The Denver Nuggets' season begins Tuesday.

The 82-game schedule completed in April? Just a way to pass the time until the start of the free-agent negotiating period, which will open with Denver having more salary-cap space ($18 million) than regular-season victories (17).

General manager Kiki Vandeweghe intends to pursue aggressively the team's two main objectives: bolstering the backcourt, which figures to include a run at Warriors restricted free-agent point guard Gilbert Arenas; and acquiring a big man to team with Nene Hilario, Nikoloz Tskitishvili and first-round draft pick Carmelo Anthony.

"We're going after it, like we do everything," Vandeweghe told the Rocky Mountain News. "We're not going to be afraid to go after all the big free agents and take a swing at it."

Whether a team that has not made the playoffs since 1995 can hit a home run is one of the most intriguing story lines of the offseason, especially with young marquee names such as point guard Andre Miller, power forwards Jermaine O'Neal and Elton Brand and center Michael Olowokandi on the market. (Clippers swingman Corey Maggette, 23, a restricted free agent, has said the Nuggets are his first option.)