets lineup were to stay as it is right now, I expect big things from the Nuggets.

Point Guard: Chauncey Billups seems to be fitting into Denver’s system and he very well could lead the nuggets to an NBA title.

Shooting guard- JR Smith will be 24 years old next season. A longtime prospect with much talent and much attitude, I believe that he’s finally matured to the point where he can responsibly assume the starter’s role. He was a valuable 6th man in Denver last season.

Small forward- Carmelo Anthony is, in my opinion, the 2nd best SF in the league behind LeBron James. Now I don’t think Melo will be better than LeBron, but Melo is great. If he hits three pointers more consistently he could be in the MVP race this season in my eyes.

Power forward- Kenyon Martin is one of the best defensive players in the league, hands down. The key to Martin (and the major question mark) is his health. When healthy, Martin’s defense wins basketball teams games. Period.

Center- Nene Hilario had a career year, leading the NBA in field goal percentage and putting up great rebounding and blocked shot averages. Nene also must stay healthy, as his role is vital to the Nuggets’ success.

Other- Chris Anderson. Talk about a comeback season! With 2.5 blocks per game, Anderson was second best in the NBA, and he did this in just 20.6 minutes per game, off the bench. Anderson posted numbers that any team would be thrilled to have, and will continue to feed into Denver’s success.

If Kenyon Martin and Nene can stay healthy, I see no reason this team can’t be a top team in the Western Conference. They were one of the most impressive teams in basketball during the second half of the season, and nearly made the NBA finals. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them to do the same next year, if not better than last.

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