27-year old power forward Shelden Williams starting out this year pretty well as he was rebounding and playing good defense. The Nuggets were hoping that he would shoot a little more than he has so far this year though. Williams has played in 21 games (all starts) for the Nuggets so far this year and he is averaging 20.5 minutes, 5.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He is shooting 47% from the floor and 76% from the free throw line so far this year. Williams is certainly going to lose P.T. when Kenyon Martin comes back but they need him to step up in the mean time.

34-year old starting point guard Chauncey Billups is starting to look his age on the basketball court and that’s not good for the Nuggets. Billups has played in 14 games (all starts) so far this year for the Nuggets and he is averaging 32.3 minutes, 14.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Billups is only shooting 36.6% from the floor and 34.9% from three point range so far this year. Head Coach George Karl is a loyal kind of guy but if Billups continues to struggle he might have to start cutting his minutes a tad. 23-year old Ty Lawson is Billups’ backup and he has outplayed him so far this year. Lawson has played in 16 games (2 starts) for the Nuggets so far this year and he is averaging 24.5 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He is also out-shooting Billups as he is hitting 46.6% of his shots from the floor and 37.8% from three point range. Lawson is the starting point guard of the future for the Nuggets but the team was hoping that would come a couple years down the road instead of now, so the Nuggets hope Billups will pick up the pace.

25-year old shooting guard J.R. Smith has fallen behind undrafted shooting guard/small forward Gary Forbes on the depth chart. It’s his own doing as he takes too many shots and he doesn’t play any D. Smith has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets so far this year and he is averaging 20.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He is shooting only 36.8% from the floor but 40.7% from three point range so far this year. He is going to have to start working harder in practice if he wants to impress George Karl and get his place back in the rotation.

The Nuggets are very happy with starting shooting guard Arron Afflalo this season. Afflalo has played in 65 games (58 starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 27.1 minutes, 8.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Afflalo has also been lethal from three point range this season hitting 44.4% from that range. With Kenyon Martin out of action for a while the Nuggets might ask Afflalo to shoot the ball more when he is on the court.

The Nuggets will be without starting power forward Kenyon Martin indefinitely due to a knee injury. Martin has played in 55 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 34.9 minutes, 11.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. This is a huge loss for the Nuggets who hope that Martin will be back before the playoffs start. Johan Petro has replaced Martin in the starting lineup so far and the Nuggets need him to step up. Petro has played in 19 games (2 starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 7.1 minutes, 2.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. In his last three games, Petro is averaging 15.7 minutes, 4.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.