Reacting to NBA Trades and where the Denver Nuggets stand

Reacting to NBA Trades and where the Denver Nuggets stand

All right everybody Welcome in to pickax and roll brought to you by our good friends over at Superbook Sports I’m your host Ryan Blackburn at NBA Blackburn on Twitter part of the Mile High Sports podcast Network and I am excited to talk about trade deadline Eve as the Denver Nuggets have had three

Days off here we’ve had plenty of time to relax to ruminate to figure out what the hell is going on and in that stretch it appears that the NBA has started to get moving on the trade deadline here we had a few trades today that I definitely

Want to cover and we had some conversations today with Michael Malone and I wanted to share some of my insights from that as well just being at practice is asking some questions and getting I think some interesting answers on where Denver is at from the NBA trade deadline standpoint hope everybody is

Having a great night I know that trade deadline time gets a little bit crazy everybody wants to know all the information and I understand that entirely um but yeah just wanted to say hello to everybody see a lot of friendly faces in the chat what’s up Cedric uh

What’s up naen what’s up Ben Mack thank you guys for hanging out with me today as always it’s always a pleasure uh we just passed 6K subscribers on the YouTube front which uh is a big big deal for us and like I mean we started this thing I remember about this time last

Year where we had about 500 Subs uh just on what was a kind of a dormant YouTube channel at the time and then I started podcasting live here uh Anil oiro swipa we just like started really getting into the the swing of things from an NBA side

And really uh really doing some good stuff and Cody Rook came on for good morning Broncos and I’ve got some other fun things in the works and doing shorts and things like that Kim Becker’s always on doing her her thing uh doing the mile high minute basically and it’s been

Great it’s been great to see uh really really appreciate everybody for the love support if you can please rate review And subscribe to the audio side of this pod if you can if you like the content uh but if you’re just on YouTube make sure to like And subscribe to the video

That always helps us out all right gonna do two segments today they’ll probably go a little bit long and both of them uh but wanted to do kind of first and foremost what’s going on around the NBA right now uh some of this stuff affects Denver some

Of it does not but there is a very clear thing here that’s kind of coming down that the Denver Nuggets are in an arms race right now with a lot of other NBA teams a lot of teams are getting very feisty when it comes to the trade deadline some deals may happen

Some deals may not but we got some good examples today of contenders that are loading up that are trying to do their best to become the best teams that they can be uh three trades today we’ll go over the them chronological order first one uh Utah traded Simone fonio to the

Pistons for Kevin Knox a 2024 second round pick to the wa via the Washington Wizards that’s basically gonna be like the the 33rd pick in the draft this year that one doesn’t mean that much but it got me thinking about the Pistons being like what are you guys doing like

Shouldn’t the Pistons be trying to rebuild and build through the draft and do all those things and try to be adding young talent and talent that they can believe in going forward that’s what they should be doing as a rebuilding organization but everything you see about the Pistons just frustrates me so

Look I I don’t know why they did it Simone f is fine but it is what it is uh Xavier Tilman to the Boston Celtics that was an interesting one and that one came down the pipeline uh I was on my way back from nuggets practice today which I’ll talk about in the

Second segment but on the way back from nuggets practice and Xavier Tillman of the Memphis Grizzlies who has given Denver some trouble in the past has given them some battles he gets moved to the Boston Celtics for two second round picks uh they had an open roster spot

And decided you know what we’re gonna add a good backup center I wouldn’t call xer Tillman anything more than that I think that he has shown some interesting stuff he’s shown some playmaking stuff for sure uh but I do think that he’s a good enough player player that could

Have really helped a a championship team and it’s not like you’re looking for him to play this massive role especially in Boston like they need him in a playoff series to be able to battle like hypothetically Joel embiid comes back you want him to be posting up uh Xavier

Tillman and wearing himself down over the course of a playoff series that would be what Boston wants to do they want to keep Chris Taps porzingis out of the post they would like to avoid that and I think if you’re Denver that’s one that hypothetically Denver gets to the

Finals and Boston is facing them and you they’ve just got another extra big that they can throw at nicoa yic it’s not like like yic and Harrison wind aptly pointed out today that Xavier Tillman was one of the players that Nicole yic collected a perfect triple double on

Earlier this year uh so let’s be clear this isn’t going to be like a a massively impactful ad but if they get 5% more challenging in a Denver matchup because they have Xavier Tillman that seems like a pretty big addition and like I’m I’m curious to see

How he works out there because they’ve added bigs in the past Boston has like Mike muscala last year it did not work out well so let’s see if Xavier Tillman can like pencle himself into some rotation time there and and be a good kind of Al Horford replacement in the

Rotation every now and then uh but Memphis gets a 2027 second round pick via Atlanta and a 2030 second round pick via Dallas so two fine second round picks I’m not sure what either of those teams are going to look at but going to be interesting um and Aaron this is a

Good point here Xavier Tillman is a unrestricted free agent and that’s one of the reasons why he was moved unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and it would not surprise me if Memphis was just like you know we got to get a couple assets for him but a team like

Boston is like yeah cool if he walks at the end of the year so what if it gives us an opportunity to win a championship yada yada y for Denver it’s a little bit more difficult because they had 15 roster spots already I don’t think they really wanted to trade Justin holiday or

Blacko chanar in a deal like this so that’s one of the reasons why this wasn’t really considered despite the fact that think Xavier could have been helpful for Denver uh but then the big one came through the pipeline earlier today Monte Morris who was moved to Detroit in a deal

Uh he goes to the Minnesota Timberwolves now so the Pistons make a couple deals today and they’re probably going to make more Monte Morris to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Pistons receive Shake Milton Troy Brown Jr and a 2030 second round pick so nothing too crazy

That’s a pretty cheap price to pay but the thing is is that Minnesota had the cap to make make it make sense and they had the contracts to really make it make sense for them and this one’s interesting because I I was just on a podcast with Dane Moore of the Dane

Moore NBA podcast you should go check his workout covers the Minnesota Timberwolves at an excellent Pace excellent level and he and I also collab on the Alley with Ryan Blackburn so make sure to go check that out as well uh all NBA kind of podcast there that is an interesting one because

Minnesota when Mike Conley’s off the floor for them they really struggle so they found a veteran point guard somebody who they can trust who they have familiarity with obviously because Monte Morris was in the Northwest for a long time Tim Connelly former Denver Nuggets executive reunites with mon

Morris they are basically uh they are doing the they’re doing the thing where they add other nuggets and add other pieces that Tim Connelly has either wanted or has already had in Denver and this makes a lot of sense because I can see their ninan rotation as this you

Have your starters Mike Conley Anthony Edwards Jaden McDaniels Carl towns Rudy goar and then you have Monte Morris as your six man Off the Bench or somewhere close to it you have uh nikel Alexander Walker who’s your do everything kind of defensive guard you have Kyle Anderson who is your versatile forward who

They’re not really happy with but I think he would fit in really well with a group like that and then they have Nas Reed who’s one of the best backup bigs if not the best backup big in the entire NBA the t- wolves are dangerous folks

Like I don’t want I don’t know what to tell people the t-wolves are going to be a very very interesting team in a playoff environment because they sometimes like don’t have their heads on straight and one of the reasons why they screw up in clutch time is because they

Turn the ball over Mike Conley certainly helps them with the starters but in a playoff series Mike Conley can’t always play 48 minutes he’s gonna play 30 to 35 maybe even 38 uh Conley for as good as he is isn’t perfect and there might be a series where he just isn’t playing that

Well well now you have Monte Morris is kind of a a Mike Conley approximate on that podcast that I did with danne I called him Mike Conley light and that’s a a very very interesting very very interesting group I think they can mix and match a lot of

Different guys on their team and they are going to form a nice playoff rotation that is tough for Denver to take down so I’d watch out for them guys like that’s it it kind of depends on the matchup obviously but if they get the right circumstances and then meet Denver

In a playoff series look we already saw how that matchup looked like early on in the season where there is a very very distinct chance that jayen McDaniels and Anthony Edwards and guys and Rudy goar and Carl towns and guys like that like their defense is just going to be really

Really good and I think Monte helps out their offense a little bit for sure so like going to be fascinating I’m I’m curious to see what it looks like but those are three trades those are three interesting trades the first one not as interesting but Xavier Tillman going to

The Boston Celtics Monte Morris going to the Minnesota Timberwolves those are a couple examples of teams that are loading up that are doing their best to get better prior to the trade deadline ending and they did get better I believe with each of these moves so if you’re

The Nuggets you’re not looking at not just like okay so those contenders it’s one thing if if that was all it was then fine but I’m just going to run through the top of the league run through some of the the top names and the top teams

And we’re going to talk about what they’re doing the Clippers are looking to add they are looking to add some sort of versatile forward that can be more of a defensive-minded guy for them somebody that gives them some size on their second unit if they find that that basically completes their rotation

The Thunder can do just about whatever they want to do I don’t know whether they’re going to do anything but Kelly Lin seems like a really good addition to them for spacing uh just basically an upgrade over a guy like Jaylen Williams big Jaylen Williams if they were to do

That that would be very very interesting the suns are probably going to add M uh miles Bridges not male Bridges they had male Bridges suns are probably going to add miles Bridges as more morally reprehensible as that is they’re probably going to do it their owner Matt ishia has connections to

Michigan State miles Bridges went to Michigan State he’s a cheap addition I don’t think that they’re going to have to pay a bunch in order to go get him so it’s either them or Dallas that is going to get miles Bridges Kings probably not looking like major players but if they

Wanted to do something then I’m sure that they could I don’t think it really changes anything for their playoff run uh at least at this point they need to wait until Keegan Murray levels up the Pelicans are looking to go get dejon Murray and if they did add him I’m

Not sure how I would feel about their team I still think that like look any team that has Jonas valunas going up against Nicole yic is going to be at a disadvantage especially from a defensive standpoint and they just don’t have the defense of personnel other than herb

Jones to really bother Denver in any particular way so I would be um if dejonte Murray’s there then maybe that helps their offense like having him be as an upgrade over some of their other options that would be interesting but I mean it also kind of does take the

Ball out of the hands of Zion and Brandon Ingram so maybe that’s not the not the best idea the Sixers are still being aggressive they’re looking at Andre Drummond and other guys like that to kind of help them get through the Joel and beat absence and then maybe if

They could add a Bruce brown or Malcolm Brogden or somebody like that as a combo guard combo Wing that could bolster their rotation for a playoff run and everybody here knows how dangerous the Sixers can be as long as they’re healthy which is looking less and less likely by

The day but still is something to really think about the Bucks are in desperate need of a new coach and a perimeter Defender and they will likely only get one of those uh they already exhausted the new coach thing that’s probably not happening um they need a better

Perimeter defensive guy I don’t know if that guy exists but I saw somebody mentioned dlon right in the comments earlier he would qualify I think in that where you just add another body that you can rotate in there that you can trust he could play 20 minutes for them in a

Playoff series and it would be a better defensive option than Malik Beasley that is for sure um and then the Knicks they already added OG and they could add Brogden or Jordan Clarkson or somebody similar uh that’s a like the Knicks are suddenly very very dangerous so uh Aaron

Says yeah Bruce Brown to the Bucks that would be interesting I’m not sure if it’s the right fit I don’t think that the Dame Bruce backp back court is great I think that Bruce is kind of an overrated defensive player like he can’t be your primary point of attack Defender

I don’t think I don’t think he’s good enough to do that like he can switch and he can be your jack of all trades within lineups but I don’t think that he should ever be your best defender and he wasn’t last year for Denver that was either kcp

Or Aaron Gordon most of the time so look that’s fine it’s completely reasonable um but yeah like bucks are they’re needing help Knicks look great uh Celtics look great they are they have like a six game margin on the entire Eastern Conference but they are obviously still liable to explode at any

Moment um I think that this is going to be a very very interesting run and as we see a lot of teams that could continue to add at the trade deadline then you’ve got Denver and I’m G to talk about them in the second segment here I don’t know if Denver’s going to

Add I don’t think that they need to add but I also think that it’s worth at least asking the question and doing due diligence because it is very very interesting that Denver’s just like yeah sure that’s fine um where the rest of the NBA is looking to catch up and and

Might actually catch up if they get the right guys so look we’ll see what happens but either way let’s take a quick break when we come back we are going to chat about what happened at practice today and then I’m going to share some thoughts on where Denver is

At but first everybody this podcast as you know it’s brought to you by our friends over at Superbook who are obviously changing the game within the betting markets and as some of our Mile High Sports folks are on radio row in Las Vegas right now they’ve they’ve got

The super book hookup uh who are the most trusted gambling name in sports gambling uh they’ve got the direct line to Las Vegas and now you can use that promo code Mile High to score up to 250 bucks with your first bet bonus win or lose Superbook will match your first bet

Up to 250 with promo code Mile High all you got to do is download that Superbook Sports app enter the promo code and you’ll get 250 bucks courtesy of Superbook Sports Vis is superbook.com for terms and conditions gambling problem called wi 100 Gambler we’ll be right back on pickaxe and

Roll and we’re back pickax and roll Ryan Blackburn here thank you so much everybody for tuning in thanks for hanging out with me I know that this is a is an interesting time I don’t know I don’t necessarily go live as late as

Often as I I used to but uh I do like going live at this time I think it’s better but it’s just made it easier to go live in the mornings after games I think that that’s definitely something to uh expect in the future still uh but

I I posted a picture yesterday of swipa and I recording from the office recording from the the studio space and I got some good feedback from folks on they they want to see this full time so best way to get us to do this fulltime is to continue continue showing support

On here to continue telling people that you love the show so if you want if you want pickax and roll or weekends with swiper whatever it ends up being to become sort of a main like a main thing like something that we do more consistently then let us know let me

Know down in the comments that would be super dope all right let’s go over what happened to practice which not not anything crazy really uh we spoke to Michael Malone Christian Brown Aaron Gordon Aaron Gordon told us that he has a statue of a 9- foot tall astronaut and

Was throwing paint at it this morning before practice he had a little bit of paint on his elbow here and was showing and so I think Bennett noticed it was like hey is that paint and he said oh yeah then told us the story and like apparently he he has some connections to

Orlando still and on the the old uh culture fronts and he one of the artists down there made him a a sculpture uh it’s a a 9 foot tall astronaut sculpture uh which is very very interesting and something that only AG could really do um I also asked

AGG what he would say to guys especially at the time of the trade deadline where things get a little bit weird things get a little bit tense and you said just be true to yourself and understand that like if they value they will like they

Will get you or or they will retain you or whatever it is that you want in this business it is a business obviously but never like losing sight of the fact that you are a good basketball player a great basketball player one of the best basketball players ever if you made it

To the NBA and just staying true to yourself Christian Brown also spoke about his experience this year and just how difficult it is not not how difficult but like definitely not making any excuses but like also sort of trying to explain what’s been going on what’s

Been going through his head uh he he had it tough but he kept a pretty positive mindset and then said that he needs to be better and wants to continue to be better but uh he said that he doesn’t ever have bad days in Denver because he’s playing for a defending Champion he

Gets to compete and gets to gets to play every single night and he tries not to take that for granted so I thought that that was very interesting I thought that was very insightful and look I I’ve been pretty hard on Christian overall I think

He needs to play better and I can sense a little bit of uh uh uncomfortability there in terms of man I think he knows that especially as somebody who previously came on this show so like look I I never want to not pull any punches but like never want to change my

Takes up just because of relationships with guys um but yeah I I think Christian has to be better and I think he will be and I think that for that reason he’s probably he’s probably not getting traded but none of these guys really are and that was an

Interesting sort of segue into the Michael Malone conversation where he had this to say in his open uh for the media session he was talking about this year’s title race or this year’s uh Western Conference kind of playoff race and what that looked like and he says quote I

Hate saying this but I think our guys got a little bored last year I think there were stretches where our guys were like let’s just get to the playoffs this year is and and he says this year is totally different uh which I think is completely understandable completely Fair

Um he says quote you wake up and you see the standings in a four-way tie for first place there’s so much riding on every game maybe it helps our guys stay a little bit more locked in and engaged knowing that if you drop a game you

Could go from first to Fourth and he’s right right now Denver’s in a four-way tie basically with the Clippers the Thunder and the Wolves all four of those teams are really really good the Clippers are 34 and 15 the other three teams are each 35 and 16

So one more win one more loss a piece with the way that the Clippers are are playing right now though I expect them to earn that extra win and then it’s very possible that because they are um they haven’t played as many games they they could Bank a couple wins and

Be ahead of all those teams which is why their their win percentage is slightly higher um but yeah like this is a very very interesting time and and with all with how close those teams are it’s a little bit different from last year where Denver they basically earned the

First seed in March like early March basically like there was no way that the the Grizzlies were going to come back now Denver’s gonna have to fight scratch and Claw and I made this point in an article today which you can go read at my high sports.com

Um it would make more sense if Denver was pretty aggressive trying to improve the regular season record if they thought that the seedings mattered if they thought okay you know what rather than be a three seed or a four seed we want to be a one seed or two seed ensure

That we’ve got homecourt Advantage ensure that we’ve got uh the best possible path to an NBA Finals uh the easiest possible path which generally features hey you you want to be you want to have as many home games as possible which Denver was 10 in one at home last

Year so made a lot of sense for sure um but rather than that Michael Malone kind of went the other direction and I think that Denver should be considering trying to add somebody for the regular season it shouldn’t just be saving resources for the playoffs because if you add to

The regular season you make it easier for yourselves to get a top seed and to ensure the easiest path within the playoffs uh however that may not happen Michael Malone was talking about the trade deadline this year and he said quote I don’t feel there’s a need to

Address something that isn’t there I think all of our players understand this is a business you never know what kind of phone calls you will get you have to answer that phone that’s Calvin’s job that’s his number one responsibility you’re always looking at ways to get

Better but you wake up after 51 games you’re tied for first we’re trying to develop a lot of young players and I still think we have another year we can get to quote I think we’re in a pretty good place so Michael Malone uh over the course of these last few days has

Reiterated and I’ve I think I’ve asked the question multiple times or actually no the first one was dmac this next one was me uh just about like where Denver’s at and how they feel and what what’s going on with the rotation if they feel like they need anything and Michael

Malone basically says no and I don’t blame him I understand why but I also think that you can always look and you can always try to get better on the margins because let’s face it like if any one of these guys rolls an ankle and is out

For a critical game six in the Western Conference semi-finals and Denver is down 3-2 because they’re a three- seed or a four- seed and they have to go they have to protect home court but they got to do it without Aaron Gordon for example knock on wood if they had to do

That do they have the Personnel to survive without Aaron Gordon for 48 minutes and I don’t know the answer I don’t know um because Denver is at they are so beholden right now to Aaron Gordon playing the non yic minutes it’s crazy I want to share some numbers here and because

When Michael Malone implies hey I think we’re in a pretty good place my natural reaction is to ask are the nuggets in a good place are they in a good spot like can they survive if certain guys go down obviously joic is a is a completely different story uh

But like Murray is also kind of a completely different story if those guys go down if they’re not good Denver’s going to lose and that’s pretty clear but it can’t be the same thing for Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter and kcp and all those guys like if you lose one of

Those guys for a stretch you have to be able to survive um let me see Cedric asks what’s the word on if we can get PJ Tucker is there PJ Tucker news out there right now I’m I’m reading uh for the podcast so I haven’t really paid much

Attention um PJ Tucker’s likely to get bought out I believe that is like if he was a buyout guy wouldn’t be the worst idea for Denver to try to go get him that’s for sure um but I do think that yeah no let me let me get back to

Uh let me get back to this because uh yeah okay so if Clippers say that they could trade him I don’t care because there’s no reason for Denver to trade for PJ Tucker because he like he makes too much money and that’s the problem that Denver runs into in a lot

Of these situ ations Zeki is only making 4.3 million basically uh Reggie Jackson is their next is their largest contract outside of the starting lineup making five million Denver because they are a luxury tax team needs to get within 110% of whatever dollar amount they are trying to get like they can’t exceed

More than 110% of what they’re sending out so they would have to send um plenty of cash or plenty of guys like probably three guys and that’s just not viable for a team like the Clippers Clippers would probably try to go one for one or two for one Denver would have

To send at least three guys in order to make the money work and I just do not think that they can so I would not think about PJ Tucker unless he gets bought out which I think is more likely uh the closer we get to the trade

Deadline so we will see um let me get back to the other aspect of this I pulled some numbers here for from cleaning the glass it’s my favorite resource for lineup information and data and things that kind of knock out garbage time so they they kind of don’t

Ruin the sample and it’s got a really nice interface where I can mix and match some of the lineups um so here’s some combinations that I want to share with people the first thing is the yic minutes yic minutes obviously the most important when yic plays the nuggets are

Plus 10.7 net rating in over 3,300 possessions so like they are really really good and because they are that good they have a chance to be a championship Contender within that when joic plays with Aaron Gordon the nuggets are plus 8.9 with uh in 2500 possessions so

Slightly worse not as good uh but still potent clearly when jokic plays without Aaron Gordon which I think is fascinating the nuggets are plus 16.1 rating in 800 possessions nearly double and why that matters is because if Denver is building out their lineups if they’re building out their rotations

So that Aaron Gordon is staggering to play center I think that there are four combinations of minutes that they need to focus on or actually it’s really three jokic plus Aaron Gordon joic minus Aaron Gordon Aaron Gordon minus joic and if you get those three to be good then

You’re you’re doing pretty well like if they’re all positive then you’re going to win a title so I think that that’s a that’s a good sign so the big discrepancy is the non- yic minutes nonic Denver is really really bad they’re basically like minus 10 and

A half which cancels out all of the the good things that yic does so in a playoff series that would be something that an opposing team exploits and they will exploit guaranteed the difference that I want to point to for people when joic and Aaron Gordon are

Off the floor neither of them is playing so that means you’re probably playing one of Zeke Nagi or DeAndre Jordan as the backup center Denver is minus 13.9 net rating in over a thousand possessions so that is dragging Denver down but here’s the kicker when Aaron Gordon is playing

Center when he’s on the floor in the lineups without joic without DeAndre Jordan and without zek Nagi the nuggets have played 285 possessions of that so not a lot they are plus 12 a plus 12 net rating for Aaron Gordon at Center lineups that’s really really

Good that is a really really really good number and a really really encouraging number and a lot of those different combinations will feature Jamal Murray they’ll feature Michael Porter at the four or they’re featuring Payton Watson uh they’ll feature all of those guys playing together you’ll have multiple

Starters playing next to Aaron Gordon it’s going to approximate what it’s it’s basically going to approximate a lot of the yic minutes because the Nuggets will use Aaron Gordon in a very similar way they’ll use him at the middle of the floor they’ll run some pick and rolls and they’ll have

Him screen for Jamal Murray and that’s just that’s good offense that is a really really really good thing and I’m excited for that now I also shared out a rotation earlier today um and by the way Alex the reason I wasn’t on earlier today the Nuggets practiced earlier

Today they they practiced at 11:15 so that’s usually when I would record also wanted to wait until trades happened today so the show wasn’t dated um this matters because I think that Denver’s settling on an eight-man rotation they’re going to play the five starters Murray joic Gordon kcp Michael

Porter and then they’re gonna play three bench guys Reggie Jackson Christian Brown Payton Watson and Watson’s really really proved himself over the course of these last few weeks few months even and when you boil it down to that Denver can get to a road rotation where only eight of only those eight guys

Play and if that’s the case then like if that’s the case and Denver can get to 240 minutes there and those minutes can all be productive they’re going to be just fine now guys like Reggie Jackson and Christian Brown and pton Watson have weaknesses they’re

Unproven in a lot of ways none of them I guess Christian was but there’s there’s a little bit more volatility there there’s a little bit more variability there some of it is good if you’re Payton Watson where he can make some flash bow plays he can really change the complexion of a game

And if you’re Reggie Jackson who has been in a playoff series before where he has changed the entire tone of it in a positive way that’s a good thing for Denver but what I will say is that Bruce Brown Christian Brown Jeff Green it’s a lot more steady because it’s a lot more

Defensive focused and there is a little bit more not reliability there but a little bit more just just steadiness there less volatility and that’s what worked for Denver last year I don’t know if that’s what’s going to work for Denver this year I think that Denver starting lineup is is good enough and

Their combinations with jic are good enough that they will be fine and that they’ll figure this out but I also want to open up the possibility the idea that other teams are getting better too and if there is a matchup where yeah Reggie Jackson just can’t play in this

Series or Christian Brown is just really struggling or yeah pton Watson can’t handle the physicality of the Interior defense uh on both sides of the floor those things are very likely to happen like I’m not just saying that to be a Debbie Downer I’m just saying that

As somebody who kind of understands how the flow of these things go players players that are flawed the longer you go into a playoffs those flaws will show themselves and then teams that are good enough will exploit them and they will put it into a really really tough

Position for those teams uh like hypothetically let’s say it’s the clippers because the Clippers are really coming on strong here let’s say they have their rotation and Christian Brown he just can’t guard Russell Westbrook he can’t do it he’s really really struggling that’s the matchup that they

Wanted to put him on they tried him on Paul George they tried him on Kawhi Leonard and those guys are having success too and then you just can’t play Christian Brown is Denver comfortable with Justin holiday sure can he do those things maybe I don’t know I’m very curious um

But I want to see it and I want to see how those guys react because I think it’s very possible that if one of Reggie Christian or Payton can’t play in a particular series is Denver just going to go down to a seven-man rotation do they have options to expand their

Rotation beyond that that is a pretty tough question it’s a pretty tough thing to answer and so that is why you see teams like the Boston Celtics adding Xavier Tillman because it just gives them another option it’s why you see a team like Minnesota add Monte Morris who

Will probably be their eighth or ninth man but like if he’s their 10th Man and he doesn’t play in the playoffs he’ll sweat off their backs because neither Shake Milton nor Troy Brown Jr were going to really play either so I think that Denver’s in this tough spot where

They really should add something they really should add another piece somebody that they can trust somebody that they can believe in I don’t know who it’s going to be but if you think about their rotation right now I’m just going to go through the guys who are not in this group

Justin holiday I think can play I think he can do some things and that’s exciting zek Nagi I don’t think he can I think we’ve seen this so far I just can’t trust him and I don’t think the Nuggets will either DeAndre Jordan if you play him like he played in four of

The 20 games last year and was fine he was fine it didn’t actually hurt Denver but if he can only play in four of the 20 games this year is that enough who knows um so that’s three Julian Str rookie somebody who I’d love to see them get back healthy and play in

The second half like after the All-Star break so you can see whether he can play a little bit because if he can that changes things and that would be a good exciting thing for Denver Jaylen picket Hunter Tyson can’t really trust those guys and then the other so that’s six

That’s six right there that’s 14 of the main roster guys and then the 15th is vaco chanar who is injured so if it’s not Justin holiday or Julian Str or DeAndre Jordan like if those are the three options that you have outside of your main group is that

Good enough is it I think it’s fair to wonder whether that’s good enough I think it’s fair to wonder to ask that question last year Denver was kind of in the same situation it wasn’t quite to this degree but they weren’t they weren’t in that that it was kind of a

Kind of a roster crunch there like they did add Reggie Jackson and Thomas Bryant it was very clear that those guys were probably not going to play and they probably weren’t good enough but think about it like and they also had pton Watson last year like pton Watson was in

The hunter Tyson role last year and now you’ve got Hunter Tyson in the hunter Tyson role this year who has just he’s just not played so Denver’s got these Rost spots that they’re not currently using with guys that you can believe in or not like not believe but certainly

Trust in a playoff environment and if that’s the case the margin for error is so thin that I think it’s fair to be critical I think it’s fair to wonder whether that’s the case or whether that’s the right call because I don’t know I think if you if you stay

Perfectly healthy if every team in the NBA stayed perfectly healthy I’m betting on Denver I just am because I think Denver’s got the answers for most every team Boston could still beat them obviously Clippers still go be could still beat them uh I think the Thunder

Probably not but like they can the thund or the t-wolves can beat them like all these teams can beat them and the question of the trade deadline is can you make your margin for error a little bit wider can you widen it just a little bit

By by adding the right player and I don’t know if that player exists for the price that Denver’s willing to pay uh Xavier Tillman would have been great Andre Drummond would be interesting um I’m sorry Stephen I’m I’m sorry to uh throw Hunter Tyson under the bus the

Reason why I said Hunter Tyson specifically is because he has not played at all this year he just hasn’t like I think he’s played like like certainly no rotation minutes so that is the reason um like that and so if Denver had to throw Hunter Tyson out there in a

Playoff series like how great would you feel I I wouldn’t feel great and it’s not because of Hunter Tyson like he’s just not like we haven’t seen it we don’t know and then obviously you can’t uh with coling gopie Jay Huff Braxton key you can’t play those guys because

They are two-way contract guys they’re not eligible for the playoffs so I think it’s fair to have some questions I think it’s fair to want another guy to be in the rotation to be in that interesting place and then to be able to mix and match different things where hey you

Don’t have to be beholden to just a three-man bench unit with Reggie Christian and pton that’s perfectly fine if they decide to go that direction but I think that Denver should try to add something and if they can more power to them buyout Market’s going to be interesting guys that are on big

Contracts like a Kyle Lowry or Gordon Hayward or even a Doug mcder are not eligible to be signed by Denver because of the new uh tax rules that went into effect this year so Denver like they’re restricted in who they can get PJ Tucker falls into that Kelly oen hypothetically

Would fall into that I don’t think that he’s gonna get bought out or anything but he would hypothetically fall into that um so it’s going to be fascinating folks I’m I’m curious to see what they do uh we’ve been going now for 42 minutes and I uh I don’t know I don’t

Know what it’s going to be I don’t know what it’s going to look like but other teams are adding other teams are trying to get better they’re trying to catch Denver and if Denver is not ready for it or if they don’t add enough then it’s very possible that Denver does not repeat

This year and that’s just realistic like it’s it’s a really tough place for them to be do I think that Denver still can absolutely I have firm belief and I’m just like I said to somebody today I am just going to believe in joic and Murray getting the job done until they don’t

And then if they don’t then we can start asking questions then we can start figuring some things out but until then trust it trust that the team is making the right decisions and that they have what it takes to get it done everybody that is going to do it

For this episode of pickax and all brought you by our good friends over at Super Book Sports been going for nearly 45 minutes uh we will see if any trades happen uh if any trades happen for Denver then I will um I’m probably not going live again or anything like that

But I’ll save it for tomorrow’s podcast uh Thursday night after Denver plays in La should be fun uh thank you so much for tuning into the show really really appreciate all the love and support on the podcast as always folks uh Cedric I don’t think I’m ever going into Vegas uh

Unless uh unless I get a nice little opportunity for summer league that is paid for uh but we will we’ll see if that ever comes to pass thank you so much everybody for tuning in to the show appreciate all the love and support hit that like button that subscribe button

On the way out I will talk to you guys tomorrow

Ryan Blackburn reacts to the trades made around the NBA on Wednesday, including former Denver Nuggets point guard Monte Morris going from the Detroit Pistons to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ryan discusses Denver’s stance on trades, whether the Nuggets have enough to win a championship without a move, and where the NBA playoff pecking order stands currently.

Subscribe to our page: https://www.youtube.com/c/MileHighSports

Mile High Sports. Every Team. Every Day.
Follow us on social media: @MileHighSports

Check out our website: MileHighSports.com

Current Magazine Issue: https://milehighsports.com/current-is…