The Denver Nuggets haven't been to the playoffs since the end of the 1994-95 season, but in winning 40 games last year they did continue their upward trend since the nightmare 11- and 14-win seasons a few years back. However, we feel somewhat confident in saying that the upward trend is in serious jeopardy entering this season. Sure, Antonio McDyess is a franchise player, and this team was only two games under .500, but their big free agent signing was Avery Johnson and the internal problems with coach Dan Issel and others haven't been solved. At this point, 40-42 doesn't look so bad. And while we're at it, how did this team win 40 games?

	Denver's McDyess has had an All-Star year, despite the mutiny.

So as we continue our 2001 Summer Spotlight Series, here's the deal with the Nuggets.

The good: McDyess is good, very good. An Olympian who was one of only a few players to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, McDyess is the one Nugget you'd pay to see play. He can opt out of his contract in two years, and the Nuggets might extend his deal. We'd recommend it, otherwise ownership might have to use James Posey to sell tickets.

After McDyess, well, things aren't so good. Nick Van Exel gets McDyess the ball, which is good, but Van Exel also shoots way too much, which isn't. Think Allen Iverson's shooting percentage but without the 30 points a night. Raef LaFrentz, like Van Exel, is a talented player, but he's not really a center, which is where he has to play. This isn't the Mavs here: The Nuggets need more talent, and they haven't gotten it this offseason.

However, let's give Issel a little credit. His team gave up on him, almost literally, when they refused to practice one Monday in December because they didn't like the rules (like actually having to practice after a night game! Horrors!). But Issel coaxed this bunch to a good season. A Feb. 28 win over the Lakers made them 30-29, and the eventual No. 8 seed Wolves had reason to worry. Alas, another brutal road record did the team in (11-30 away, a solid 29-12 at home). Bad news, guys: You have 41 road games again this year.

	THE FACTS
	2000-01 record: 40-42, 6th in Midwest, 11th in West Playoffs: none Team leaders: McDyess, 20.8 ppg; McDyess, 12.1 rpg; Van Exel, 8.5 apg Team stats (NBA rank): Points, 96.6 (11th); Rebs, 44.2 (8th); FG %, .433 (21st) Current rotation: LaFrentz C; McDyess PF; Posey SF; Lenard SG; Van Exel PG; Willis 6th man Spot in Summer Power Rankings: No. 25

The bad: In retrospect, the Nuggets winning 40 games is quite a feat. Not that this group is as bad as the ones that won a combined 25 games in the 1997-98 and '98-99 seasons, but in the tough West, the Nuggets are 11th out of 14 teams. And that seems about right. Van Exel and LaFrentz put up numbers, but there are issues. The Nuggets went to the draft this summer with one pick, and it was high school project Ousmane Cisse. They also left with Omar Cook, who led the nation in assists as a freshman. Did that mean Van Exel would be dealt? OK, what about the free agent signing of Avery Johnson? Maybe the Nuggets do get it after all. Still, none of these three point guards make the team playoff-worthy.

LaFrentz is looking at another year of banging with bigger boys, which takes a toll on anyone, especially one who is under 7-feet tall and likes to shoot threes more than post up. The rest of the lineup isn't noteworthy, which is why they are in this section and not the "good." Posey didn't capitalize on his solid rookie season, and at times last year he was afraid to shoot because he was missing so much. Shooting guard Voshon Lenard does hit threes, but he's allergic to defense. George McCloud, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Kevin Willis are complementary players, and that's not a compliment.

The ugly: The Rocky Mountain News conducted a poll of Colorado sports fans, asking them which of the four pro teams locally were their favorite. The Nuggets got less than one percent of the vote. "The only poll I like is a fishing pole," was Issel's response. And this is a team that had more home wins than seven playoff teams. That's ugly.

What also isn't pretty is the road record. Call it mile-high air envy or whatever, but the Nuggets have always stunk away from home, earning a nasty .286 win percentage since 1976, and never a winning mark. We think we've found the issue: the team was 2-25 last year when not scoring 100 points on the road. Nice.

Talent-wise the Nuggets aren't ugly, though the 3-for-15 shooting games out of Van Exel and LaFrentz trying to stop Shaq would qualify. Boycotting practice is bad, too.

The future: Only four NBA teams have improved their record in each of the last three seasons -- Dallas, Toronto, Philly and Denver. Three of those teams made the playoffs. Denver did not. We ranked the Nugs 25th in our summer Power Rankings, which means we dropped them six spots since the season ended. We haven't received much mail saying we were wrong.

New owner (relatively new, anyway) Stan Kroenke seems to be an Issel fan -- though he is wooing Kiki Vandeweghe from Dallas to be GM and director of player development. He looks at the progress the franchise has made as spectacular. Maybe it is. But he needs to upgrade the team defensively and get a natural center to compete with the big boys.

We asked you this question about the Nuggets: Would you keep Van Exel and LaFrentz or replace them with better fits at point guard and center?

Check the file to the right for your comments.

Eric Karabell is ESPN.com's NBA editor.