NBA: Nuggets in need of a summer trade

When the season began, the Denver Nuggets had aspirations of improving on last year's trip to the Western Conference Finals. The core of the team was still intact and there was every chance that Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith and Nene would take their games to a new level.

Denver made a flying start and outmuscled Utah, Portland and the Lakers in the early stages of the season. Anthony was playing like a man possessed, leading the league in scoring and showing incredible focus, while Chauncey Billups was continuing to pull the strings.

At the All-Star break, the Nuggets looked the likeliest number two seed, even when Dallas made the big trade for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood. But then news broke of George Karl's cancer battle, rocking Denver to the core. With influential forward Kenyon Martin going down with a knee injury around the same time, the Nuggets were suddenly in disarray.

A disastrous five-game road trip brought just a single win - in the final second in Toronto - and interim head coach Adrian Dantley struggled to pull the temperamental Nuggets into line. From a number two seed, Denver slipped to fifth before recovering to at least claim home court advantage in the first round of the Playoffs.

Not that it did them much good. Facing a depleted Utah team, the Nuggets were heavy favourites. They won Game 1 behind an Anthony masterclass but lost the next three with lazy defense and limited offense outside Anthony and Billups.

Nene was supposed to exploit the Jazz's lack of size down low, JR Smith had a clear advantage against Utah's Kyle Korver and Denver seemed to have enough guards to counter Deron Williams.

None of the above materialised. Nene went missing on the road, Smith sulked his way through Game 6 after an underwhelming series and Williams ran riot, carvering the Nuggets defense to pieces. The undermanned Jazz won in six games and thoroughly deserved it.

So where does Denver go from here? Clearly, the hopes that the 2008/09 roster would mature and progress this year were misplaced. The Nuggets cannot win with the current group, despite Anthony's solid play and the savvy leadership of Billups, who showed his big game nerve with 30 points in Game 6.

That means a trade is necessary to keep pace with their Western Conference rivals. After a summer of rest and recovery, you can be sure that Houston, Portland and New Orleans will be better next season - so even making the Playoffs cannot be taken for granted for Denver.

In an ideal world, the Nuggets will find a new home for Smith. His lack of maturity and questionable shot selection make him more of a liability than an asset. While he is great when he catches fire and pours in 20 or 30, if his shot is off he becomes a non-factor due to his poor defense.

There are plenty of options for Denver and one of them is Toronto's Chris Bosh. Sending Smith, Martin and a reserve might be enough to tempt the Raptors. Smith and Martin seem to be the best trade chips that the Nuggets have to play with and finding a healthy big man who can contribute at both ends is the number two priority this summer, after getting a healthy Karl back on the bench.

The Championship window is closing fast for this group, particularly with Billups entering the last few years of his career. Anthony is a free agent in the summer of 2011 and, unless there is more evidence of progress, he might seek greener pastures.

So, without doubt, the time is ripe for the Nuggets to make a headline-grabbing move this summer.