The Nuggets have five unrestricted free agents this summer and they would likely want to keep a couple of them. Starting power forward Kenyon Martin has a early termination option in his contract but the free agent market is loaded with power forwards so I would think he wouldn’t opt out. Johan Petro, Malik Allen, Joey Graham and Anthony Carter are all bench players so there will be no rush to re-sign them. Petro and Graham are the most likely of this bunch for the Nuggets to want to bring back. Backup forward Linas Kleiza is a restricted free agent. He played overseas last season but the Nuggets would jump at the chance to bring him back if he wanted to play for them.

The Nuggets traded for Arron Afflalo last summer in a deal in which they also got forward Walter Sharpe from the Pistons for a future 2nd round pick and cash. The 24-year old Afflalo played in 82 games (75 starts) for the Nuggets last season and he averaged 27.2 minutes, 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He shot an amazing 43.4% from three point range last season for the Nuggets. The Pistons gave up on Afflalo way too early. He has now played in 231 games (92 starts) in his NBA career in which he has averaged 19.2 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. Look for the Nuggets to be on the hunt around draft time for more young players that teams are willing to give up on cheaply.

25-year old small forward Carmelo Anthony is elgible for free agency after the 2010-11 season and the Nuggets are trying to lock him up for a few more years so that he doesn’t hit the open market. It would be smart of the Nuggets to lock him up so that they don’t have to compete with the team’s that lose out in this summer’s free agent derby. 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 7 seasons for the Nuggets appearing in 514 games (all starts) in which he has averaged 36.5 minutes, 24.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Anthony is #8 in Nuggets’ history in games played (514), #9 in steals (591) and #3 in points scored (12,711). The Nuggets should do everything that they can to make Anthony happy and want to stay in town a few more years.

The Denver Nuggets didn’t play any D last night as the Jazz shot 52.2% from the floor last night and it ended their season in Salt Lake City. Chauncey Billups led the way for the Nuggets last night with 30 points, 1 rebound and 8 assists. Carmelo Anthony only shot 6 of 22 from the floor but he still finished up with 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Joey Graham had his best game of the year last night for the Nuggets with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals in 25 minutes off the bench. Ty Lawson pitched in with 10 points and 3 assists in 22 minutes off the bench. The Nuggets lose this series 4-2 to the Jazz.

The Nuggets shot 50.7% from the floor last night and they outscored the Jazz 30-21 in the 4th quarter which were the two biggest reasons for the win. Carmelo Anthony got some help last night after asking for it in a press conference earlier in this series. He led the way for the Nuggets in this game with 26 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Chauncey Billups had Anthony’s back in this game as he finished up with 21 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kenyon Martin was solid offensively with 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in this game. J.R. Smith pitched in with 17 points, 1 rebound and 3 assists off the bench. Arron Afflalo (12 points) and Chris Andersen (10 points) also pitched in offensively for the Nuggets in this game. The Nuggets are now down 3-2 in this series as it shifts over to Salt Lake City.