From Dennis Velasco,
Your Guide to Basketball.
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No team has gone through more high-profile drama than the Denver Nuggets. Will they have any success this year? What’s their long-term outlook?

Natalie: Well it looks like there might be some trouble in the locker room now. With A.I. and Melo both in the lineup this team is not dominating like some expected. I don’t see them going anywhere this season especially given the fact that the West is so strong. Give them some time to get accustomed to each other and get their personalities in check and this team could go places.

Atma Brother #1: This has to be one of the most frustrating teams in the league. They have a superstar in Carmelo Anthony, a plethora of solid to good big men in Marcus Camby, Nene, and Reggie Evans, and Eduardo Najera, a budding star in JR Smith, and The Answer himself, Allen Iverson, yet they'll probably just be a 7th or 8th seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. It just doesn't add up. The Nuggets shouldn't be struggling as much as they are. Things will be brighter next season provided something stupid doesn't happen the next time these fellas visit Madison Square Garden.

Dave: As I said in one of the recaps, Denver is likely to be this year’s "Team the Nobody Wants to Face in the First Round," which is just like being the girl that everybody likes but nobody wants to date. Drama gets headlines, but drama also means you’ve fractured a good part of the season, and I don’t see Denver pulling it together enough to get out of their tailspin and contend for anything except the "Quickest Post-Season Escape to Vegas" award.

Long term I can see them putting it together enough to get a mid-playoff seed, but I don’t think this team as constituted ever contends seriously. Putting Junior and Jeff Gordon in the same racecar doesn’t mean you win the Daytona 500.

Dennis: I think the Nuggets just have and will have chemistry issues moving forward. Sure there's the Melo/A.I. dynamic that still needs to be worked out and looked at again come playoff time and who shoots the ball in the clutch, but also J.R. Smith is out for a couple of more weeks. He's the Nuggets main trey-shooter and will have to work himself back in the rotation that is now seeing Nene going off. How will Smith coming back affect the number of times Nene gets the rock? And if Nene establishes a low-post scoring presence, how will that affect Melo? Also, when will the real Allen Iverson stand up and dominate DOMINATE the ball like he's used to. Especially come playoff time. Too many questions at this point and I don't expect any good answers when it's all said and done.