Ira Winderman

You ask, we (try to) answer.

Q. Why no love for the Nuggets? They lost their whole team to China and still are in the thick of it.
— Ally, Englewood, Colo.

A. There is plenty of love for the Nuggets, and particularly George Karl, who finally finds himself in a settled situation after two years of personal and team turmoil.

Foremost, George is healthy, after that ugly bout with throat cancer two years ago. He returned, as one might have expected, with a greater joy and appreciation for his work.

Then, last season, the Nuggets' season got turned upside down with Carmelo Anthony's trade request and the lingering aftershocks.

Are these Nuggets going to win the West? That might be a stretch. But as they showed against the Lakers, they will be capable of beating any team on any given night. This is a feisty, gritty group, from Arron Afflalo to Ty Lawson to Nene. And the veteran presence of Andre Miller should be a stabilizing factor.

While other teams in the West opted to make offseason splashes, the Nuggets retained their identity by bringing back Afflalo and Nene, and making sure ample playing time was in place for Gallinari, Lawson and even Mozgov to flourish.

Should Denver make the playoffs, let alone gain a significant seed, Karl would merit Coach of the Year consideration, considering how his team lost Wilson Chandler, Nene and Kenyon Martin to China in free agency, unable to bring any of those three back until at least March.

No team lost as much as Denver in the offseason, yes, even the Hornets. Yet no team appears as resilient to be able to withstand what the Nuggets have endured. Karl already has shown he can persevere. This resilient roster likely will do so, as well.

Q. When is someone going to tell Kobe to stop shooting jumpers?
— Travis, Pomona, Calif.

A. You're about a decade too late with that one. And considering how Mike Brown gave LeBron James run of the house in Cleveland, I doubt he's going to be the one to speak up now.

Beyond that, Kobe is really, really good at shooting jumpers, and no one in the league works as diligently as that craft, especially the mid-range game.

But your question has merits, particularly now with Andrew Bynum back from his early-season suspension. The Lakers simply are better playing closer to the rim, with the one-two punch of Pau Gasol and Bynum, and Gasol's wonderful big-to-big passing.

As Kobe gets on in years, the Lakers' advantage will move to the inside game, where Bynum is about as good as anything in the middle in the Western Conference. Beyond that, if, indeed, the Lakers remain in the Dwight Howard chase, there are far worse things they can do than showcase Bynum.

While this likely won't rise to the level of a DeMarcus Cousins situation in Sacramento, there is plenty to be said about the Lakers playing to the strengths of a player who will remain in the league well after Kobe and Pau move on.

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For now, Brown finds himself in a challenging adjustment period, attempting to wean the Lakers off Phil Jackson's triangle system, attempting to placate Kobe, but also taking the long view with his roster.

The Lakers' biggest advantage is their advantage with their bigs. It is something Brown lacked in Cleveland, something he can maximize in L.A.

Q. DeMarcus Cousins is a bum who has no appreciation for what he has.
— Allan, Davis, Calif.

A. While your response wasn't in the form of a question, we'll let it slide considering this stands as a hot-button issue.

Clearly, there are attitude issues there, the very same issues that had many questioning Cousins' ability to succeed at this level, despite his wonderful skill set for a big man. And it doesn't help that he is coached by someone who hardly is considered to have the ultimate hammer in his franchise, in Paul Westphal, what with the presence of higher-profile Geoff Petrie in the front office and the Maloofs in the ownership suite, with their hands-on style.

But under no circumstances can the Kings be bullied into a trade, and that has to do with far more than Cousins, Westphal or the current situation.

The Kings are a franchise that is teetering. A year ago, they were poised to move to Orange County, Calif., and still might be headed there. The arena situation is a mess. And even the current naming rights for what once was Arco Arena are in flux.

This is a franchise that hardly has attracted free agents, but one that got a huge boost with the drafting of Jimmer Fredette. As much as anything, the Kings have to at least attempt to portray an image that the sky is not falling (even though it is), that everything is fine (even though it is not).

For as much as Chuck Hayes can achieve in the locker room, his signing hardly stands as a watershed. In retrospect, if the Kings knew it would grow this ugly with Cousins, perhaps there would have been more of an effort to retain Samuel Dalembert.

As odd as it sounds, the Cousins situation could impact the very future of the franchise. The Kings can't allow that to happen. Their moment of truth is at hand.

Q: Where are those LeBron James and Dwyane Wade postgame conferences we saw last season? Now all we're getting are interviews at their lockers.
— Alex, Miami

A: Here's the deal, with the media crush in Miami down this season, there is not the need for a postgame press conference after every regular-season game like last season.

Instead, the Heat have returned to the typical NBA approach of the coach addressing the media before and after games on the podium, and then players being available at the locker room.

The Heat attempted to be accommodating last season and received mostly grief for the effort, as if they were giving Wade and James special treatment. In addition, even on the practice court, Wade and James are conducting their interviews separately for the first time.

It is the Heat's attempt to get away from the Big Three or Big Two or anything other than the team concept.

It might not be until the playoffs before you again see Wade and James side-by-side in front of the microphone, playing off one another as they do on the court.

Ira Winderman writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the Heat and the NBA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. You can follow him on Twitter at http.//twitter.com/IraHeatBeat.