So the Nuggets just traded away thier MVP Marcus Camby. Don't take this the wrong way; I know Camby is not the best player on the Denver Nuggets. However, I do know that he was the heart and soul of that team and in many ways was their Most Valuable Player. So now what? Marcus Camby was just traded for the right to swap second round picks in next years draft. Excuse me? I know this article is a little late and maybe just a tad bit out dated but I've got some ideas for what the Nuggets may do in the future now that they have some slight wiggle room when it comes to the cap. The Nuggets also received a ten million dollar luxery tax exception in this trade. Although this does not get the Nuggets below the salary cap, it does allow them more flexibility to re-sign J.R. Smith this summer. That is the first move in a long line of moves the Nuggets need to make. After this season, the Nuggets will most likely let Allen Iverson walk. This is perfect. I love Allen Iverson, but the experiment has not worked. With A.I. gone, the Nuggets will then have about thirty million dollars to throw around at free agents and have more leverage when making trades. So the time isn't now for the Denver Nuggets. The time is in the future. We must be patient Denver fans. Let us go over what the Nuggets could possibly put together next summer in free agency. In the summer of 2009, as I said before, A.I. will be leaving us. That gives us thirty million dollars in cap room. We have J.R. Smith locked up now, and we are now signing Linas Kleiza to a multi-year deal. Stop there. Remember, we must be patient. Next season (2008-2009) will not be our year. After Iverson leaves, we could use a new face in the backcourt. That face could very well come in next years draft, where it is possible that we could have two first round picks (as long as Charlotte is not in the lottery - pray the Bobcats are a playoff team next year!). First priority in the draft is a point guard. I have three in mind now; Ty Lawson (University of North Carolina), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse University) and Darrin Collison (UCLA). All three would be great additions to the Nuggets backcourt and all three would likely see playing time early and often. Next is a big. I don't know as of now what next years draft will hold as far as bigs in the draft, but that is a hole we can fill next year. Re-signing Kleiza to a long-term deal is our next priority. Third; get rid of Karl. If it does not happen during the season, he needs to be gone after next season. I don't know what the future holds, but as of now Avery Johnson is still out there. Johnson is a fiery coach who demands respect from his young players and can turn around the Nuggets defense. Those are three things a once fiery Karl no longer has the ability to bring out in himself or his team. Ok, now we're done. We have a solid team now that may make the NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference. Here's the starting line-up: 1 - Ty Lawson (Or one of the other two) 2 - J.R. Smith 3 - Carmelo Anthony 4 - Kenyon Martin 5 - Nene. With a new coach, a solid point and Kleiza coming off the bench, its possible that this team will make the playoffs. Now comes the real fun. The Summer of 2010, aka the "Summer of LeBron." Guess what? That seven year, $93 million deal that Kenyon Martin inked years ago is now gone! Last year we re-signed Linas Kleiza and added a few rookies to the roster. That didn't exactly break the bank. With thirty million dollars to play with last year (minus the money we paid Kleiza and the rookies) plus all the bank we'll be making off of losing Kenyon Martin, we will now have a ton of money to play with to lure LeBron into town. Isn't this fun?! Here's a possible startig line-up for 2010 - 1 - Ty Lawson - 2 J.R. Smith - 3 LeBron James 4 - Carmelo Anthony 5 - Nene. Wow!!!! Now that's a team! We'd still have Kleiza off the bench too! I know Carmelo is a little undersized at the four but ask anybody in the league and they'll tell you that he is one of the most deceivingly strong players in the league. Not to mention he can jump just as well, if not better than, most of the other fours in the league and he is quicker than most fours in the league as well. Oh yeah, and he also plays the four for Team USA during the summer. And I believe he often plays his best while playing that position for Team USA. Now don't get too excited by this news quite yet. LeBron is obviously interested in New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) and he is obviously going to be lured by other teams. One phone call might go something like this: ( Dwyane Wade) "I got this kid down her in South Beach named Michael Beasley. He's pretty good. What do you say to coming down here and playing with me and this young stud? We can win a championship together." (LeBron) "You know what D-Wade, that doesn't sound too bad to me!" End of conversation. I haven't done much research when it comes to this so I don't know if Miami will even have enough mulah to do that, but I'm just saying. It's very possible. So with that, here is a list of other NBA stars available as unrestricted free agents in the "Summer of LeBron": Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Ray Allen, Tyson Chandler, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Nash Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Redd. I'll say it again: Wow!!!! I can't wait to see what the future holds for the Denver Nuggets. God knows there are endless possibilities out there. Now all we can do as fans is sit back, relax and pray for the best. Go Charlotte Bobcats!

I read today on the Denver Posts website that my boy Carmelo Anthony got pulled over and issued a ticket for going sixty miles per hour in a forty-five mile per hour zone. My response: Who gives a s***? I'm tired of stuff like this being news. Speeding? Are you kidding me? The article said that this ticket adds to the woes of Melo. Talk about the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. It's an effing speeding ticket! I'm from the small town of Rapid City, South Dakota. I drive the speed limit. However, when I'm in Denver, my favorite city in the world, I don't drive the speed limit all the time. In a big city, I drive with the flow of traffic. If the speed limit is forty-five, it's likely that I could be going sixty and not even realize it because I'm driving the same speed as everyone else. And from what I hear, according to the comments to the article in the Denver Post, most people speed in that part of town, on that particular street. Its just the way the traffic flows. I'm not going to say that the Denver PD are targeting Melo, but let's be serious for a minute. Why pull Melo over when everyone else is speeding too? Is it because he's black, or maybe because he drives a Mercedes Benz and a Range Rover? Who knows? And when he does get a ticket, why does the Denver Post make it national news (or even city or regional news)? Money, celebrity obsession, etc. What I'm saying is, get off Melo's back. Before he came to Denver the Nuggets were the laughing stock of the NBA. Since he's been in Denver, the Nuggets haven't missed the playoffs and are one of the top teams in the league when it comes to nationally televised games. Most of this can be attributed to Carmelo Anthony. He's saved a franchise. Time for all of the "fans" of the Nuggets to quit talking about Melo needing to leave Denver. I've expressed my feelings toward this in a past article and I still don't like it. Say goodbye to Melo, say goodbye to the playoffs, NBA Championships, and possibly the Denver Nuggets as a whole. Does anyone honestly think that if Melo leaves the Nuggets will improve next year? Nobody should think this. If Melo leaves, Iverson has the option to opt out of his contract. Iverson will leave if Melo leaves. There's no point in Iverson staying if he can't win. Iverson is nearing the end of his career (so some people think) and Melo leaving does not help the Nuggets case for keeping him. Melo, please don't go anywhere. I promise you ninety-nine percent of Nuggets fans love you. Don't listen to the one percent who don't even deserve to call themselves Nuggets fans. Back to the speeding ticket: I couldn't give less of a s***. And nobody else should either.

Today it was reported that Chris Lofton, a point guard for the Tennessee Volunteers, had a testicular cancer scare before this last season. I don't know the whole story so I'm not going to act like I know what I'm talking about but this is a great story. Lofton and his coach, Bruce Pearl, decided that they would wait until after the season to reveal that this happened. Apparently Lofton was not ready to deal with the issue like Lance Armstrong did, and that's to be expected. Lofton and Pearl made the right decision, especially since he plays in a game where the crowds of other home teams will ridicule you for anything, no matter how serious the situation. This is definitely a testement to how hard Lofton works and how tough he really is. Nobody knows what kind of pro he's going to be, but I can confidentally say that this will definitely help his draft status. Every team could use a player like Lofton. He's a tough kid who plays with all of his heart every night. Kudos to Chris Lofton. This is a great story.

Now that it has been confirmed that George Karl will be back next year, it's time for the Nuggets to make some drastic changes. Let's start with Allen Iverson. It should be interesting what the Nuggets do with A.I. How about we trade the third best scorer of all time for a couple players or better yet some draft picks. The Nuggets don't need two scorers and Carmelo is only twenty three years old. Iverson isn't getting any younger (as that is impossible), and his production is bound to start to slip. As I was watching the Nuggets game four loss two nights ago, I noticed that Allen Iverson holds the ball more than any other player in the NBA. Let me clear something up for anybody who thinks I'm an Iverson hater; I love Allen Iverson! But something needs to be done and Carmelo is not to be touched. Next is Eduardo Najera. Let him go. Najera has done a lot for the Nuggets the last few years, but he is dispensible. The only problem with letting him go is that the Nuggets will then have to sign another energy player. SIgn J.R. Smith, Linas Kleiza and Yakouba Diawara. Ooh, here's an idea! Actually play Yakouba next year. He's the best perimeter defender the Nuggets have and he only averaged two minutes per game this season. Dump Marcus Camby's salary or trade him for a draft pick or another younger center. He has been the Nuggets MVP for the last few years, but it's time to go in a new direction. If at all possible, try to trade Nene for a draft pick or players. He is only twenty five years old and lot of teams would be willing to take the risk on Nene. He has tremendous upside, but he hasen't been playing on a consistent basis these last few years. Keep Kenyon Martin. He's now 100% healthy and he is one of the most impressive athletes anyone has ever seen. If it's possible, grab Ron Artest in free agency. I know he's another strong personality, but the Nuggets need to focus on defense this offseason. No offense (we already know you can play offense), only defense. Get rid of a couple assistant coaches but keep Adrian Dantley. It's obvious the players respect him and listen to him. Try to get Jeff Van Gundy to listen to offers (not likely to happen) and if he isn't biting, try to get one of his defensive minded proteges. That's all I got. I've done my part, now hopefully the Nuggets can improve this offseason. It's time to win a championship!!!

Why the hell would anybody want the Nuggets to get rid of Carmelo Anthony? Woody Paige of the Denver Post recently said that Carmelo needs to be shipped out because he has not become the leader he is supposed to be. Let me tell you something about Carmelo Anthony. He's a winner. There's no disputing that. Admittedly, Carmelo has messed up a few times, but he's twenty three years old! Why would anybody want to trade someone who has this much talent at such a young age? Here's the solution to all of Carmelo's "problems." Motivate him. This summer will do him good, playing with players like LeBron and Kobe again in Beijing. Here's an idea. I doubt Carmelo reads any of the posts anybody puts on this site, but Carmelo should try to guard LeBron and Kobe every chance he can get during the practices for the Olympic team this summer. Carmelo has made great advances in his game over the past two years and his defense is the biggest hole in his game right now. I know Carmelo can play defense; I've seen it. If he worked at it a little bit more, he could make an All-Defensive Team in this league. Of that I am sure. He is that talented. So all of the columnists in Denver need to back up for a second and think about what they're saying. Carmelo will grow up and he will improve on his discipline on the defensive end. Don't worry about Carmelo. He needs to be in Denver for this team to have any success in the next five years. If at that time he still hasen't taken responsibility for his defense, then you can talk about trading him. Carmelo Anthony better not go anywhere this offseason other than to Beijing, bringing a gold medal back to Denver.