Editing Denver Nuggets (section)

====2008–2011: The Anthony and Billups duo====
On July 16, 2008, at the end of the [[2007–08 NBA season]], the Nuggets traded former [[NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award|NBA Defensive Player of the Year]] [[Marcus Camby]] to the [[Los Angeles Clippers]] for a second-round draft pick (that was then traded to the [[New York Knicks]] for [[Renaldo Balkman]]).

On November 3, 2008, guard [[Allen Iverson]] was traded to the [[Detroit Pistons]] for [[Chauncey Billups]], [[Antonio McDyess]], and [[Cheikh Samb]] (part of the trade exception from the Marcus Camby trade was used to allow the deal to go through). McDyess was waived though on November 10, 2008, and he returned to Detroit shortly afterwards.

[[File:Chauncey Billups with the ball.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Chauncey Billups, acquired in 2008, helped the George Karl/Carmelo Anthony duo to their first playoff series win.]]
With [[Carmelo Anthony]] averaging 22.8 points per game and Billups averaging 6.4 assists in the [[2008–09 NBA season]] the [[2008–09 Denver Nuggets season|Nuggets]] accomplished a great number of franchise milestones. Their 54–28 record matched the most wins the franchise had gotten since their induction in the NBA; their 27–14 start was also a record for wins in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in the franchise's history the team had back-to-back 50-win seasons. They led the Northwest division for much of the season, eventually winning the division and placing #2 in the Western Conference, matching the highest the team has ever been seeded for the playoffs. General manager [[Mark Warkentien]] won the [[NBA Executive of the Year Award]] for the Nuggets' improvement. They won Game 1 of the playoffs against the [[2008–09 New Orleans Hornets season|New Orleans Hornets]], the first time they had home-court advantage since [[1987–88 NBA season|1988]] and also, the 29-point victory was the largest victory for any team for Game 1 of the first round of the [[2009 NBA playoffs]]. Chauncey Billups set a Nuggets franchise record with the most three-pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 three-pointers in total is also a Nuggets record for threes made in a playoff series.<ref>{{cite news|title=Denver Nuggets on Yahoo! Sports – News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/den|work=Yahoo! Sports|date=November 10, 2009|access-date=April 27, 2010|archive-date=April 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427062755/http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/den|url-status=live}}</ref> They went on to beat the Hornets in 5, including a 58-point victory in Game 4 which matched the most lopsided win in [[List of NBA post-season records|NBA playoff history]]. They then went on to beat the sixth seed [[Dallas Mavericks]] four games to one in the Conference Semifinals to make their first trip to the [[1985 NBA playoffs|Western Conference Finals since 1985]]. That was also the first time the Nuggets had ever led 3–0 in a best-of-seven series. Up to that point, they held an NBA Playoffs-high in three-pointers made and a 16-point average margin of victory, the largest average margin of victory in the first 10 playoff games in NBA Playoff history. They lost the first game of the Western Conference Finals against the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] but won the second game to tie the series. Anthony became the first Denver player to score at least 30 points in five consecutive playoff games since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976. They lost the series 4–2, ending Denver's longest playoff run in team history.<ref>{{cite news |author=BETH HARRIS, AP Sports Writer, May 22, 2:04 am EDT |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AlNN2XjoZYQHYEqbjaNlBrN70bYF?gid=2009052113&prov=ap |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715232954/http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AlNN2XjoZYQHYEqbjaNlBrN70bYF?gid=2009052113&prov=ap |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 15, 2012 |title=Nuggets beat Lakers 106–103 in Game 2 – NBA – Yahoo! Sports |work=Yahoo! Sports |access-date=April 27, 2010 }}</ref>

In the [[2009 NBA draft]], the Nuggets traded a first-round draft pick acquired from the [[Charlotte Bobcats]] to the [[Minnesota Timberwolves]] for the rights to rookie [[Ty Lawson]], who was drafted 18th overall. On July 13, 2009, the Nuggets traded a second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for [[Arron Afflalo]] (part of the trade exception from the Iverson trade was used to allow the deal to go through) and [[Walter Sharpe]]. Afflalo replaced starting guard [[Dahntay Jones]], who signed with the [[Indiana Pacers]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Chris Dempsey The Denver Post |url=http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12830172 |title=Nuggets' deal for Afflalo fills Jones' role |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=July 14, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717031436/http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12830172 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, on August 10, the Nuggets lost forward [[Linas Kleiza]], who signed with [[Olympiacos B.C.|Olympiacos Piraeus]] of the [[A1 Ethniki|Greek League]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=4389053 |title=NBA free agents: Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza takes Olympiakos' offer – ESPN |publisher=[[ESPN]] |date=August 11, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-date=August 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814002823/http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4389053 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[2009–10 NBA season|2009–10 season]] saw Anthony average 28.2 points per game and Billups average a career-high 19.6 points per game. In the opening two games of the season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals [[Utah Jazz]] and [[Portland Trail Blazers]], respectively. Anthony became one of two players in the Nuggets' history to open with more than 70 points through two games (Alex English also accomplished the feat). It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hochman |first=Benjamin |url=http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_13681618 |title=Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony, armed with a new mindset, is off to sizzling start for 2–0 Denver |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=October 31, 2009 |access-date=April 27, 2010 |archive-date=November 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091103102738/http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_13681618 |url-status=live }}</ref> They later went 3–0, 4–0, and 5–0 for the first time since 1985 after defeating the [[Memphis Grizzlies]], [[Indiana Pacers]], and [[New Jersey Nets]] respectively. Despite injuries that caused all three captains – Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, and [[Kenyon Martin]] – to miss a total of 46 games, and then later on in the second half of the season the absence of head coach [[George Karl]], who underwent treatment for neck and [[throat cancer]], the Nuggets were still able to win 53 games (third consecutive 50-win season, a Nuggets first) for the season which gave them a second consecutive Northwest division title and finished as the fourth seed in the West Conference. However, they were eliminated by the [[Utah Jazz]] 4–2, their sixth first-round elimination in 7 seasons. Anthony averaged a career-high 30.7 points per game in the playoffs.

On July 14, 2010, the Nuggets bolstered their frontcourt depth by signing [[Al Harrington]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Chris Tomasson %BloggerTitle% |url=http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/14/harrington-heading-to-denver-for-five-tear-deal/ |title=Al Harrington Heading to Denver for Five-Year Deal |publisher=Nba.fanhouse.com |date=July 14, 2010 |access-date=May 18, 2012 |archive-date=November 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125004243/http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/14/harrington-heading-to-denver-for-five-tear-deal |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 2010 off-season, [[Masai Ujiri]] replaced [[Mark Warkentien]] as the general manager, while Josh Kroenke was named team president.