And just like that the Denver Nuggets have joined the Dwight Howard rumor mill.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Nuggets are in talks with the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers about a blockbuster trade involving Dwight Howard.

In the deal the Nuggets would land Andre Iguodala and trade Al Harrington (to the Lakers) and Arron Afflalo (to the Magic). Afflalo is in the second year of a five-year, $43 million deal, he is also two years younger than Iguodala.

Harrington has three years left on his deal, and the final two years are only partially guaranteed.

Howard would end up on the Lakers and Andrew Bynum would be traded to the Sixers. Pau Gasol would join Afflalo in Orlando.

It would be an interesting move for the Nuggets. Both Afflalo and Harrington were two of the Nuggets top players last season, averaging 15.2 and 14.2 points. And some observers even consider Afflalo a better player than Iguodala.

However, Iguodala’s athleticism and speed would be an ideal fit for the Nuggets fast-paced offense. He is a very unique shooting guard, with a very versatile game. He lacks a reliable jump shot, but is a good passer and great ball handler. He is also considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the League and is one of the best rebounding guards in the NBA.

Iguodala, who has two years left on his contract worth around $30 million, was a player the Nuggets were interested in when they were trying to trade Carmelo Anthony two years ago. He is currently playing with the USA basketball team at the Olympics.

He averaged 12.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists last season and has a career average of 15.3 points a game. Iguodala was also teammates with current Nuggets point guard Andre Miller from 2006-09. Those were also arguably the three best years of Iguodala’s career, averaging more than 18 points each season.

Don’t look now, but Denver Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov and Russia may be the only thing standing between U.S. and the gold at the 2012 London Olympics.

Mozgov and Russia are off to a 4-0 start and won the Group B with a couple of impressive victories.

Mozgov is averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in the Olympics and has been a big part of Russia’s victories over Brazil and Spain. Mozgov scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help Russia sneak past Brazil 75-74. He followed that up with another solid performance against Spain’s Marc and Pau Gasol. Mozgov scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds as Russia beat the heavily-favored Spain, 77-74. He also dunked the ball with 18 seconds left to break the tie.

Ironically in both games Mozgov faced former teammates. Nene in Brazil and Rudy Fernandez with Spain. Russia finishes up poll play Monday against Australia.

It will be interesting to see how Mozgov’s strong play in the Olympics will impact his play next season. Hopefully it will give the 7-foot-1 center some added confidence. Toward the end of last year, he was the odd man out. Fans saw him as being replaceable and the coaching staff lost confident in his game.

Mozgov, who had 12 DNP-CD (Did not play-coach’s decision) after the JaVale McGee trade, struggled with his confidence down the stretch and fell behind both McGee and Kosta Koufos in the rotation.

Despite McGee’s new $44-million/4-year contract there is a good chance that Mozgov begins the season as the Nuggets starting center. Mozgov’s defense against Andrew Bynum was impressive and McGee played much better coming off the bench than starting.

It’s easy to forget that Mozgov struggled with a sprained ankle down the stretch of last season, when healthy he was a big part of the Nuggets rotation. No doubt the big man is hoping to have a breakout season, especially since it is his contract year.