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.

With the trade deadline quickly coming up the Nuggets appear willing to move veterans like Anthony Carter, Malik Allen and Johan Petro. Carter could help a team looking for a backup point guard. He has played in 30 games (7 starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 18.1 minutes, 3.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Power forward Malik Allen and center Johan Petro are both also on the block. Allen has played in 27 games (2 starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 7.8 minutes, 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Center Johan Petro has played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets this season and he is averaging 5.8 minutes, 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. The Nuggets likely wouldn’t get much for these guys even if they packaged them together.

The Nuggets need small forward Joey Graham to step up while Carmelo Anthony is out of action due to injury. Graham has played in 35 games (14 starts) for the Nuggets and he is averaging 13.0 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. The Nuggets need him to start helping out more on offense because the Nuggets will likely have some problems scoring without Carmelo Anthony in the starting lineup.