The Nuggets have invited 32-year old power forward Melvin Ely to training camp. Ely last played in the NBA in 2008-09 with the New Orleans Hornets. He has played in 343 games (53 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 16.4 minutes, 5.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Ely has a good chance of making the team due to injuries that will likely cause Kenyon Martin and Chris Andersen to miss the start of the year.

The Nuggets are three deep with solid players at point guard and not many teams in the NBA can boast that. It all starts with 33-year old Chauncey Billups who still has something left in the gas tank. Billups played in 73 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 19.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has now played in 910 games (816 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.3 minutes, 15.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. I think Billups has at least 1 more really good season in him.

22-year old Ty Lawson really played well as a rookie for the Nuggets last year. Lawson played in 65 games (8 starts) last season and he averaged 20.2 minutes, 8.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Lawson shot well from everywhere on the court as a rookie as he hit 51.5% from the floor, 41% from three point range and 75.7% from the free throw line. Lawson will replace Billups as the starting point guard at some point in the future but it won’t likely be 2010-11.

35-year old Anthony Carter will likely just get scrap minutes behind Billups and Lawson but he will make the most of them. Carter played in 54 games (7 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He has now played in 566 games (181 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 20.3 minutes, 5.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS POINT GUARDS IN 2010-11: B+