29-year old SG Andre Iguodala has opted out of his contract for the 2013-14 season, valued at $16,154,750 bucks.  He will now be an unrestricted free agent and he will likely sign with the highest bidder.  Iguodala played in 80 games (all starts) for the Nuggets this year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He has now played in 695 games (all starts) in his first nine years in the NBA and he is averaging 37.4 minutes, 15.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  Iguodala is going to be missed, as he plays hard on both sides of the court, but this is going to open up some money in free agency for the Nuggets.

Small forward Kiki Vandeweghe was an outstanding offensive player for the Nuggets.  His best year for the Nuggets came back in 1983-84, when he played in 78 games (71 starts) in which he averaged 35.1 minutes, 29.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.  He played in 293 games in his four years with the Nuggets and he averaged 33.4 minutes, 23.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.  Vandeweghe was dealt to the Portland Trailblazers on June 7th, 1984 for Fat Lever, Calvin Natt, Wayne Cooper, a 2nd round pick in 1984 (Willie White) and a first round pick in 1985 (Blair Rasmussen).  That deal worked out really well for the Nuggets.  Despite only playing four years with the Nuggets, Vandeweghe is still #10 in points scored (6,829) in team history.

The Nuggets need more out of 25-year old center JaVale McGee in the near future.  McGee played in 79 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 18.1 minutes, 9.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  McGee has now played in 99 games (5 starts) in his first two years with the Nuggets and he is averaging 18.6 minutes, 9.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  McGee has the potential to be an outstanding center at both ends of the court, but, he needs to get more serious about practice time in order to earn more P.T.

61-year old head coach George Karl is an excellent regular season coach, but he has done nothing but fail in the playoffs for the Nuggets (and other teams) so far in his NBA career.  Karl led the Nuggets to a 57-25 record (69.5%) during the regular season last year, but he was 2-4 (33.3%) in the playoffs.  Karl is now 423-257 (62.2%) during the regular season in his first nine years in charge for the Nuggets.  But, he is only 21-38 (35.6%) in the playoffs for the Nuggets and they have only advanced past the first round of the playoffs 1 time in Karl’s nine appearances in the playoffs for them.  Karl is now 1,131-756 (59.9%) in his first 25 years as an NBA head coach during the regular season.  He is #6 in NBA history in wins as a head coach (1,131) during the regular season.  He is also 80-105 (43.2%) in the playoffs in his NBA career as a head coach.  He is #9 in playoff wins (80) and #2 in playoff losses (105) in NBA history.  George Karl beat cancer and he’s a great regular season coach, but it’s about time that he starts winning some playoff games.

UPDATE:  (5/8/2013) - George Karl has been named the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year.

UPDATE II:  (6/5/2013) - George Karl has fired by the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets were a veteran team in 2012-13, so they didn’t have a lot of P.T. available for the rookies.  20-year old shooting guard Evan Fournier played in 38 games (4 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 11.3 minutes, 5.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  He shot 49.3% from the floor, 40.7% from three point range and 76.9% from the free throw line as a rookie, which was impressive.  Fournier also had 7 games in which he scored at least 10 points last year.  Fournier has a bright future for the Nuggets.  20-year old small foward Quincy Miller only played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 3.7 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

The Denver Nuggets’ season ended in disappointment, but they still had a good season.  The Nuggets finished in 2nd place in the Northwest Division, only 3 games behind the Thunder.  But, they then were knocked out in six games by the higher seeded Golden State Warriors.  Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impacts for the Nuggets in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  Ty Lawson - 25-year old point guard Ty Lawson was a rock solid player for the Nuggets in 2012-13.  He played in 73 games (71 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 16.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Lawson only had 9 double-doubles last year, which was a little bit surprising.  Lawson had 25 games in which he scored at least 20 points, 10 games in which he dished out 10 assists and 12 games in which he had at least three steals.  Lawson was the best player on the Nuggets last year and he still hasn’t reached his full potential yet.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Andre Miller - 37-year old point guard Andre Miller shows no signs of slowing down for the Nuggets.  He played in 82 games (11 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.  He had 4 double-doubles last year for the Nuggets.  Miller had 42 games with at least 10 points and he also had 58 games in which he had at least 5 assists.  Miller proved last year, that he has plenty left in his gas tank.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Anthony Randolph - This is a tad unfair to pick on 23-year old power forward Anthony Randolph, but he could be a better player than he is.  He played in 39 games (0 starts) for the Nuggets last year and he averaged 8.4 minutes, 3.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Randolph had 4 games with 10 or more points and he also had 7 games with 5 or more rebounds in 2012-13.

The Nuggets only shot 34.7% from the floor and they were out-rebounded 55-44 and it did them in last night.  Andre Iguodala led the way for the Nuggets with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.  Ty Lawson also had a solid game with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.  Kenneth Faried (11 points and 11 rebounds) and Wilson Chandler (11 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists and 3 steals) also pitched in for the Nuggets.  The Nuggets lost this series 4-2 to the Warriors and their 2012-13 season is officially over.

29-year old shooting guard Andre Iguodala has really benefitted from the Warriors playing a small lineup since the injury to David Lee.  In his last two games, Iguodala is averaging 40.0 minutes, 22.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Iguodala has now played in 5 games (all starts) against the Warriors in this series and he is averaging 40.2 minutes, 16.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Iguodala is shooting an impressive 53.4% from the floor and 42.9% from the three point line in the playoffs and the Nuggets need him to keep up the good work.

The Nuggets outran the Warriors last night in Denver.  Andre Iguodala led the way for the Nuggets last night with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  Ty Lawson (19 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals), Wilson Chandler (19 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal) and Kenneth Faried (13 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot) also had rock solid games for the Nuggets last night.  Andre Miller (11 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in 26 minutes) and JaVale McGee (10 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots in 20 minutes) also had solid games for the Nuggets.  The Nuggets are now down 3-2 in this series against the Warriors.

The Nuggets out-rebounded the Warriors 37-29 last night, but they didn’t play any D as the Warriors shot 55.7% from the floor, which did them in.  Ty Lawson led the way for the Nuggets with 26 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists.  Andre Iguodala also had a good game with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals last night.  Corey Brewer (14 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal in 29 minutes), Andre Miller (12 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 20 minutes) and Kenneth Faried (8 points and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes) also pitched in for the Nuggets in this game.  The Nuggets are now down 3-1 against the Warriors in this series.