JR Smith is a great athlete, but he got in Byron Scott’s doghouse in New Orleans last season and never got out of it.  Smith has averaged 21.7 minutes per game in his 2 seasons in the NBA.  It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the added playing time.  Smith has averaged 9.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in his career.

Frenchman Yakhouba Diawara looks to be the #2 shooting guard on the Nuggets.  Diawara played pro basketball in France and Italy last season.  Diawara is a solid defensive player that will need to refine his offensive game a little bit to fit in the NBA.

Demarr Johnson has been a decent back-up for the Nuggets.  Johnson is a good athlete that has rebounded from a severe neck injury early in his career.  Johnson has career averages of 6.6 points, 2,4 rebounds and 1.0 assists in his career.

Julius Hodge is recovering from a gun shot wound to the leg.  He could be out for awhile, but he wasn’t that good when he played last season.

The Denver Nuggets have one of the best 1-2 punches in the NBA at the point guard position.  Andre Miller has been a fantastic point guard for his career.  Miller is very unselfish and almost never takes a bad shot.  Unlike alot of other NBA players, Miller knows his limitations….which includes 3-pointers, which he rarely takes.  Miller is a great passer that has averaged 7.5 assists per game over his 571 game career.  Miller is a good medium range shooter that hits 45.1% of his shots.  Miller also is a good free-throw shooter that makes people pay for fouling him (80.4%).  Miller gets his points (14.2 avg), fights for rebounds (4.2 per game) and steals the ball 1.4 times per game.

Earl Boykins is a little 5′5″ ball of energy and hustle.  Boykins has problems on defense with bigger point guards, but he also exploits the bigger guys with his blazing speed.  Boykins likes to put the ball up, because he knows he won’t get to play alot.  Boykins has averaged 19.8 minutes a game over his career.  Boykins averages 9.0 points per game and 3.3 assists for his career.  It’s hard for the Nuggets to give him to many minutes, because they don’t want him to wear down or for opposing teams to abuse him on defense.

George Karl has been around a long time, and make no mistake….he’s a tough coach that demands that his players give a good effort every night.  That’s why he has had problems with Kenyon Martin when he’s on cruise control.  With the Nuggets, Karl has a sparkling record of 76-46!  In 18 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, Karl has a 784-545 record.

Karl has a tough time in the post-season, however.  Karl is only 2-8 in the playoffs with Denver.  For his career, Karl sports a playoff record of 61-75.