Chucky Atkins will provide instant offense off of the bench if he can’t earn a starting role when he’s ready to return from a groin injury. He played in 75 games (23 starts) for the Grizzlies last season and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 13.2 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Power forward Kenyon Martin appears ready to return from microfracture surgery that cut his season to 2 games last year. He averaged 31.5 minutes, 9.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Martin is a better player than that as he’s played in 411 career games and he has averages of 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. Eduardo Najera is the energy player off of the bench for the Nuggets and he’s a really effective player. He played in 75 games (36 starts) last season for the Nuggets and he averaged 22.1 minutes, 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He’s also an outstanding shooter as he nailed 57.6% of his shots from the floor last year. Steven Hunter gives the Nuggets a legit backup center to spell Marcus Camby to keep him healthy. He played in 70 games (41 starts) last season with the 76ers and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 6.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Yakhouba Diawara will be the backup shooting guard for the Nuggets this season. He played in 64 games (19 starts) as a rookie for the Nuggets and he averaged 18.4 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Diawara needs to work on his shot selection as he only hit 34.2% from the floor last year. J.R. Smith is deep in the dog house of George Karl and that’s a shame because he’s a very talented player. Smith played in 63 games (24 starts) last season for the Nuggets and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 13.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.