After going 50-32 last season, the Nuggets traded C Marcus Camby to the Clippers in a salary dump and watched reserve F Eduardo Najera bolt to New Jersey as a free agent.

"Eddie and Marcus happened in about a seven-day period of time. I don't care how strong and tough you are, that was a big hit," he said. "As the summer's gone on, you realize you've still got first-class players."

Karl, entering his fifth season as Nuggets coach, still has All-Stars Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.

--Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, who re-signed in late August as a restricted free agent, said he had contact during the summer with two Eastern Conference teams that he didn't name. But he said he never seriously considered leaving Denver.

"There wasn't a doubt. I knew that I would end up in Denver," Smith said. "It's a great fit for me, a great fit for the team and the city. It was a good deal on everybody's part."

Smith signed a three-year deal worth about $16.5 million. With the Nuggets having lost two rotation players in front-line stalwarts Marcus Camby and Eduardo Najera, that could lead to Smith playing more. The Nuggets are expected to play more small lineups.

"It's hard to say," Smith said of how good the downgraded Nuggets can be. "As you can see, trades earlier in the summer have affected a lot of things. It's really hard to say."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I still think Stan Kroenke is a great owner. He wants to win big, but he wants to get more financial responsibility into the contracts. I respect that, and I think sometimes a little bit less is better in sports. We've had maybe too much talent and the talent has gotten in our way at times." -- Coach George Karl, on the Nuggets' offseason cost-cutting moves.