Offseason outlook for Nuggets & Knicks | Top Free Agent Targets | CBS Sports

Offseason outlook for Nuggets & Knicks | Top Free Agent Targets | CBS Sports

over the last six seasons no reigning Champion has even made it past the second round of the playoffs joker may be sad but he can go back to his horses that’s Jacy ntino ashle M and Brad bin here um we’re going to get to the nuggets and how to fix them in the off season but first things first they were up 20 in the second half guys and Brad I’m going to start with you what went wrong for Denver and the Champs with that big lead nothing went wrong we have got to credit I don’t know how you feel about this but we’ve got to credit the Timberwolves now if Nico yic had had a better game shooting from three I think at one point he was 0 for seven from deep and they were conceding that shot if a couple of those go in um it wouldn’t have taken much for them to hang on to that lead but Minnesota sees the day and they and then defensively they were all over Jamal Murray in the second half you know Anthony Edwards we”ve got a talk about the Poise of a guy who’s I think he finished six for 24 um I thought he was pretty passive uh accepting double teams early in that game and did not get himself off and was kind of trying to get everybody else going uh and I thought that worked to Minnesota’s detriment and a lot of young players a lot of veteran players uh would concede to a half like that in a game like that with those stakes and not come out aggressive uh and he hit that huge three maybe the biggest shot of the season for Minnesota at the end of the third quarter uh to really carry that momentum into the fourth and I think the credit for this game goes to Minnesota they beat Denver’s starters throughout the the series that has been the go-to for Denver throughout this run their starters kill everybody Minnesota won the starter game uh and I think we got to credit to Timberwolves so I agree and disagree with Brad I agree with the fact that there came a point in the game where there was nothing the Nuggets could go ahead and do right but I think the big difference here for me is that the Nuggets did not do what the Timberwolves did when it came to team basketball Anthony Edwards did not have a good first half right he was kind of struggling the the defensive plan for the Denver Nuggets was to go ahead and double team him but they forgot about a guy named Jaden McDaniels and he had 23 points and he was able to go ahead and pick up some of the slack and if you look at what happened with the Nuggets Jamal Murray and joic had good games Jamal Murray 35 points in game seven probably his best game in this entire Series right but everybody else didn’t hold their weight and when you’re going against a team that has just as much depth as you as you do and also has guys that can go ahead and pick up some of the slack which they did for Anthony Edwards in that first half and allowed him to kind of get going and allowed the Denver Nuggets to have to go ahead and change their whole defensive landscape because they’re like all right well we’re doubling him but these guys are scoring now we’re all in a frenzy you need to go ahead and have guys to fill in the Gap and when the Nuggets won the championship last year that was one of the the things we kept talking about was how deep this team was team basketball how that ball was constantly moving it wasn’t solely on joic of course joic is always going to do what he can do but it wasn’t just him and the rest of the guys in the same Jersey as him did not show up and that’s exactly what they did in Minnesota which I think is ultimately what won them this game so let’s pick up where you left off then because the championship winning team had Jeff Green Bruce Brown which did not return this year Calvin Booth is getting a lot of flag the the Nuggets GM about not putting enough reinforcements for this nuggets team Ashley so when you take a look at Denver we know how stacked the West is going to be what’s it going to take to get Denver back into the conversation to being a champion they need some of that debt back you know Carl Anthony towns after the game they asked him you know what was the keys to winning this and he said we don’t have a big three we have a big 15 that is team basketball that means if one guy is down you got 14 others to go ahead and pick up the slack and in a game seven that’s what you expect them to do right if you look at the Denver Nuggets it was primarily yic which look it’s always going to be yic focal right that he is the main point he’s the nucleus of this system he is going to go ahead and be the guy that you’re always expecting to perform a certain type of way Jamal Murray is next man up but what happens is when everybody else doesn’t pick up their slack and when you don’t have the debt to go ahead and compete against a team that has that and then some you’re at a disadvantage and you saw that yish looked exhausted and granted I’m not giving him any passes everyone’s banged up everyone’s tired we’ll get to the Knick in a second I know I know I know but you go you need to go ahead and be able to fill in the holes fill in the gaps and that is what the Nuggets were desperately missing in this game and and honestly in this series as a whole one of the games that they won their bench scored 27 points they were missing that consistently throughout the series and again I feel like that’s what ultimately lost in this game yeah Ashley’s right in in theory but they weren’t a terribly deep team when they won I mean Bruce was a big part of that team they lost him and we all talked about that when he left in the offseason that was going to be a big loss but Denver knew they’re over the second apron they can’t go out and make a bunch of additions nor could they this year and so they went out and they got draft picks young guys Payton Watson they hoped that Christian Brown would come in Zeke nai’s the highest paid guy that’s not a starter I think at 9 million a year uh they don’t have the resources they’ve traded their first round pick uh I think in three of the next four drafts um this is their team and it’s not a bad team like we’re we’re having we’re talking about like what do the Nuggets do I wouldn’t be surprised if the Nuggets were the favorites next year in the west I mean this is an awesome team uh and when they won last year and even when they played well this year we talked Ashley talked about how they didn’t get a big game from Aaron Gordon or kavus call W Pope I mean I still think you have to credit the way that Minnesota is scrambling to those Shooters and because those guys had big games throughout this series in fact Aaron Gordon was phenomenal at points in this series and so I think bottom line Minnesota designed their team specifically to be able to contend with the Nika yic team by having those three bigs at all times they can have a big body on the floor this is key without wasting Rudy goar on him Rudy goar caught a lot of flak in this series for what joic did to him one-on-one but goar’s value is off the ball okay he is a Rover he is a Helper and the ability to put Carl Anthony towns and Nas Reed for 48 minutes on joic and not waste goar on him that that’s a big deal and Tim connley specifically I believe designed this team knowing you were going to have to go through the nuggets and it paid off so Denver I don’t think can do much I think they’re they they’re they’re still phenomenally put together they still I believe they have the best player in the in the world Jamal Murray is as good as it gets in the playoffs they’re going to run this thing back I assure you and and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were right back in the Conference Finals and in the finals next year quick followup I do think though one of the things that kind of outside of the fact that I do think that they were outmatch when it came to the depth and the bench and things like that the defensive effort was not great after they went ahead and came into the second half when they came into the second half with the lead the defense was just non-existent I mean you have Rudy go shooting Corner threes he does not shoot well like if you’re unfamiliar with Rudy goar he is not a shooter you don’t leave him open and thinking that just because he’s not a shooter that he can’t hit shots it was just ultimately a complete crumble from the Denver Nuggets in that second half of that game let’s get back to the Knicks because we talked about everyone being tired and everybody being her but it really did feel like for the Knicks the injuries just kept piling on OG tried to give it a go for about five minutes he never returned he was out after scoring about five points and then Brunson of course fracturing his hand with about N9 minutes left Ash what do you make of the Knicks and then if we push it Forward what needs to happen for them to come back does it have to do with tibs maybe chilling on the minutes a little bit um I don’t know if it was so much of a tibs issue this is how tibs plays and I think a lot of this team the the way they or the reason why they’ve been so successful is because of all of the lessons and the foundations that tibs has for his teams and instills in his team so I it’s not a tibs issue this Nick teams does this Nicks team does not get this far without Tom Tibido coaching them at the end of the day injuries catch up to you and unfortunately for the next five rotational players substained injuries throughout the course of the season and there are no moral victories in basketball you didn’t win a championship Jaylen Brunson said at best the season was a failure in his eyes but you can only play the guys in front of you but also there’s not much you can do any team whether you’re healthy whether you’re not healthy whether you’re missing some guys when you’re facing a Pacers team that’s shooting 54% from the three and 67% from the field I mean they were absolutely shooting lights out you’re missing a lot of the size with Mitchell Robinson not being on the floor you can’t stretch that floor you don’t have the rim protection the points in the paint they were killing them there I mean there’s only so much you can do with this graveyard shift of guys now if we’re talking about running it back next season I believe that this Knicks team does not need much work you need a backup point forward I a backup power forward for Julius Randall I don’t think you need to have go out there and go Star hunting I think this is a very well constructed team that was unfortunately the victim of a lot of injuries at the wrong time and Phil Jackson said it best talent wins you a championship creativity wins you a championship but also luck wins you a championship and luck equals health so I don’t think there’s much that needs to be done to this Knicks team yeah and whatever they do want to do they’re in good position to do it they have eight trade eligible first round picks coming up over the next uh handful of drafts uh big thing they’re going to have to talk about in the off of course are they going to resign OG which I don’t think they do that trade if they don’t I think they might end up having to overpay for him a little bit uh he became sort of a folk hero and Isaiah hartenstein who was just unbelievable in this series and really throughout this playoff run and really for all of this season taking over Mitchell Robinson when he went down they don’t have his full bird rights they can only give him like 16 million uh a year I would not be surprised if a team like the Thunder that needs bigger bodies goes out and offers him more than that I think the Knicks have to really focus on retaining hartenstein getting anobi and then to Ashley’s point they have the luck just ran out I mean we can talk about a number of things of why this didn’t happen this year but I mean they were Dead on Arrival in that game seven they had no able bodies Tom Tom tibo was going to have to suit up those old Knicks that were sitting Baseline uh to try to put a full squad on the court and then just to button up the conversation but this is under the assumption that Jaylen Brunson continues to be this trajectory of a superstar right Ashley that he will not regress if anything at the very least he’s going to play as good as he played this year I think if you know anything about Jaylen Brunson and his dad Rick Brunson that is not even a topic of discussion topic of conversation I mean he is not going to regress by any means obviously when Julius Randle comes back into the picture the roles are going to have to be clearly defined that was an issue for the Knicks many many seasons um nobody really know their knew their roles and that kind of affected closers and things like that but I think that the verdict is out the narrative is there this is Jaylen brunson’s team and everybody else has to fall in order around him but I think the chemistry is there I think the coach player relationship is there the fans love this team this team loves each other and I think again no moral victories but it’s very very impressive that a team this beat up forced the sixes to a game six won that series went ahead and played seven games against an Indiana Pacers team that’s very good I’m not going to go ahead and knock them great team lot of Shooters this team the sky is the limit for them if they’re able to do this beat up you can only imagine what they can do at full strength I agree I mean Jaylen Brunson you you I love what you said about how the chemistry of the team that they love playing with each other they seem to love playing for tibs we can talk about the minutes but those guys go hard for that guy and you got the emergence of of a Josh Hart and a Dante dienzo who are turning into like folk heroes in the city and so I think the energy around that team Brunson is a solidified number one a a reliable shot Creator in the playoffs uh I I agree with Ashley I think they’ve got the tent poles of a really good team moving forward but you always have to be careful when you have these sort of house money years where nobody was really expecting much of the Knicks nobody really knew if Jaylen Brunson was a topnotch one a superstar and so this was the year we sort of went and found out free of expectation and we remember the 2021 Hawks when they made their run and Trey young was the next Superstar and they had a lot of the same elements they played they played good defense in that run they had a lot of young chemistry it looked like they were clicking with Nate McMillan and then it just didn’t happen for them moving forward so I don’t think the Knicks are in that situation for one I think brunson’s better than Trey young um but but but GL said that but you you do have to be careful with complacency with these house money years th this was absolutely a house money year and they and they beat the house they beat all the the prognostication all of that but they do have to make sure that they that they tidy up the roster with with hartenstein and anobi and make some more moves around the edges and come in next year ready to compete again because the Bucks will be healthy the Celtics will be coming off possibly a Championship uh the Sixers will be healthy uh Donovan Mitchell’s probably going be back with Cleveland there’s there’s good teams in the East and so it wouldn’t be that difficult to go from the two seed to the playin next year it really wouldn’t so that’s sort of the reality of it all right Brad brocken Ashley Nicole Moss joining us here Ash we appreciate you coming to work I know it was a tough I we black you see I’m all in black right you can hear Ashley on the Beyond The Ark pod alongside John Gonzalez and Bill Ryder download follow listen all the things new episode coming your way today and you can scam QR code and watch right now

Ashley Nicole Moss and Brad Botkin join CBS Sports HQ to break down what went wrong for the Nuggets and Knicks in their respective losses, plus look ahead to the offseason and what moves each franchise can make ahead of next year.

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