This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Denver Nuggets in the NBA, but given what's transpired in the preseason, it's hard to find any silver lining as the team approaches its regular season opener Tuesday in Phoenix.

Normally it takes a couple of months to deflate the early-season hopes of the also-ran teams in the NBA, but in the case of the Nuggets, their grand plans were sucked down the drain in the first week of training camp.

Now, instead of entertaining hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1995, only the most wide-eyed Nugget optimist would utter the "P" word with a straight face.

Losing the only All-Star the team has produced since 1996 will do that to a team. With power forward Antonio McDyess, he of the 21 points and 12 rebounds average last season, recuperating from knee surgery until perhaps February after re-injuring himself on Oct. 4, Denver will be playing out the string from Day 1.

With that one injury, the Nuggets went from having an outside shot at the playoffs to being what former coach Doug Moe used to call a "no-hoper."