Denver Nuggets: How bad will they be if they lose Carmelo?

• like_that

  

  What do you think?
• wildcats20

  

  Depends on how they lose him.
  
  If they lose him in a straight up trade for Bynum, there won't as big of a drop as if they lost him to FA.
• september63

  

  Either way, not as bad as Cleveland. If that is what you might have been insinuating?
• shook_17

  

  can't be worse than the current cavs
• dave

  Definitely depends on who they get for him. They basically have nothing of value other than Lawson for next year IIRC.
• jordo212000

  

  If they trade him they might hover around the fringe of the playoffs, but if he walks away via free agency they will be bad. Definitely similar to how "good" the Cavs are right now.
  
  If they lose him, who is going to score all their points? You gotta have a go-to guy who can score whenever he wants to.
• like_that

  

  september63;673652 wrote:Either way, not as bad as Cleveland. If that is what you might have been insinuating?

  
  
  I am not. Anyway, being in the west, I don't think they will be in the playoffs for awhile once they lose Carmelo.
• KR1245

  

  I think it sets them back about 5 years.
  
  Lawson and Smith are nice players but arent really guys that you build a team around.
  
  They wont be as bad as the Cavs but then again they wont be losing as much as the Cavs did either. Nuggets and Cavs are pretty similar organizations, could take them just as long as the Cavs unless one of them hits it big in the draft
• Hb31187

  

  If they lose just him and nobody else via trade. They will probably finish 9..MAYBE 8.
  
  If they lose him via FA def wont be in the playoffs, but wont be NEARLY as bad as Cle this year
• KR1245

  

  They could be in a tough spot. They wont be bad enough to get a high draft pick and wont be good enough to get into the playoffs. They will hang around the .500 mark for a few years. They are better off trading away their pieces and blowing it up once Melo leaves.
• wes_mantooth

  

  addition by subtraction....
  
  I think they win out.
• sleeper

  

  They will be terrible, but nowhere near as bad as the Cavs.
• thedynasty1998

  

  I don't know the contract situation of others on the roster, but they would still be fairly competitive. Not a threat in the western conference playoffs, but maybe a borderline playoff team.
  
  With that said, Denver is a really nice city, so they might be able to attract a decent free agent if they have the cap space.
• Nate

  I still think they float around a playoff team level.