The 2005-06 Nuggets had pretty much the same problem that the Nuggets have had for the last few years. They do not have a shooting guard. Or more accurately, I should say a guard that can shoot. Or even more accurately, they have guards that can shoot the ball, but they dont have any guards that can make a shot. They tried DerMarr Johnson, they tried Greg Buckner, but in the end, they just couldnt get any consistent production at the shooting guard slot. With this deficiency, the Nuggets shot a league-low 32.5 percent from behind the arc and connected on just 4.3 three-pointers per game. Opposing teams dared Denver to shoot from the outside, packing their defense in to protect against Carmelo Anthony, Andre Miller and the rest of the Nuggets.Perhaps a bigger problem was the health of the Nuggets frontcourt. A harbinger of things to come, the only frontcourt player without an injury concern, Nene, went down with a torn ACL in the first game of the season. To make matters worse, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby missed a combined 52 games on the year and the Nuggets were left to rely on the unproven Francisco Elson at center. To help combat the injuries, the Nuggets acquired a big time rebounder in Reggie Evans from the Sonics. Still, their inability to spread the court and lacking inside presence hurt the Nuggets in the postseason as they took it on the chin in five games against the Clippers.The biggest story of the 2005-06 season was Carmelo Anthonys coming out party. Anthony showed the dominance of his Syracuse days by putting up 26.5 points per game on a highly efficient 48.1 percent from the floor and 80.8 percent from the line. George Karls influence has clearly helped Melo grow into an intimidating force on the offensive end. Although Carmelo took his game to a new level last season, he may be more valuable to his real-life team than he is to your fantasy squad. Hell have to improve in some of the other categories (mainly rebounds, assists and three-pointers) to bring his game to the next level in the fantasy world.The Nuggets definitely made some good moves in the off-season by acquiring uber talented J.R. Smith from the Bulls for Howard Eisley and two 2007 second-round draft picks. The other move the Nuggets made this summer was acquiring Joe Smith for the self-proclaimed Kobe-Stopper, Ruben Patterson. Acquiring a solid power forward-center type to back up Marcus Glassman Camby was a smart move by Denvers front office.With the general core of the team back for the 2006-07 season, the only question left is whether Kenyon Martin will still be on the team once the season starts. As of right now he still is, and it looks like his mega-contract will continue to keep him real close to his good friend George Karl.ADDITIONS:J.R. Smith, SGJoe Smith, PF/CLOSSES:Ruben Patterson, SFFrancisco Elson, PF/CPROJECTED STARTING LINEUP:C Marcus CambyPF Kenyon MartinSF Carmelo AnthonySG J.R. SmithPG Andre MillerWHAT TO LOOK FOR IN 2006The Nuggets addressed their glaring need for a shooting guard during the summer with the acquisition of J.R. Smith. The question is, was it enough? Denver's SG spot definitely became more athletic with J.R. taking over, and Smith has the ability to spread the court with his long-distance shooting abilities. The only other hope for some outside shooting is from Julius Hodge, the first-round pick from 2005. Hodge is still recovering from three gun shot wounds after he was attacked leaving a club in April 2006. Even if Hodge does successfully come back, hes a long shot to contribute from the outside being that he is more of a slasher than an outside gunner.One bright spot in the off-season was the play of Carmelo Anthony at the FIBA World Championship. Throughout the whole tournament (minus the forced three at the end of the Greece semifinal game), Carmelo was the most consistent and best player on the you.S. squad. Hes starting to look and act like one of those players that can make everyone on his team better.Overall talent should not be an issue for the Nuggets. They are clearly one of the most talented teams in the NBA. Andre Miller is an assist machine, Carmelo provides the scoring and Camby and Martin can wreak havoc on the boards. With Nene coming back from knee surgery and the addition of Joe Smith to the frontcourt, the Nuggets could have one of the best frontcourts in the league - if they can stay healthy. With five legitimate fantasy players and one late-round sleeper in J.R. Smith, the Nuggets could be fantasy gold in 2006-07.KEY BENCH PLAYERS / POSITION BATTLESIts a battle of health for the starting power forward spot in Denver. Nene will return from knee surgery that kept him out of action for the entire 2005 season, while K-Mart missed time with a knee injury and posted career lows in steals (0.8) and blocks (0.9) while putting up only modest numbers in points (12.9) and rebounds (6.3). Martin has the upper hand due to his shut-down defensive abilities, but Nene will push him for time, so both should see plenty of minutes in the Denver frontcourt. With both of these players being huge injury risks, it looks like whoever stays healthier will be the player that sees the most action.Although both Andre Miller and Earl Boykins are both listed at point guard, George Karl likes to use the two guards on the court at the same time. With the lack of a SG presence on this team, Karl has been forced to mix things up and use Boykins as a shooting guard at times. The Nuggets backcourt gets cloudier now that J.R. Smith is in town, and Boykins could lose some minutes as a result.PLAYERS WE LOVEIt is always nice to be able to find a sleeper here or there at the center position, seeing as it is the most scarce position in fantasy basketball. Nene will provide that for your team this year. Due to his injury at the beginning of last season, he will be a forgotten man this year. He will need to play well to earn that max contract he signed during the summer and will provide a solid source for field goal percentage, rebounds and blocks to go along with that elusive steals category. Let it be known, Nene has averaged 1.4 steals a game during his career.A very late-round sleeper candidate is J.R. Smith. In his rookie campaign with the Hornets, he averaged just more than 10 points per game in only 24 minutes of playing time. With all the defensive attention on Melo, Smith should be able to roam freely and use his athleticism to score effectively. For a late-round selection, he could bring a huge reward for such a small risk.PLAYERS TO AVOIDWith his dominant performance in the WBOC, Carmelo Anthony may be a bit overvalued this season. It is not so much that Anthony will have a bad year because he has progressively improved every year since he left Jim Boeheims basketball factory. It is more the fact that his average draft position is much higher than it should be for a player who does not contribute across the board. Melo can certainly score like his rivals Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, but Wade and James contribute heavily in the defensive categories while Anthony does not. To be fair, Melos percentages make him a terrific fantasy player, but dont reach too early to get a player whose main contribution comes in the easiest category to get off the waiver wire - points scored.This should go without saying, but Marcus Camby is a risky acquisition. Sure, hes got the whole high risk/high reward thing going for him, but the risk may outweigh the reward here. Now that the NBA does not have the injury list, Camby absolutely kills your team when he goes down due to injury. When healthy, Camby is an absolute fantasy beast. Problem is, Camby has played in an average of 55 games per year during the last four seasons.BOTTOM LINEThe 2006-07 Denver Nuggets team is going to look very similar to the Nuggets teams from the last few years, and I am not just talking about their powder blue jerseys. The Nuggets will continue to see opposing defenses pack it in and dare them to shoot from the outside. J.R. Smith should be able to spread the court a little, and Joe Smith should help bolster an injury-prone front court. Overall, expect more or less the same out of most of the Nuggets in terms of fantasy value.nba.com
