On more than one occasion Wednesday night, Nuggets guard Chucky Atkins walked toward midcourt and put both feet on the traction board near the scorer's table.

The routine hardly has necessary as he spent the entire game on the bench, watching as the Nuggets closed out 2008 with a victory against the Toronto Raptors.

"I'm always surprised when I don't play," he said.

Atkins' 10th NBA season has been filled with surprises. He has received a DNP-CD - did not play, coach's decision - 10 times in 23 games since returning from arthroscopic knee surgery.

"I done been at this thing for 10 years," he said. "I don't know what to necessarily think of this particular situation. All I know is I'm ready to play and that's that. I don't know what to say."

Atkins, who signed a three-year contract with the Nuggets before the 2007-08 season, was the subject of trade rumors a few weeks ago, but he is not lobbying to be moved.

"He's been a great professional," teammate Anthony Carter said. "Whenever his number is called, he's been ready."

That was the case last week when Atkins entered late in the third quarter against Philadelphia and scored eight points in the fourth to help the Nuggets rally for a win against the 76ers.

In the three games since, he has played a total of 2:33.

"In general, I'm a believer that dividing 20 minutes up into 10 minutes (for one player) and 10 minutes (for another) is usually useless," coach George Karl said. "Chucky could play five or six minutes every game, but that's probably all I can give him."

Karl is comfortable with Carter as the primary backup to starting point guard Chauncey Billups. And shooting guard J.R. Smith has improved his ability to run the offense in small doses.

That leaves little opportunity for Atkins, who averaged 10.8 points in the eight seasons before joining the Nuggets. Though sympathetic to Atkins' plight, Karl is unlikely to change his rotation as long as Billups, Carter and Smith remain healthy.

"I was kind of that guy," Karl said. "I was always the ninth, 10th, 11th guy. Even though I didn't like being used that way, I still think guys like Chucky and your 10th or 11th men are very valuable to you, even though they don't play on the court all the time."