Last season the Denver Nuggets were breakout team in the Western Conference after they made arguably the biggest trade in the franchise’s history by sending Allen Iverson to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Denver hometown boy and one-time NBA champion Chauncey Billups.

Even though this trade was criticized by many Denver Nuggets fans early on, everyone knew this was the right move for the Nuggets as Chauncey Billups would bring a much-needed leadership to the point guard position.

Needless to say, adding Chauncey Billups to the backcourt was the smartest move this up-and-coming NBA franchise ever made as he single-handedly turned the team around and helped Carmelo Anthony become one of the most dominant players in this league.

As a result of the trade, the Denver Nuggets made it all the way to the Western Conference finals, but unfortunately lost to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Throughout this time, not only was Chauncey Billups praised for his leadership as the Denver Nuggets new floor general, but head coach George Karl also got some much-needed recognition for his leadership on the sideline and a new superpower in the Western Conference was born.

Heading into this NBA season, the Denver Nuggets had high hopes of repeating the performance of the previous season and as the regular season progressed, that was the case as Denver looked like they could very well clinch the second seed in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck head coach George Karl for the second time in his life as he was diagnosed with throat and neck cancer. With this new diagnosis, the future Hall of fame head coach had to undergo treatment for cancer and could no longer coach for the rest of the regular season or during the playoffs.

As a result, the Denver Nuggets started to fall apart as they missed their leader on the sidelines and were eventually knocked out in the first round against the Utah Jazz.

Now the playoffs are over along with George Karl’s treatment, the future is getting talked about in Denver starting with whether or not George Karl can continue to coach the Denver Nuggets.

Fortunately for Carmelo Anthony and company, George Karl has beaten cancer for the second time in his life and has said that he will coach the Denver Nuggets next season which definitely improves their chances of competing in the Western Conference once again.

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