By Russ Oates

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Dec 19, 2011 – The 2011-2012 NBA season is almost upon us, and that must mean that it is time for preseason power rankings to come out. We probably already figured out that the Dallas Mavericks are the No. 1 team, and that’s where they are in NBC Sports’ Pro Basketball Rankings. But how about the Denver Nuggets? They are the No. 13 team, which is a decent starting place for the team heading into the season. Here’s the write up for the Nuggets:

13. Nuggets (50-32). They are fielding the best team in China (J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin and Wilson Chandler are all still there). Keeping Nene was huge for this team.

But here’s the thing, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin were unlikely to return to the Nuggets even before they went over to China. Chandler is a restricted free agent whenever he returns and as it stands, the Nuggets might not match any offer for him.

Retaining Nene is certainly a big part of the Nuggets’ offseason remake, but so too would be retaining Arron Afflalo, who is still waiting for a new deal. Trading for Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer could turn into a good move — the Nuggets traded only a second-round pick for the two of them.

The real competition the Nuggets will be facing in the Northwest Division is the Oklahoma City Thunder, the No. 4 team in these rankings. A division title does not look to be in the Nuggets’ future.

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DENVER — The Denver Nuggets held a rare Friday night practice for their first post-lockout workout, boosting their roster to 11 players with the signing of first-round pick Kenneth Faried of Morehead State and three other rookies.

Also added to the roster was guard Jordan Hamilton, the 26th overall selection by Portland who was acquired as part of a three-team draft-day trade, and undrafted free-agents Cory Higgins and Julyan Stone.

Higgins played at Colorado and is the son of former NBA player Rod Higgins, who was once coached by Nuggets coach George Karl when they were both with Golden State. Stone is the Texas-El Paso’s career assists leader.

The Nuggets also remain hopeful of re-signing free-agent center Nene and guard Arron Afflalo, a restricted free agent.

Both Nene and Afflalo are drawing considerable interest from other teams, however.

“They’re waiting their deal out,” forward Chris “Birdman” Andersen said. “We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, they’ll be on board with us real soon.”

Karl oversaw a 2 1/2-hour practice at the team’s facility at the Pepsi Center in a first step toward preparing the Nuggets for their lockout-delayed opener Dec. 26 at Dallas.

Given the compressed training camp, Karl said it won’t be possible to have the team fully prepared for the start of the season.

“You’re not going to be ready,” Karl said. “From the standpoint of when the season starts, we’re only going to have maybe 60 percent of what we wanted to get in get in. You’re going to go 15-20 games into the season still trying to get your team (running) a full playbook and a full defensive concept. This is what we got. Everybody has the same timetable. Nobody has anything different.”

Guard Ty Lawson, who spent part of the lockout playing in Lithuania, was just thrilled to be back with his NBA team practicing and getting ready for the season, although a shortened one.

“It felt good,” Lawson said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for three months. It’s good to be back with my teammates, meeting the rookies and getting to talk to the coaches. I hadn’t done that for a long time. We had a good practice, worked hard and we’re ready to get back at it tomorrow.”

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

Nene has spent his entire nine-year NBA career playing for the Denver Nuggets, is married to a Colorado native, and plans to retire to the Centennial State when he eventually stops playing pro ball, but none of that is going to help him stick with the team, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Marc J. Spears.

“I learned last season that this was a business,” Nene told Spears. “No matter how nice you are to people, no matter how nice people are to you, this is a business. I did my best for the team and they waited and waited to extend me. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, all these years playing good, doing your best and they still test you.’ That’s not about family, love and somebody liking you. It’s a business.”

According to Spears, before the lockout occurred this summer, the Nuggets offered the 6-11 Brazilian a four-year, $50 million contract extension, which he would have taken during the season but “felt disrespected because the Nuggets waited so long.”

So he’s opting to be a free agent and wants to sign with a team that is likely to contend for a title, Spears notes. And there should be plenty of folks interested in signing the man who averaged 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and one blocked shot per game last season.

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Source: Yahoo! Sports

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