28-year old Nene’ Hilario has really stepped up the last couple of years for the Nuggets as he is finally healthy. Nene’ played in 82 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 33.6 minutes, 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game. He has now played in 452 games (349 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 29.5 minutes, 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He is without a doubt the Nuggets third best player on the team behind only Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. With all of the injuries at power forward the Nuggets are going to depend on Nene’ doing the dirty work in the paint.

32-year old Chris “The Birdman” Andersen is also banged up right now for the Nuggets. He will also likely miss the start of the year. Andersen played in 76 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 22.3 minutes, 5.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Andersen has now played in 405 games (9 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 18.2 minutes, 5.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS CENTERS IN 2010-11: B

It’s looking as if 26-year old Shelden Williams will be the starting power forward for the Nuggets when the 2010-11 season begins. Williams played in 54 games (0 starts) for the Celtics last season and he averaged 11.1 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He has now played in 244 games (31 starts) in this NBA career and he has averaged 13.9 minutes, 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The Nuggets will probably be happy as long as Williams hits the boards and plays D until one of the other power forwards get healthy.

30-year old Al Harrington was signed to start at power forward until Kenyon Martin was ready to return to action. But Harrington has injured his foot and he might not be ready when the season starts. Harrington played in 72 games (15 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Harrington has now played in 800 games (441 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 29.9 minutes, 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Harrington is a little soft at power forward but he is a good outside shooter for a big man.

32-year old Kenyon Martin is going to miss a good chunk of this year due to off-season surgeries. Martin played in 58 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 34.2 minutes, 11.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game. Martin has now played in 606 games (593 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.7 minutes, 13.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocked shots per game. Martin is a really good player when healthy as he plays hard on both ends of the court.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS POWER FORWARDS IN 2010-11: C

26-year old small forward Carmelo Anthony is still with the Nuggets despite wanting to find a new address. Anthony played in 69 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 38.2 minutes, 28.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He has now played in 514 games (all starts) in his 7 years with the Nuggets and he has averaged 36.5 minutes, 24.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. If the Nuggets do wind up trading Anthony soon they need to get his replacement in the deal because the depth is pretty weak behind him.

26-year old Renaldo Balkman has been a huge disappointment thus far in his NBA career. He played in 13 games (1 start) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 7.0 minutes, 1.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. Balkman has now played in 199 games (12 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 14.5 minutes, 4.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.

Al Harrington was signed to play power forward but he could play some small forward in a pinch for the Nuggets.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS SMALL FORWARDS IN 2010-11: A

The Nuggets have a very solid scoring tandem at shooting guard in 2010-11. 24-year old Arron Afflalo will be the starting shooting guard for the Nuggets once again this year. Afflalo played in 82 games (75 starts) last season for the Nuggets and he averaged 27.2 minutes, 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He was also a deadeye from long range last season as he hit 43.4% of his shots from three point range. Afflalo has now played in 231 games (92 starts) in his three years in the NBA and he has averaged 19.2 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Afflalo will likely only play about as many minutes as he did last season as he will be sharing the shooting guard job with J.R. Smith.

25-year old J.R. Smith is a pure scorer off the bench. He played in 75 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 27.7 minutes, 15.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Smith has now played in 424 games (123 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 23.7 minutes, 12.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Smith has only shot 36.8% from three point range in his career but that hasn’t stopped him from jacking up a lot of long range shots.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS SHOOTING GUARDS IN 2010-11: B

The Nuggets are three deep with solid players at point guard and not many teams in the NBA can boast that. It all starts with 33-year old Chauncey Billups who still has something left in the gas tank. Billups played in 73 games (all starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 34.1 minutes, 19.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He has now played in 910 games (816 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 32.3 minutes, 15.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. I think Billups has at least 1 more really good season in him.

22-year old Ty Lawson really played well as a rookie for the Nuggets last year. Lawson played in 65 games (8 starts) last season and he averaged 20.2 minutes, 8.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Lawson shot well from everywhere on the court as a rookie as he hit 51.5% from the floor, 41% from three point range and 75.7% from the free throw line. Lawson will replace Billups as the starting point guard at some point in the future but it won’t likely be 2010-11.

35-year old Anthony Carter will likely just get scrap minutes behind Billups and Lawson but he will make the most of them. Carter played in 54 games (7 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He has now played in 566 games (181 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 20.3 minutes, 5.0 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE NUGGETS POINT GUARDS IN 2010-11: B+