Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets: Stuck in the Middle

Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
And I'm wondering what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,
Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

-Stealers Wheel, "Stuck in the Middle with You"

If you're a fan of the NBA, and sports in general, all you can ask of the teams you follow is that they have a plan. Whether it's adding a necessary piece to the puzzle or shedding a horrible contract or two, the idea is that you know where the team is headed and how committed the front-office is to building not just a winning team but a title-contender.

Since 1980, only eight teams have won an NBA championship: the Lakers (8 titles), Bulls (6), Spurs (4), Celtics (3), Pistons (3),  Rockets (2), Heat (1), and Sixers (1).

That's it.

By comparison, the National Football League has had 14 different Super Bowl champions and Major League Baseball has had 18 different World Series winners in that same 28-year span.

The most obvious reason why the NBA has had so few champions is because the NBA has allowed teams to go above the salary cap to keep it's own free agents. In a sport where only twelve players comprise the active roster, it's much easier to keep a winning team together.

Compare that to baseball where free agency makes it nearly impossible to keep a 25-man team together or football, where non-guaranteed contracts and the salary cap, prevent a 53-man roster from staying together.

What this means is that whether or not an NBA team stays together is completely under the control of ownership. If management wants to keep it's team together then they can.

The problem that goes along with that, though, is that teams run the risk of getting stuck in the middle. The question then becomes what's better—being perennially competitive, but not good enough to win a championship, or rebuilding with a solid foundation and the hope of winning a championship in two or three years?

The NBA's Western Conference is the strongest I can ever remember a conference being from top to bottom. There are an astonishing ten teams that are currently over .500. Compare that to the Eastern Conference, where only five teams are over .500.

But two of those teams, the Rockets and Nuggets, are stuck in the middle. Both teams are good enough to win 50 games but neither team has a realistic chance to win a title any time soon.

The Nuggets have one of the NBA's most talented starting fives as well as a decent bench.  But they are a below-average defensive team, have one of the conference's worst starting point guards, and all of the players they hope they can trade to improve the team have horrible and unattractive contracts.

Surely, the Nuggets knew all of this when they traded Andre Miller for Allen Iverson. Ownership has to be pleased with what the trade has done for them financially since they are one of the league's best road draws.

But basketball-wise, you can't help but wonder if the team regrets making the trade.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?