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Kosta Koufos celebrated his 22nd birthday Thursday in an unfamiliar city, on a new team and among teammates he doesn't know.

Forty-eight hours earlier, Koufos had been traded for the second time in seven months.

Yes, the NBA can be a cold business.

Sitting in a mostly deserted locker room 90 minutes before the Nuggets' first game with him on the roster, Koufos smiled after spying a recognizable face.

"Hey, how you doing?" he asked, remembering me from his two seasons in Utah.

Unlike many of the other six new Nuggets acquired in the Carmelo Anthony trade, Koufos was not surrounded by reporters.

In fact, Denver coach George Karl and I might have been the only ones who talked to him all night.

Koufos is the stranger in town — again.

For the timing being, he is alone in a fight to carve his niche in a sport that seems particularly heartless every year just before the trade deadline.

"I understand it's a business — this is not new to me," Koufos said. "That's part of being in the NBA. ... This is my team now and I have to work hard to make the best of it."

Konstantine Demetrios Koufos was born in Canton, Ohio, in 1989.

That's about the time John Stockton and Karl Malone were leading the Jazz into a decade of NBA prominence.

One of three children in his family, Koufos was the only one who grew beyond point guard size.

A decorated star in high school, Koufos went to Ohio State, where he planned to major in business.

After only one year, however, the fame and fortune of professional basketball beckoned.

"I hope the Buckeyes win the national championship," Koufos said. "I'll always support them. But it was time to move ahead."

In the 2008 draft, the Jazz took him with the 23rd pick.

During the next two seasons, Koufos endured more ups and downs than a skier with an all-day pass at a Utah resort.

Once, he scored 18 points against Dallas.

Another time, he got a chance to start in a homecoming-type of game at Cleveland.

His performance earned the praise of ex-coach Jerry Sloan, as well as then-Cavalier star LeBron James.

Minutes were mostly scarce, however, and Koufos also made three trips back and forth to the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League in a span of 11 months.

Then, last July, the Koufos' time with the Jazz ended.

He was traded to Minnesota as part of the deal that brought Al Jefferson to Utah.

Hard feelings?

Apparently not.

"Coach Sloan is a Hall of Famer," Koufos said. "I was blessed and fortunate to have played for him for two years."

Asked for his lasting memory of playing in Utah, he said, "The crowd. The great fans. How loud it got in the arena."

This season in Minnesota, Koufos played less than he did with the Jazz.

Still, he insists his short time with the Timberwolves was beneficial.

"They have a wonderful coaching staff and a good set of players — young players," Koufos said. "I learned a lot from them and I'll use it as I move on."

Next stop: Denver.

The Nuggets like him, Koufos has been told, and want him to be part of their future.

"I'm still a very young guy," he said. "I've shown I can [produce] on the court, when given time. I just have to continue to focus and work hard, which is what I've done every day I've been in the NBA."