The Denver Nuggets need a starting shooting guard, a backup shooting guard and a legit center before the 2011-12 season begins. That is certainly a lot of work the Nuggets need to do. Hopefully they have already got a plan ready, because the roster is only really deep at point guard for the Nuggets right now. It will be interesting to see how the Nuggets decide to go about building the team for the present and the future.

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.

24-year old SG/SF Wilson Chandler has signed a 1-year deal to play ball in China. This will mean that even if the lockout ends, Chandler will have to stay in China until their season ends in March. Chandler will then come back to the NBA as a restricted free agent, giving the Nuggets a chance to match any offer he gets. Chandler played in 21 games (19 starts) for the Nuggets after coming over in the Carmelo Anthony deal and he averaged 30.6 minutes, 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Chandler played in 72 games (49 starts) overall last year for the Knicks & Nuggets and he averaged 33.3 minutes, 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game. He has now played in 254 games (199 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 32.1 minutes, 13.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. This could wind up being a big blow for the Nuggets in 2011-12.

28-year old center Nene’ Hilario has exercised his early termination option in his contract and he has now become the best center in the free agent market. Nene’ played in 75 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Nene’s has played in 527 games (424 starts) in his nine years with the Nuggets and he has averaged 29.6 minutes, 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Nene’s is #8 in games played (527) in Nuggets’ history. He is also #7 in rebounds (3,651), #6 in steals (658) and #9 in blocked shots (483) in Nuggets’ history. The Nuggets tried hard to get Nene to sign an extension. I think it’s going to be a lot harder to convince him to come back with other teams throwing cash at him.