As the months of Melodrama have progressed like molasses, no one knows what exactly will happen.
It seems more and more likely he'll end up in New York, or the Nuggets might just wait and see if he and his teammates can go deep into the playoffs.
But, they would be risking losing Carmelo Anthony for nothing in return and will have to move on without him either way.
In steps J.R. Smith, the much maligned shooting guard of the Nuggets.
Smith has battled with head coach George Karl, he's argued with teammates and has struggled to play under control for much of his career.
But Smith is enjoying a solid seventh-year currently and has been making good decisions on the hardwood.
Smith has decided to take more makeable three-pointers, instead of the 30-plus foot bombs he used to heave.
Smith has also been deferring to teammates more and developing his dishing and diming game.
And he has stopped his wild driving to the rim that often turned into turnovers in the past.
But J.R. Smith has also shown his uniquely amazing athletic abilities that allow him to soar to the hoop with ease, and he can still take over a game when he needs to.
He's started five times this season, mostly when Melo was out, and he may be asked to do so in an extended role for the post-Melo era Nuggets.
Arron Afflalo is the starting two guard for Denver and has been since the start of the 2009-10 season, so Smith could circumvent his current stalemate by taking the small forward starting spot soon. In his five starts this year, Smith averaged 13.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game—not Melo-esque numbers, but still solid for sure.
And apparently J.R. Smith wants to stay in Denver despite some trade rumors rearing their head as of late.
"I want to be here,” Smith said today to FanHouse's Chris Tomasson. “My main goal is being a Nugget. I'm not really focused on anything else but being a Nugget and bringing this city a championship. ... Definitely, I don't want to go anywhere (else).''
So, even though Smith has been somewhat of a headache for Karl and other coaches for years, he's finally showing signs of maturity in both his game and his on-court demeanor, meaning he could prove very valuable for Denver in the near future.
Nuggets lose despite Melo tying career-high
The Nuggets lost tonight to the Rockets 108-103 despite Carmelo Anthony tying his career-high of 50 points. He added 11 rebounds and three blocks, but also recorded zero assists. Only two other Denver players scored in double digits, Al Harrington and Ty Lawson.
Next up for the Nuggets, the Warriors
Denver (30-22) plays Golden State (22-27) on Wednesday night in Oakland at 8:30 pm MT tip-off.
The Warriors are on a three-game winning streak and are 16-10 at home, while the Nuggets struggle on the road this season (9-15).
Rich Kurtzman is a freelance journalist actively seeking a career in journalism. Along with being the CSU Rams Examiner, Kurtzman is a Denver Nuggets, Denver Broncos and NBA Featured Columnist for bleacherreport.com, the Colorado/Utah Regional Correspondent for stadiumjourney.com and a weekly contributor to milehighhoops.com.
Rich also heads up PR for K-Biz and Beezy, a Colorado-based rap group.
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