"Carmelo [Anthony] is as important to us as any player on any team in the league," said Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman, who acknowledged the franchise likely will discuss extending Anthony’s contract next summer. Anthony acknowledged fears of a possible lockout in 2011; the uncertain terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement could spur him to sign an extension next summer. He also said he’d like to be chosen as the Nuggets’ representative to the Players Association this season.

Linas Kleiza is very close to signing a contract with Olympiacos despite his dream is to continue in NBA

(Malik) Allen is in the league because he’s a very good mid-range jump-shooter…doesn’t rebound, doesn’t have a post game. Skiles claimed he organized the defense well, and his on/off numbers and opponent stats do support that, but he’s essentially an end-of-the-bench type ... not mistake-prone.

Olympiacos have set their eyes on Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza. Redplanet.gr reports that the player is asking for 3.5 million euros per season ...

L.A. (Clippers) has offered a coaching position to famed skills guru Tim Grgurich in hopes of convincing Grgurich to walk away from longtime boss George Karl. The Nuggets are working to convince Grgurich to stay.

The Nuggets and free agent center Chris Andersen are very close to a contract extension that will keep the NBA's second-leading shotblocker in Denver on a multi-year deal. The amicable discussions have gone on since the weekend, and the new deal could be completed as early as Wednesday, after the official 2009-10 salary cap numbers are known. Those numbers, including the cap figure and the exact amount of exceptions to the cap, should be released late Tuesday

"Experience is the best teacher," Billups said of what the Nuggets learned during a playoff run that followed five straight seasons of losing in the first round. "Now, these guys have been through a lot in just one season, grew up a lot. . . . There are a lot of good teams over here in the Western Conference. We proved to be one of the best ones. But, when you get to this point, you can’t take steps back because there’s always somebody right on your heels to take that leap as well."

Shannon Brown has reached an agreement in principle to remain with the Los Angeles Lakers for $4.2 million over two years, ESPN.com learned Monday.

"When I'm on a team that's playing the way that we're playing, at a high level, and fortunately don't have anybody banged up, I just like to keep playing," guard Chauncey Billups said. "Unfortunately we have a little while to play, but we'll try to simulate some of those situations in practice. But it's nothing like a game."

I don’t even think I’m taking my cell phone on this five days (off during the all-star break) — that’s how much I probably think there’s not going to be a phone call.