Great, not good teams win Championships. Early season wins are nice, but it all comes down to getting wins in April, May and June. Melo has been amazing so far! It's incredible how good he is when he is in shape!! Lawson and AAA have been stellar additions and have finally forced GK to do what we have all been screaming for, for a couple years now, and that is to put AC on the pine. He's a good locker room vet, but I can't stand his game.

BUT.......

A few things need to happen for the Nuggets to become great. Nene has to develop a mean streak and become an absolute enforcer inside. He is too big and too talented, to not be dominating. He also needs to stop with the weak finger rolls and just dunk the damn ball! Next, JR has to keep playing at a high level on both ends of the court and be the best 6th man in the game. Finally, the FO must add another impact big man to the front line. (Can you imagine our draft if they would have snagged DeJuan Blair in the 2nd rd instead of trading our pick.?? We might not be having this conversation if that were the case)

The Lakers are going to be an absolute monster when they get Gasol back. Bynum just keeps getting better and better each day, and by playoff time, Ron Ron will be nice and cozy with his role so they are going to be even tougher than last year. And lets face it, if the Nuggets are going to make it to the Finals, they will have to beat the Lakers. As the roster is currently assembled, we just aren't big enough to compete with them in a 7 game series. Sure we can beat anybody on any given night, but in a 7 game playoff battle its a whole different ballgame. The FO has to understand that with an aging Chauncey, the Nuggets window to win a title is about 2-3 years. We are so close to being great! I really hope that they understand this and do any and everything possible to bring in a QUALITY big man. And it's not just the Lakers that we have to worry about. There is Portland, and San Antonio in the West and potentially Boston or Orlando in the Finals.

So here are the potential players that could come in here and help give us a parade in June .

My pipe dream big man, which I know will never happen, because A, we aren't the Lakers and B, the Logo wasn't a Nugget, is the Grizzlies, Marc Gasol (3.3 in 09-10 & 3.5 Mil 10-11) He would be perfect, even the Grizzlies aren't that foolish to give up on such a quality young big man, that is making peanuts by NBA standards. Another decent footer would be the Wizards, Brendan Haywood (6 mil) but I doubt that the Clippers East, I mean the Bullets, would let him go. But who knows, because they are the Clippers East?? Oh and don't even get me started with the 9 million dollar trade exception that we let expire without using on November 3rd. Sure we would have been well over the luxury tax, but this is NBA/monopoly money and Silent Stan and his old lady are both Billionaires so cry me a luxury tax river. WE WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP! That could have been the final piece.

So back to reality.....

The potential list: Most of the players with the exception of Gortat, come from non contenders, or lottery bound teams that are much easier to deal with around the trade deadline.

Marcin Gortat Magic (5.8, 6.3, 6.7, 7.2 & 7.7) Large contract but fell in love with his game in the playoffs last yr

Marreese Speights 76ers (1.6 & 1.7 Mil) Huge upside, but I doubt Philly would give him up

Andray Blatche Wizards (3, 3.2 & 3.5 Mil) Same story as Speights

Jeff Foster Pacers (6 & 6.6 mil) Rebounding machine!

Hilton Armstrong Hornets (2.8 mil) Decent player at that price tag

Chris Wilcox Pistons(3 mil) Dunks in traffic the way I wish Nene would.

Ronny Turiaf Warriors (4.2 & 4.2) RT would be a nice addition

Fabricio Oberto Wizards (1.9 Mil) 34 years old but might still have a little bit left in the tank

Aaron Gray Bulls (1 mil) Young and big. Probably more of a long term project than a quick fix

Think about the big picture folks. It's going to take one last piece to put us over the hump. Lets cross our fingers, that the 3-headed front office creature is paying attention. Capish, Rex, Brett and Mark?!?!?!?

Go NUGS!!! This could get exciting!