The Nuggets have re-signed 26-year old shooting guard Arron Afflalo to a 5-year, $43 million dollar deal. Afflalo played in 69 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 33.7 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He also shot 42.3% from three point range last season for the Nuggets. Afflalo has now played in 300 games (161 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Afflalo is a player on the rise and I look for him to score a lot more in 2011-12.

The Nuggets have re-signed 29-year old center Nene’ Hilario to a 5-year, $67 million dolllar deal. Nene’ played in 75 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 14.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Nene’ has now played in 527 games (424 starts) in his first 9 years with the Nuggets and he is averaging 29.6 minutes, 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. This was an outstanding move for the Nuggets as a lot of teams were after Nene’ in free agency.

The Denver Nuggets have acquired 26-year old shooting guard Rudy Fernandez and 25-year old SG/SF Corey Brewer from the Dallas Mavericks for a future second round pick. Fernandez played in 78 games (3 starts) for the Trailblazers last year and he averaged 23.3 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has now played in 218 games (9 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 24.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Fernandez could be the starting shooting guard for the Nuggets if they don’t re-sign Arron Afflalo. If they do bring Afflalo back, Fernandez will back him up. Corey Brewer will likely get more time at small forward than he will at shooting guard in 2011-12 for the Nuggets. He played in 69 games (24 starts) for the Timberwolves & Mavericks last year and he averaged 21.9 minutes, 8.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Brewer has now played in 245 games (149 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 24.9 minutes, 8.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. This was a good deal for the Nuggets as the Mavericks were essentially giving these guys away to create some salary cap space.

26-year old shooting guard J.R. Smith has left the Nuggets to sign with a team in China. Smith played in 79 games (6 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 24.9 minutes, 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He played in 372 games (48 starts) in his five years with the Nuggets and he averaged 24.7 minutes, 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Smith must have gotten a lot of money in China because he was set up to be a pretty nice free agent in the NBA. He can’t return to the NBA until next March and he will be a free agent.

33-year old power forward has left the Nuggets to become the highest paid player in Chinese Basketball history. He won’t be available to NBA teams until March and he will be a free agent then, so he likely isn’t going to be coming back to the Nuggets in 2012. Martin played in 48 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 25.7 minutes, 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He played in 371 games (361 starts) in his seven years with the Nuggets and he averaged 30.6 minutes, 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. The Nuggets probably weren’t going to re-sign Martin anyway.