Jun 17, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks during the post game press conference in game three against the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena. The Heat defeated the Thunder 91-85. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Like most teams in the NBA the Denver Nuggets have a few former colleagues in the NBA Finals.

SCOTT BROOKS: Brooks is probably the biggest connection with the Nuggets in the finals. He is in his fourth season as the Thunder coach, after replacing PJ Carlesimo – who was fired in 2008. Brooks actually got his start at coaching as an assistant with the Nuggets. He was first an assistant with Jeff Bzdelik and then George Karl. He even coached four games to for the Nuggets in the 2005 season when Karl was suspended. He was an assistant with the Nuggets until 2007 when he moved over to be an assistant with the Sacramento Kings and then the Thunder. Brooks even played for six teams during his 10 seasons in the NBA, but never played for the Nuggets.

JUWAN HOWARD: At the age of 39, Howard is riding the pine with the Miami Heat to win his first NBA title. During his prime, Howard played a season-in-half with the Nuggets before leaving as a free agent in 2003. He averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds with the Nuggets in 2003 and provided leadership for Denver’s young players.  Denver traded for Howard to free up salary cap, the Nuggets had to trade Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz, Avery Johnson and Tariq Abdul-Wahad for Howard. Howard came back and played three games for the Nuggets in 2008 but Denver waived him early in the season.

MARK BRYANT: Bryant is in his third season as an assistant coach with the Thunder. He spent 15 years playing in the NBA, and even played three games (14 minutes) with the Nuggets in 2003. He was dealt to the Nuggets in a three-way trade that sent James Posey to Houston, Kenny Thomas to Philadelphia and a first-round pick and Bryant to Denver. Two months later the Nuggets traded Bryant and Mark Blount for Shammond Williams and a second-round pick.

REGGIE JACKSON: The Thunders’ first round pick is from Colorado Springs. He played 45 games and averaged 3.1 points.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK: The most hated player on Oklahoma City played at UCLA with Arron Afflalo of the Nuggets.

DEXTER PITTMAN: The little-used big man for the Heat played one season with Denver’ Jordan Hamilton at Texas.

It makes sense since the Nuggets are barely over the salary cap ceiling and are far from hitting the luxury tax threshold. And passing on this year doesn’t mean they can’t use it in the next few years. The only catch is it has to be a player whose salary was signed before the CBA.

The two most likely candidates on the Nuggets roster are Al Harrington and Chris Andersen. Harrington, who was signed last year and will be 32 in February, has four years and around $28 million left on his contract. The final two years of the deal are only partly guaranteed so the Nuggets could waive him after the 2012-13 season and only owe him around $7 million instead of over $14 million.

Reports out of the Pepsi Center are that Harrington is in much better shape than he was last season and George Karl has stated that Harrington’s offense off the bench is important. But Harrington has to be willing to play fewer minutes than he is used to, which was a problem with him last season.

Andersen, who is a fan favorite, is owed more than $13.5 million over the next three years and is turning 34 after this season. He has been a consistent presence at the Pepsi Center since the lockout was lifted.

NUGGETS ADD RUFFIN

Former Cherry Creek High School star and nine-year veteran Michael Ruffin has signed with the Nuggets. Ruffin has a career average of 1.7 points and 4 rebounds. The only real highlight of his career was his costly mistake which led to Morris Peterson’s buzzer beater. It’s hard to imagine Ruffin making the final roster, but it isn’t out of the question that the 34-year-old will join the Nuggets coaching staff.

Follow Nugglove on Twitter and Facebook