The Nuggets have traded starting center Marcus Camby to the Clippers for a 2nd round pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. This trade was just made to get the Nuggets under the luxury tax of the salary cap. Camby played in 79 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 34.9 minutes, 9.1 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.1 steals and 3.6 blocked shots per game. The Nuggets will miss Camby’s all out effort on both sides of the basketball court but especially on defense where he is one of the best centers in the NBA. Nene’ will likely take over as the starting center this season but he’s not as good on either end of the court as Camby is. The Nuggets will miss Camby big time in 2008-09.

The Nuggets acquired Sonny Weems from the Bulls for a 2nd round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. This was a good move for the Nuggets as they couldn’t afford to stand pat. Weems can handle either shooting guard or small forward as he is 6′6″, 203 pounds. He played in 69 games (66 starts) at Arkansas and he averaged 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. It will be interesting to see how much playing time the Nuggets give Weems because they don’t like to play their young players right away.

The Nuggets acquired (G) Taurean Green during the season from the Blazers for Von Wafer and he really didn’t do too much for them. Green played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 3.3 minutes, 1.1 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He only shot 33.3% from the floor for the Nuggets this season and it will be hard for him to get any playing time until he shoots a little bit better. Green played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets & Blazers this season and he averaged 4.4 minutes, 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game on 28% shooting from the floor.

The Nuggets played hard on Monday Night but it wasn’t enough to extend their season. J.R. Smith led the way for the Nuggets with 26 points, 3 assists and 2 steals off the bench. Allen Iverson pitched in with 22 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Carmelo Anthony also gave a good effort finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists. The Nuggets got swept 4-0 by the Lakers in this series.

The Nuggets only shot 37.2% from the floor yesterday which negated the fact that they out rebounded the Lakers 53-39. Carmelo Anthony only shot 5 of 22 from the floor but he still finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Anthony also accused his teammates and coaches of quitting during this game and that will likely have a very bad effect in the locker room. Allen Iverson was only 5 of 16 shooting from the floor as he finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Linas Kleiza had a solid game with 15 points and 9 rebounds. Kenyon Martin kept busy with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. The Lakers now lead this series 3-0.