The Time is NOW for the Denver Nuggets

The Time is NOW for the Denver Nuggets

[Applause] he’ll fire up a prayer that’s it the Timberwolves have knocked out the defending Champion Denver Nuggets they are advancing to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 20 years most fans NBA analysts and the media had the Denver Nuggets winning the championship going into the season not everyone but most while they may not have been favored to win the title based on the preseason title odds coming out of Vegas and despite teams like the Bucks Landing Damen Lillard the Celtics adding porzingis and Drew holiday the Suns adding Bradley Beal you never count out the Champs who more or less ran through the competition on their way to a title last season I was also in the majority thinking of the Nuggets were the team to beat this year that a team beating them in a seven game series would be a serious undertaking because not only did they have the best player in the world who is the best post player in the game in addition to being arguably the best passer in the league but the complimentary pieces for a perfect second and third scoring option of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr and then rounded out rotation with great role players who know their role and know how to impact winning in my mind no one was stopping this team no one would have an answer for Nika yic until the Minnesota Timberwolves came along as the Denver Nuggets Kryptonite a team that was so well prepared well put together for just this moment and going head-to-head with the Champs a team I personally have my doubts about going into the season and being a viable Contender because not only did they come out firing on all cylinders to begin this series series winning the first two in Denver but even in the face of adversity where the Nuggets would come back to take a 3-2 series lead and everything looked all but over they kept fighting and managed to win the final two games finishing off the defending champs after being down by 20 points on the road but while I will have a video out at some point on the incredible season and this series in particular that we’ve seen from the Timberwolves the biggest question on most people’s minds what does this now mean for the Denver Nuggets a team that will now have one of the highest payrolls going in next season a second apron luxury tax Team all but to fall short in a western conference that is becoming increasingly more competitive as always if you’re new to the channel and you like this type of content be sure to subscribe to help the channel grow and in return I’ll be providing more NBA content like this but first before we get into the video a big shout out from our sponsors over to Underdog fantasy who have this amazing new offer right now as we head into the Conference Finals they’re now not only giving you a special pick in your pickups to increase your odds of hitting you can also get up to $250 in bonus cash upon your first deposit for those that aren’t familiar with Underdog let me tell you about the app real quick and my personal favorite that I use on the app NBA pick thems with pick thems you can pick higher or lower on most player stats and win money based on the ones you get right up to 100 times your money in fact so like I mentioned take advantage of the special offer sign up with the promo code and one Hoops to get a special pick in the lobby and up to $250 in bonus cash on your first deposit I’ll leave a link to the site and the code in the description now I’m sure the nuggets losing a series like this on their own home court in a game seven this coming after losing an embarrassing fashion getting blown out by 45 points in game six is going to produce all kinds of reactionary prison of the moment kind of takes like how the nuggets are on the hot seat now before jic starts getting upset and looks to go elsewhere Michael Porter Jr has one of the worst contracts in the NBA all kinds of hot takes when a series loss like this is fresh in everyone’s mind but for the record this probably doesn’t change that much for the Nuggets like really yic isn’t going anywhere he’s got his super Max contract he doesn’t care what kind of Market he’s in if anything he’s probably happy the season ended a little early so he can go back home to Serbia yeah Michael Porter Jr was a little bit of a disappointment in the series but overall he’s still a great piece on that roster as a third option Jamal Murray not the best series that he had most recently but was incredible in that first round series against the Lakers they’ve got one of the best coaches in the league they’ve got a great front office that know how to build the right roster construction around this core they are going to be fine that said though there will be some big questions for the Nuggets that they will need to address this offseason now let’s start with the basics as it relates to their cap sheet and free agents the nuggets have $13.7 million committed on their books going into next season that already puts them over the second apron in the luxury tax but that figure does include the player options for both cavius cble Pope and Reggie Jackson who could decline their options and either look to go elsewhere in free agency or reup for more money with the nuggets on a longer term deal which could either put the nuggets in even more of a bind if they’re looking to get more money or it would give them cap relief in putting them below the second apron if both players decline their options and leave in free agency that’s over $20 million if both players decline but here’s the thing even if both kcp and Reggie Jackson walk in free agency that still puts the Nuggets over the luxury tax line which is set to be $171.3 million next season and having two roster spots to fill with limited ability to use their tax pyramid level exception which of course is less than the non- taxpayer mid level exception and if the Nuggets remain a first or second apron team it limits their ability to use the mle even further but the biggest question of them all is going to be what an extension for Jamal Murray looks like who extension eligible this off season now of course they don’t have to extend him this year in fact it could be in Murray’s best interest to hold out until the final year of his deal before signing extension as he could get more money and he could play himself into an even bigger contract if he’s selected to an all-nba team next year but when you’re already a second apron team and you’re penalized by not being able to use the midlevel exception to sign free agent that aren’t your own you’re not able to sign players off the buyout market and you’re not able to take more money back in a trade and don’t forget this one which could have huge repercussions for teams down the line if you’re a second apron team three out of five seasons your first round pick gets pushed all the way to the back of that round regardless of where you would have otherwise fallen in the standings but if you’re the Nuggets you have to pay up for Jamal Murray because he’s been the backbone of this team he’s a player that’s been with your organization since they drafted him back in 2016 and it’s not like they can just let Murray go to free up cap space they would still be an over the cap team and won’t be able to sign a free agent off the market for equal value so keeping Murray is the priority just depends on whether they extend him this offseason or next offseason before he hits unrestricted free agency for the Nuggets I think the bigger question they need to be asking themselves in a harsh reality after the series loss against the Timberwolves is what do they want to do with some of their younger players that they’ve recently drafted and that also includes whoever they end up selecting with the 28th pick in the draft because right now the nuggets have this weird sort of two time line thing going on not as bad as the Warriors attempt at having two timelines but they’ve got their current core of joic Murray Michael Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon all players in the peak of their Prime all in their mid to late 20s and all four of them taking up the bulk of their payroll as their highest paid players then of course they’ve got their veterans who aren’t going to be part of their long-term plan but serve important roles like kcp Reggie Jackson Justin holiday and then they’ve got these younger guys who some are actually solid players but their opportunities are limited when they’re playing on a title contending team that is trying to win now and not as focused on Player Development Zeke Naji Christian Braun Julian starler pton Watson all of these guys in their early 20s still in their rookie deals who want playing time they want a chance to Showcase what they’re worth so they can get paid when their rookie deals are up and so if you’re the Nuggets you have to ask yourself who do you want to be do you want to be this potential Dynasty team building around a generational talent and future Hall of Famer while not really thinking about the future or do you want to be this team that is a little more conservative and has a backup plan to also consider the future Beyond joic and Murray and in my opinion it has to be the former you go all in trying to maximize the prime of one of the most unique talents the game has ever seen in niik yic you already have the pieces in place to complement his skills in Murray Michael Porter Jr Aaron Gordon you go all in by extracting value of your younger players and trade them for already established high level role players to give you more depth Off the Bench give you more size either as a backup center or a Better Built and bigger power forward to counter a team like the wolves who destroyed you on the glass in that series you try and trade as much draft Capital as you can maybe not all of it but some of it given they have most of their first round picks at their disposal you try and move your young players your picks maybe to get a guy like Jarrett Allen if the Cavs end up looking to move him or maybe Alex kuso who I feel like would be the perfect fit in their lineup to give them that added Edge on defense and extra shooting on offense maybe they could take a swing on a player like Mel Bridges if the Nets ever come to their senses and try and extract value for him in a trade give the nuggets an actual shooting guard and in that is scoring option who can also play on the other end of the floor the point is the time is now this is your window and opportunity to win multiple Championship something that doesn’t come around very often and a loss in the second round is actually a good wakeup call for this franchise to be more aggressive and start acting now while you’ve got your stars in their Prime and not in their mid-30s and near retirement I would love to hear what you guys think though let me know in the comments as always be sure to subscribe and I’ll see you in the next one

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Discussing the disappointing series loss of the Denver Nuggets and why the must act now to maximize their core

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