2008–09 Denver Nuggets season

The 2008–09 Denver Nuggets season was the 42nd season of the franchise, 33rd in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They finished the regular season with 54 wins and 28 losses, the franchise's best record since 1987–88. In the playoffs, the Nuggets defeated New Orleans Hornets in five games in the first round; this series included a notable 58-point bludgeoning of the Hornets in Game 4. The Nuggets then defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the Western Conference Semifinals to reach the Conference Finals for the first time since 1985, ending their streak of five straight first-round exits. However, the Nuggets lost to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, ending their playoff run.^{[citation needed]} This was the second straight year the Nuggets had their season ended by the Lakers.

As of May 2021 the Nuggets' six-game loss to the Lakers in the 2009 Western Conference Finals was tied closest the team has ever come to reaching the NBA Finals, after they made it to the conference finals in 2020 but were once again beat by the Lakers.^[1]

Key dates[]

• June 26: The 2008 NBA draft took place in New York City.
• July 1: The free agency period started.

During the first week of the season, superstar guard Allen Iverson was traded in a blockbuster deal to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb. McDyess was released soon after the trade.

Draft picks[]

The Denver Nuggets had no draft picks in the 2008 NBA draft, but did acquire the draft rights of Sonny Weems from the Chicago Bulls. Weems was the 39th pick of the draft.

Roster[]

Roster listing

2008–09 Denver Nuggets roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From F/C 11 Andersen, Chris 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1978-07-07 Blinn College TX (JC) SF 15 Anthony, Carmelo (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1984-05-29 Syracuse F 32 Balkman, Renaldo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) 1984-07-14 South Carolina G 7 Billups, Chauncey 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 1976-09-25 Colorado PG 25 Carter, Anthony 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1975-06-16 Hawaiʻi PG 6 Hart, Jason 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 1978-04-29 Syracuse F/C 45 Hunter, Steven  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1981-10-31 DePaul G/F 30 Jones, Dahntay 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1980-12-27 Duke F 43 Kleiza, Linas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1985-01-03 Missouri PF 4 Martin, Kenyon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1977-12-30 Cincinnati F/C 31 Nenê 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1982-09-13 Brazil C 27 Petro, Johan 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 247 lb (112 kg) 1986-01-27 France G/F 1 Smith, J. R. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1985-09-09 St. Benedict's Prep (NJ) G/F 13 Weems, Sonny 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1986-07-08 Arkansas	Head coach George Karl Assistant coach(es) Chad Iske Jamahl Mosley Adrian Dantley Tim Grgurich John Welch Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: March 3, 2009

Regular season[]

Standings[]

Game log[]

Playoffs[]

Game log[]

Player statistics[]

Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and records[]

Awards[]

Records[]

Transactions[]

Trades[]

Free agents[]

References[]