Editing Denver Nuggets (section)

===2011–2015: The departure of Carmelo Anthony, team concept, post–Karl and pre–Jokić seasons===
On February 22, 2011, after months of speculation that he wanted to leave the Nuggets, [[Carmelo Anthony]] was traded along with [[Chauncey Billups]], [[Anthony Carter (basketball)|Anthony Carter]], [[Shelden Williams]] and [[Renaldo Balkman]] to the [[New York Knicks]] in a multi-player deal also involving the [[Minnesota Timberwolves]] in which the Nuggets received [[Wilson Chandler]], [[Raymond Felton]], [[Danilo Gallinari]], [[Timofey Mozgov]] and [[Kosta Koufos]]. On the day when the trade was done, the Nuggets were left with nine players to play against the [[Memphis Grizzlies]]. The Nuggets won 120–107, where they led by as many as 27 points. In the closing minutes of the game, the arena resounded with chants of "Who needs Melo?" George Karl said after the game, "Our guys, when their backs are confronted with a difficult situation, they usually play at a high level. We always react to tough situations in a very positive way." However, the trade only seemed to make them better. Post-trade, the Nuggets averaged 24.1 assists, showing their newfound teamwork. The defense of the Nuggets also improved, from allowing 105.2 points per game before the trade to 97.1 points per game for the remainder of the season. <!--PPG UPDATED ON April 4, 2011--><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_17443219 | work=Denver Post | first1=Benjamin | last1=Hochman | first2=Chris | last2=Dempsey | title=Carmelo Anthony traded to New York Knicks in blockbuster deal | date=February 21, 2011 | access-date=February 23, 2011 | archive-date=February 23, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223094903/http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_17443219 | url-status=live }}</ref> Despite the franchise-changing trade which saw eighteen different starting lineups through the whole season, Denver finished with 50 wins (fourth consecutive 50 win seasons for the first time in Nuggets history), clinching the fifth seed of the Western Conference. They met the [[Oklahoma City Thunder]] in the first round of the playoffs and lost four games to one.

[[File:George Karl.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|George Karl was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2013, his final season in Denver]]
The first full season of the post-Melo Nuggets saw the steady rise of Danilo Gallinari, who averaged 17 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists through the first 25 games of the season, which resulted to the Nuggets' best start through the first 20 games. However, Gallinari sustained injuries to his ankle, thumb, and wrist that year. On March 15, 2012, the Nuggets decided to make their team younger by trading [[Nenê]], who had played the previous nine seasons for Denver, to the [[Washington Wizards]] for [[JaVale McGee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/wizards_acquire_nene_031512.html|title=WIZARDS ACQUIRE NENE FROM DENVER|date=March 15, 2012|work=NBA.com|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|access-date=March 17, 2012|archive-date=May 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524221516/http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/wizards_acquire_nene_031512.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In his first game as a Nugget, McGee made a putback dunk off an [[Arron Afflalo]] miss which proved to be the game-winning basket in Denver's 116–115 victory over the Detroit Pistons. In two of the Nuggets' final games of their season, McGee finally earned national attention when he had a 16-point, 15-rebound effort, and a 21-point, 14-rebound effort in Denver's playoff series against the [[Los Angeles Lakers]]. These performances helped the Nuggets come back from a 2–0 and a 3–1 series deficit, but the Nuggets eventually lost in Game 7, 87–96.

On August 10, 2012, Denver was involved in a four-team trade where they received All-Star [[Andre Iguodala]] and sent [[Arron Afflalo]] and [[Al Harrington]] to the [[Orlando Magic]]. This same trade also sent [[Dwight Howard]] to the [[Los Angeles Lakers]]. After the trade, Iguodala tweeted "I'm excited to be joining the Denver Nuggets and I know my best basketball is ahead of me!"<ref>{{cite web|title=Sources: Dwight Howard to Lakers|date=August 9, 2012|url=https://www.espn.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/8252042/sources-dwight-howard-los-angeles-lakers-four-team-deal-complete|publisher=ESPN|access-date=August 10, 2012|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103025808/http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/8252042/sources-dwight-howard-los-angeles-lakers-four-team-deal-complete|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite losing their first three games, the 2012–2013 Nuggets finished with a franchise-best 57–25 record, and a 38–3 record in Pepsi Center (the Washington Wizards, [[Miami Heat]], and Minnesota Timberwolves were the only 3 visitors to defeat Denver on their home during the regular season). Denver also clinched the third seed in the Western Conference, with a first-round matchup with the [[Golden State Warriors]]. The Nuggets won Game 1 97–95 on their home court on a last-second Andre Miller game-winner, but the Warriors won the next three games, putting the Nuggets on the brink of elimination. Denver won Game 5 at home to keep their season alive, but the Warriors eliminated the Nuggets in Game 6, winning 92–88 in Oakland. It was Denver's ninth first-round loss in the previous 10 seasons, and the eighth of Karl's tenure. Although Karl won that year's [[NBA Coach of the Year Award]] and had led Denver to the playoffs in every year of his nine-year tenure, it was not enough to keep him from being fired after the season.

Along with Karl being fired, Denver saw a major shake-up in the front office with [[NBA Executive of the Year Award|Executive of the Year]] [[Masai Ujiri]] accepting the general manager position with the [[Toronto Raptors]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mississauga.com/sports-story/3254800-toronto-raptors-introduce-masai-ujiri-as-the-club-s-new-general-manager/|title=Toronto Raptors introduce Masai Ujiri as the club's new general manager|date=June 4, 2013|website=Mississauga.com|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=August 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801191411/https://www.mississauga.com/sports-story/3254800-toronto-raptors-introduce-masai-ujiri-as-the-club-s-new-general-manager/|url-status=live}}</ref> and vice-president [[Pete D'Alessandro]], who was expected to replace Ujiri, being named general manager of the [[Sacramento Kings]]. On June 21, 2013, [[Tim Connelly]] was announced as the new general manager.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_23535873/brian-shaw-introduced-by-denver-nuggets-new-coach | work=Denver Post | title=Brian Shaw introduced as Nuggets coach; "I love this roster", he says | access-date=June 26, 2013 | archive-date=March 3, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232457/http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_23535873/brian-shaw-introduced-by-denver-nuggets-new-coach | url-status=live }}</ref> To replace Karl, the Nuggets hired the Indiana Pacers' associate head coach, former NBA player, [[Brian Shaw (basketball)|Brian Shaw]]. Guard-forward Andre Iguodala was sent to the Golden State Warriors in a sign-and-trade in which they acquired guard [[Randy Foye]] from the Utah Jazz. They also signed center-forward [[JJ Hickson]], who was previously with the Portland Trail Blazers and {{cvt|5|ft|9|in}} guard [[Nate Robinson]], who played for the Bulls during the 2012–2013 season. They also acquired Darrell Arthur from the Memphis Grizzlies and 55th pick Joffrey Lauvergne in return for Kosta Koufos.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--kings-hire-nuggets-vp-pete-d-alessandro-as-general-manager-194709663.html|title=Kings hire Nuggets VP Pete D'Alessandro as general manager|website=Sports.yahoo.com|date=June 15, 2013|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=August 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801155129/https://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--kings-hire-nuggets-vp-pete-d-alessandro-as-general-manager-194709663.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In a tough 2013–14 season which saw numerous injuries to key players missing a significant amount of the season, the Nuggets finished with 36 wins, their worst in 11 years, and missed the playoffs.

During the 2014 off-season, the Nuggets brought back [[Arron Afflalo]] for whom they traded [[Evan Fournier]]. During the [[2014 NBA draft]], Denver traded their first lottery pick (11th overall pick) since 2003 to [[Chicago Bulls|Chicago]] to acquire two later first-round draft picks, which were used to draft [[Jusuf Nurkić]] and [[Gary Harris]]; with the 41st overall pick and their first pick of the second round of the draft, the Nuggets selected 19-year old [[Nikola Jokić]] from [[KK Mega Basket|Mega Basket]] in [[Serbia]]. On March 3, 2015, general manager [[Tim Connelly]] announced the Nuggets fired head coach Brian Shaw and named [[Melvin Hunt]] interim head coach.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/12413975/brian-shaw-fired-denver-nuggets|title=Nuggets fire Shaw, name Hunt interim coach|website=Espn.go.com|date=March 3, 2015|access-date=August 1, 2018|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306020552/http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12413975/brian-shaw-fired-denver-nuggets|url-status=live}}</ref> Jokić would end up being one of the biggest [[draft steals]] in NBA history.