Denver is all but a lock to land the 2005 NBA All-Star Game. It's likely to become official the week of June 8.

"I'm hoping in about two weeks we'll have something to announce," David Ehrlich, executive vice president for Kroenke Sports, said Friday.

Ehrlich said Kroenke Sports officials still are getting the licensing agreement with the NBA in order. He anticipates everything to be done by the week after next.

Carmelo Anthony said the other day that he'd rather play with the Detroit Pistons than the Denver Nuggets. His college coach is out to change his mind.

Jim Boeheim, who coached Anthony at Syracuse University, put in a call to Anthony to sell him on Denver. He plans to talk to him again soon about it.

"He'll be all right," said Boeheim, who, as a member of the USA Basketball collegiate committee, is in Colorado Springs this weekend for Pan American Games and Junior World Championships tryouts.

Boeheim saw Anthony's comments in Thursday's Rocky Mountain News in which he said he would rather be drafted No. 2 by Detroit than No. 3 by the Nuggets on June 26. Boeheim told him Denver would be a better fit.

"He likes to win and (Detroit) has a better chance to immediately win," Boeheim said. "But in Denver he's going to play more minutes. Detroit's got Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and (Corliss) Williamson taking shots. They're not going to want a rookie to come in and take 15 to 18 shots.

If the Denver Nuggets are intent on signing Golden State Warriors free-agent guard Gilbert Arenas, it might take a large chunk of their free-agent dollars.  

Arenas's agent, Dan Fegan, said Thursday that projections he has read about his client signing a contract starting in the $7 million range are off base.

The Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers also are believed to be interested in Arenas.

If the Denver Nuggets are intent on signing Golden State Warriors free-agent guard Gilbert Arenas, it might take a large chunk of their free-agent dollars.  

Arenas's agent, Dan Fegan, said Thursday that projections he has read about his client signing a contract starting in the $7 million range are off base.

"If you're asking whether a starting number of $7 million is enough to sign Gilbert Arenas, the answer is unequivocally no, it's not," Fegan said.

Denver is in desperate need of a starting point guard and has about $22 million to spend in free agency this summer. Arenas might be the top prospect on the Nuggets' free-agent wish list. Teams cannot comment on their interest until the signing period opens July 1.

It was common Thursday for Percy Miller to say "basket" when a jump shot left his hand. Unfortunately for Miller, most of the time he hit rim.

But that didn't deter Miller in the least. The hip-hop mogul better known as Master P worked out with the Denver Nuggets and then predicted he has what it takes to make the NBA.

"Once I get in shape, my heart is big enough to do what I need to do," Miller said.

Miller's flirtation with pro basketball is nothing new. He played with the Fort Wayne Fury of the Continental Basketball Association in 1998-99. He was in NBA training camps with Charlotte in 1999 and with Toronto in 2000. Miller got into five preseason games with the Raptors, averaging 2.6 points in 4.6 minutes.

Carmelo Anthony's agent calls it a "lock" that his client will be drafted by the Denver Nuggets if he's available. Anthony, though, wouldn't mind not being available.

"That'd be even better, going to Detroit," Anthony said Wednesday night in a telephone interview from his hometown of Baltimore. "That's a playoff team."

The Pistons, who have the No. 2 pick in the June 26 draft, made it to the Eastern Conference finals. The Nuggets, who will pick third, only made the finals of the draft lottery.

But while Anthony would be happier driving in Motown, don't get the idea he would be a wreck if he ended up with the Nuggets.

IF YOU RUN into Carmelo Anthony anywhere around Baltimore today, you know what to say.

Say "Happy Birthday," for that special day is today.

Say, "Hey, 19."

And say it quick, because not long after the Towson Catholic and Syracuse star blows out the candles on his cake, Melo's going to blow out of Baltimore, maybe forever.

Now that the NBA draft order is known, the rumor season has begun.

With the Denver Nuggets holding the No. 3 selection in the June 26 draft, ESPN.com has speculated the team might be willing to trade the pick, which most likely will be Syracuse University small forward Carmelo Anthony. ESPN.com's premise is the Nuggets already have young, small forwards Nikoloz Tskitishvili and Rodney White, whose development could be stunted if Denver were to bring Anthony aboard.

"I'd be shocked (if the team traded the pick)," Nuggets assistant general manager David Fredman said Tuesday. "Obviously, though, we've got to listen. But it would have to take a trade that would knock our socks off."

Marcos Muente has a proposal for Denver and their off-season direction.  He's all for trading the third pick and Marcus Camby and receiving T.J. Ford w/ the 5th pick in the draft, along w/ Miami's Eddie Jones.

Denver Nuggets assistant general manager David Fredman said Sunday the Nuggets will play eight preseason games for the 2003-04 season, but only two at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets will play Phoenix and Indiana at home and will have road games against Phoenix, Toronto, Detroit, Portland, Houston and Indiana. Dates and times will be finalized in June.

"Until we turn the corner and be more competitive, I don't think we should play more than two home preseason games," Fredman said.