DENVER — The Denver Nuggets have re-signed Nene to a five-year deal, keeping the unrestricted free agent through 2015-16.

The Denver Post first reported that the Brazilian center had agreed to the contract that could be worth up to $67 million.

Nene had considered leaving Denver for the Nets, Rockets or Pacers as an unrestricted free agent, but decided in the end to stay in the city where he began his career in 2002.

Nene averaged 14.5 points and 7.6 rebounds last season and will be counted upon to provide leadership following Kenyon Martin’s exodus to China during the NBA lockout. Nene will start in the Nuggets frontcourt alongside Timofey Mozgov.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read More: knicks schedule, nuggets schedule, Carmelo Anthony (F – NYK), New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets

The New York Knicks will not visit the Denver Nuggets in the 2011-12 season, reports Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post. That means that Nuggets fans won’t get an opportunity to see their old All-Star Carmelo Anthony in his new blue and orange wardrobe and thank him for his years of service … or boo him lustily for the way he left the team.

Whether it’s accurate or not, there exists the belief that ‘Melo forced a trade to the Knicks by refusing to sign an extension with the Nuggets and indicating he wouldn’t sign a new deal with any number of teams with better packages than what New York could offer. Nonetheless, Denver came up aces in the ‘Melo trade, scoring Danilo Gallinari, the new focal point of George Karl’s offense, and restricted free agent Wilson Chandler, who is busy dominating the Chinese Basketball Association.

Because of the lockout-shortened schedule, teams will miss scheduled stops in a number of cities whose teams play in the opposite conference.

The Nuggets Danilo Gallinari slams the ball against NBA reporter Benjamin Hochman and the Portland Trail Blazers during a video game match up on NBA 2K12. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

Denver won its season opener 129-126 on Thursday night in dramatic fashion, knocking off division rival Portland in a gritty road victory.

What? The Nuggets didn’t play last night?

The NBA, true, remains in a lockout, but that doesn’t mean the games don’t go on, at least in fantasyland.

To get a sense of how the season might have started, I simulated what would have been Thursday’s season opener.

Since all I have is a Sega Genesis (I challenge anyone to a game of NHLPA ’93), I went over to my buddy Nate Kreckman’s home to play NBA 2K12, which we rented for his Xbox 360.

Right away, we were stunned by how realistic the game was, everything from Kenyon Martin’s neck tattoo to Greg Oden looking 89 years old. I played as Portland, while Nate, a local radio host for 102.3 The Ticket, coached the new-look Nuggets.

“I think we lack the superstar presence,” Kreckman said, in reference to a trade that sent Renaldo Balkman to the Knicks. “But it’s all about team basketball or, as George Karl would say, team-ness.”

Nate won the tipoff . . . which proved to be his greatest accomplishment in the first quarter. I got 14 quick points from sharpshooter Wesley “Sniper” Matthews, and, with 7:42 left in the first, Portland led 18-3 — at which point I quoted a Wesley Snipes film, “White Men Can’t Jump,” as I queried Kreckman: “Why don’t we take all these bricks and build a shelter for the homeless?”

Sure enough, as Denver’s Wilson Chandler missed another jumper, Nate deadpanned: “And Chandler is picking up where he left off in the playoffs. . . . “

At one point in the first quarter, I led by 22. Twitter, Facebook and Friendster were surely blowing up by now.

But faster than a Kim Kardashian marriage, Nate brought the Nugs back. Chandler started heating up, NBA Jam style, and as Kreckman would say afterwards: “With Portland, I think there was a certain level of perceived comfort

Denver Post NBA writer Benjamin Hochman, right, and talk radio host Nate Kreckman compete in a simulated NBA game on Xbox. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

with the lead. Also, I thought my grasp of the buttons improved tremendously.”

A Ty Lawson 3-pointer cut the lead to 46-43 (with 7:02 left in the half), which seemingly infuriated Raymond Felton, his North Carolina elder yet backup last spring.

Now with Portland, Felton fueled his team toward the half, hitting a 3 with 1.8 seconds left in the second, giving the Trail Blazers a 74-57 lead heading into the locker room.

Here’s a little-known fact about Nuggets coach Karl — in the second half of games, he prefers to have his team defending the basket closest to the Nuggets’ bench. It gives him a better look at his defensive setups. Surely this strategy came into play in the second half, because I stunk. I was missing shots with frightening consistency, and at one point the video-game commentator made reference to my lack of focus. (Full disclosure, during that particular turnover, I was eating a handful of Honey Nut Cheerios).

Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ Danilo Gallinari was making shots from Milan, or, as Nate called it, “Jimmer range.” The Nuggets forward scored 15 points in the third, prompting Kreckman to blurt out, “It’s not so much me as it’s Gallo.”

And when Gallo unleashed a dunk with 7:25 left in the fourth, it brought the Nugs to within 106-105. The game went back and forth in the closing minutes, and when Kenyon Martin dunked while being fouled, Nate screamed something that would probably be spelled: “Yee-aaww-oooo!!!” K-Mart’s free throw gave Denver a 124-121 lead with 1:15 left.

Down six with 11 seconds left, I made a ridiculous strategic blunder, taking a two-pointer with Brandon Roy. There wasn’t enough time for me to get two more possessions, Nate made some free throws and the Nuggets won.

“Good win on the road. Happy to get the season started like that,” Kreckman said in his best Karl-speak afterward. “To be honest though, the video game is so realistic, it was a tight game, crowd noise was getting into it — for the first time during this lockout, I miss the NBA. I’m being dead serious.”

Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com

NUGGETS 129, TRAIL BLAZERS 126

Denver 19 38 34 38 — 129
Portland 38 36 21 31 — 126
DEN Min Pts Reb Ast Stl Blk TO FG 3pt Gallinari 35 32 13 3 3 4 4 13-24 4-9
Lawson 35 21 3 10 1 1 6 7-11 5-5
Chndler 28 19 11 6 2 0 4 8-12 2-4
Afflalo 26 16 1 2 0 0 4 6-9 4-5
Martin 35 14 5 2 4 0 0 6-11 0-1
Smith 18 13 0 1 2 0 3 5-13 2-7
Andrsn 19 6 5 0 2 1 2 3-4 0-0
Nene 31 6 5 4 8 4 2 3-7 0-0
Miller 11 2 2 2 0 1 1 1-4 0-1
Koufos 5 0 1 2 0 0 1 0-1 0-0
Hrringtn 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0-1 0-0
POR Min Pts Reb Ast Stl Blk TO FG 3pt
Wallace 38 34 13 3 5 1 5 13-23 6-7
Felton 37 34 10 5 2 1 4 12-29 3-8
Matthws 36 27 4 2 5 0 4 10-19 3-8
Aldridge 38 8 12 3 2 2 3 4-7 0-1
Oden 26 6 11 3 3 0 4 2-6 0-0
Batum 18 6 2 2 2 1 0 2-5 2-3
Roy 27 6 2 1 4 0 3 3-11 0-4
Camby 22 4 7 1 0 1 3 2-4 0-0
Mills 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 0-0 0-0
TEAM STATS DEN POR
FG 52-97 48-104
FG percentage 53 46
3-pointers 17-32 16-30
3-point percentage 53 53
Assists 32 20
Turnovers 27 26
Rebounds 47 61
Offensive rebounds 2 12
Steals 23 23
Blocks 11 7
Bench points 40 17
Fast-break points 58 36

Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari. (Tim Rasmussen, The Denver Post)

Remember how cool it was when Chauncey Billups came home to play for the Nuggets?

A similar thing is about to happen in Milan.

Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari, an Italian who spent several years in Milan, has signed a contract with the pro team there, Olimpia Milano, according to a source close to the situation. Gallinari’s new contract has an “out” clause, the source said. That means if the NBA lockout ends, Gallinari can leave Italy and return to play for the Nuggets.

Gallinari played for Olimpia Milano from 2005-08 before entering the NBA draft. He was selected sixth overall by the New York Knicks in 2008 and traded to Denver in February as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade.

Gallinari is one of the Nuggets’ top young talents. He averaged 14.7 points and 5.4 rebounds after joining Denver.

Gallinari joins a number of Denver players (and free agents) who are signing overseas, including Ty Lawson (Lithuania), Wilson Chandler (China) and J.R. Smith (China). Kenyon Martin, an unrestricted free agent, also is considering playing in China. Gallinari’s league begins play Oct. 9.

Published: 09:00 PM, Tue Aug 16, 2011

Ty Lawson set to take his game to Lithuania

DENVER – Ty Lawson will join Zalgiris Kaunas of Lithuania, signing a deal that will allow the Denver Nuggets point guard to return to the NBA if the lockout ends.

Paulius Motiejunas, the general director of Zalgiris Kaunas, confirmed the deal Monday night. A message was left for Lawson’s agent.

Lawson, a former UNC standout, will team up with Sonny Weems, a former Nuggets guard who signed with the international squad last month. Unlike Lawson’s deal, Weems agreed to a contract without an NBA opt-out clause. Weems played last season for Toronto.

The speedy Lawson averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 assists last season for the Nuggets.

The Denver Post first reported the story. Lawson told the paper, “It’s the best situation for me to go out there.”