Carmelo Anthony was selected by the Nuggets with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft.
Carmelo Anthony was selected by the Nuggets with the third overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. (Denver Post file photo)

No basketball fans in the world know more than Nuggets fans about blowing up a team and starting over.

They saw it in 1990 after Doug Moe squeezed a decade of playoff appearances out of the veteran cast of the 1980s. In the first year after the blowup, the Nuggets won 20 games.

They saw it again in 1997, when Allan Bristow blew up what remained of Bernie Bickerstaff's damaged architecture. In the first year after the blowup, the Nuggets won 11 games.

And they saw it again in 2002, when Kiki Vandeweghe blew up what remained of Dan Issel's architecture. In the first year after that blowup, the Nuggets won 17 games.

In theory, blowing it up and starting over gives you a chance to recover quickly by acquiring young stars with elite draft picks. But Vandeweghe's blowup was the only one that worked out that way.

Carmelo Anthony landed in the Nuggets' laps, and even that occurred only because of an astounding mistake by Detroit's Joe Dumars, who chose Darko Milicic over Melo in the draft. In any case, Anthony's arrival ushered in the longest period of Denver basketball prosperity since the 1980s.

Eight years later, it appears the franchise is on the verge of blowing it up yet again.

It's hard to say for sure because the front office doesn't communicate with the public much, but judging by its inaction, officials of other teams are coming to the conclusion the Nuggets want as few contract commitments as possible going into the coming labor dispute. The widespread perception is that Nuggets ownership is tired of losing money, tired of paying the luxury tax and ready to usher in a period of thriftiness.

On nights like Tuesday, when the Nuggets, minus Anthony, dominate a pretty good Portland team, it's not entirely clear that blowing up the current cast and starting over is really necessary. While Anthony's departure is now a foregone conclusion, the rest of it is the club's call.

But the franchise has made no move to extend the expiring contracts of Chauncey Billups, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith or Nene, which seems like a pretty clear signal of its intent.

The Nuggets' wish list in an Anthony trade provides more evidence. Based on its affection for New Jersey's bid, the front office wants young players and draft picks, the very definition of starting over. If Anthony declines to sign a contract extension with the Nets, their package is probably not available, but at least it offers an indication of what the Nuggets want.

After seven consecutive playoff appearances, only one of which went beyond the first round, it is tempting to think starting over will allow the Nuggets to become competitive again in short order. But the club's history with these demolition projects demonstrates it's more complicated than that.

A series of lottery picks in the early 1990s produced Dikembe Mutombo, LaPhonso Ellis, Rodney Rogers, Jalen Rose and, through a trade, Antonio McDyess, but injuries and bad front-office decisions limited the upside to 42 wins.

After the second blowup, the Nuggets earned the fifth- and third-overall picks in successive drafts. They used them to select Tony Battie and Raef LaFrentz, neither of whom proved to be an elite player. That reconstruction never produced more than 40 wins.

After the third, they got the fifth and third picks in successive drafts once again. They drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Anthony.

Of all the lottery picks they exercised in these rebuilding efforts, only Anthony was able to pull them out of the muck. In other words, rebuilding ain't as easy as it looks.

Assuming they don't reverse course and extend any of their veterans, the Nuggets will come out of the coming labor dispute with Ty Lawson, Arron Afflalo, Chris Andersen, Al Harrington, whatever comes in an Anthony trade and plenty of room under the salary cap. And that's assuming they don't trade Andersen or Harrington as part of the demolition.


Will that allow them to sign a premier free agent? Maybe, but if they can't persuade Melo to stay with a 50-win team, what elite player will join a stripped-down roster? This is the sort of situation in which teams often overpay just to get back to respectability.

They could do a modified blowup instead by extending Nene and Billups, but they've given no sign of a willingness to spend the money.

Some places, the notion of a fresh start might sound good. But Nuggets fans know better than most that square one sounds a lot better in theory than it looks in practice.

Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, or