Renaldo Balkman

After coming over from New York a lot of people thought Balkman might play a relatively big role for the Nuggets. Instead he was relegated to mop-up duty and produced a modest 5.0 ppg and 3.8 rpg in limited minutes off the bench. The addition of Malik Allen this offseason could leave him even more on the outside looking in.

The Nuggets acquisition of Balkman flew under the radar, but this guy can play, and he'll add an honest to goodness defensive presence to the club's front line. He won't beat out starting PF Kenyon Martin, but he should win the backup job netting him around 15 minutes a night. Again, like Anderson, Balkman should be a guy who stays on your radar because of Martin's injury history. If he were to take over the PF spot he could be a solid source of rebounds if given 25-30 minutes a night.

There’s been a great deal of talk about New York possibly acquiring Ron Artest. One wonders why they’d bother – they have a very similar player on their roster already. Renaldo Balkman made the leap from "surprising draft pick generating boos from Knick fans" to Madison Square Garden fan favorite in practically no time. He’s unique among Knicks – he’s an excellent, energetic and agile defender on a team full of matadors. He also has practically no offensive game outside of 5-7 feet on a team with five guys who could easily score 30 on any given night. If Isiah Thomas decides that he needs to have at least one credible defender in his starting lineup, Balkman could step in as the Knicks’ regular small forward. But it’s more likely that he’ll play significant minutes – and generate nice numbers in boards, steals and put-backs – backing up both forward positions and occasionally getting some run at off guard.