LAKEWOOD - A tanned Carmelo Anthony strode into the Gold Crown Field House on Tuesday, a beneficiary of the sun in Malaga, Spain, where he hosted the World of Basket Camp last week.

He hopes he soon will be the beneficiary of a Nuggets roster improvement as well.

"You know what you have to do and what you need and what you think you need to get over that hump," Anthony said. "I'm pretty sure the front office is talking about that, looking at that right now. And hopefully they can make some good decisions over the next couple of weeks."

It started Tuesday night when center-forward Chris Andersen agreed to re-sign with the Nuggets . Today is the first full day NBA free agents can sign, and Andersen was the team's biggest target. Otherwise, the Nuggets' biggest news this offseason has been their draft day move to acquire North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson, which Anthony endorsed.

Meanwhile, some of the Nuggets' outside targets are being wooed by other NBA teams. Phoenix Suns small forward Grant Hill is one of those. The Nuggets have shown interest in Hill, who recently visited the New York Knicks. The Boston Celtics are also believed to be in the running for Hill.

The Nuggets also have interest in the Portland Trail Blazers' Channing Frye, a 6-foot-11 post player who can shoot the ball from the outside and provide depth. However, the Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers are also among the leaders for Frye.

"Every free agent that I hear about, Cleveland is on," Anthony said, smiling. "That just goes to show they are trying to get better. You've got to take your hat off to them for that."

But Anthony is bullish on the Nuggets , even if they stick to re-signing their players.

"We were there with the team that we had," he said of the Nuggets reaching the Western Conference finals. "So I feel confident about what we can do and what we can accomplish next season."

Keeping forward Linas Kleiza might become more of a priority for the Nuggets as free agency drags on. He is a restricted free agent but has received interest across the NBA, most notably from Cleveland and the Toronto Raptors.

Any team that signs Kleiza to an offer sheet must wait to see if the Nuggets will match the offer.

NBA sets salary levels. The NBA announced salary cap and luxury tax levels for the 2009-10 season, and as expected the figures are down from last season. The salary cap will be $57.7 million. More important, the luxury tax threshold is set at $69.92 million.

The Nuggets already had $71 million in salaries committed for next season before the Andersen signing. Last season, the salary cap was $58.68 million and the luxury tax level was $71.15 million.

The new cap and tax levels went into effect as of 10:01 p.m. Tuesday night.

Chris Dempsey, The Denver Post