Denver Loses KCP to Orlando | The Mismatch | Ringer NBA

Denver Loses KCP to Orlando | The Mismatch | Ringer NBA

$22 million is super reasonable for that very reasonable and so that that’s why like I think with Denver they’re the team right now where you look at and say that’s cheap [Music] ownership the next one on the list and this is a big one for the western conference cavius call well pooke $66 million went to Orlando um I’m a big fan of this for Orlando and I like his fit there this makes absolutely no sense to me for Denver honestly no sense whatsoever I don’t know your boy Calvin Booth he’s thrown me for a loop on this one Kevin why I I was looking at this uh this chart the other day taking on the toughest assignments it’s a thing that came out from Sports radar and it was percentage of players on ball defensive time spent matched up with the opponent’s scoring ball handler so the number one on that list was Derek Jones Jr it would not surprise you right um he was the only perimeter defender on that Dallas team number two Lou Dort no surprise right no surprise number three OG and anobi no surprise very very and you’d expect all those names number four cavius calwell pop and that’s why it almost just as much as the scoring the three Point shooting with kcp the defense will be a loss now kcp I had him second Team all all defense on my ballot he ended up not making it but he was on my ballot I voted for him he did get destroyed by Anthony Edwards in the Nuggets Wolf series so I and last year against the Suns he did not do great against Evon Booker and this isn’t to dismiss his defensive ability but it is merely to say I’m sure in the eyes of the nuggets they feel like Christian Brown can step into his role and and do at least similar to what he’s done then what do you do behind Brown though like that’s the questions here if you lose kcp yes you have Christian Brown but then you’re relying on Julian strw to step up who was not great last year in the NBA he did not shoot the ball well at all he shot the hell out of the ball as a junior and zaga but he was pretty inconsistent prior to that maybe that he’s just one of those streaky Shooters maybe you can’t rely on him you get Jaylen ticket who we both loved in the draft last year but Watson right it’s Watson but he barely played but then well pton Watson’s already part of the rotation then pton Watson was more of the Bruce Brown replacement so Watson was kind of like in the brown Lane and you got brown Christian Brown in the kcp lane well who’s filling the gaps behind those guys that’s that’s the concern for Denver right now where they haven’t signed anybody yet so you lose kyp’s defense you lose one of your best Shooters he’s a 40% guy from three in his two years with Denver he can shoot above the break he can shoot from the corners he can shoot those one or two side dribbles when a a close out comes Christian Brown in the playoffs has hit like less than a quarter of his shots in the postseason from three Brown had success last season during the regular season as from three but he’s still stunk again in the postseason as a shooter so you’re a team that was 30th in the NBA and three-point attempts 25th in the league and three-point makes you already feeling like you need shooting and now all the reports are that you’re going for Russell Westbrook I I mean I think there like there’s something strange going on here I just don’t get winning a title and then getting worse and then getting worse again mean like they lost they lost brown and green last off season they lost cwell Pope this like what are we doing you got the you got the best player in the world well those were two of Booth’s best Acquisitions he takes over to for Tim Conley he gets Brown he gets kcp he drafts Christian Brown and then you lose Brown then you lose green then you lose kcp and your bet is on your rookies your bet is on your draft picks it’s a mistake and and and you’re not gonna get every every draft pick right no matter how great of a general manager you are and also not to mention as I wrote about after Denver got eliminated your head coach doesn’t see things the same way Malone didn’t invest in those rookies during this regular season he played two-way guys more than the rookies that you selected in the draft more than Hunter Tyson more than Jaylen picket he pulled the plug on strw who struggled and actually received opportunities so I think you know all the minutes and playing time that maybe could have went to those guys this season they got none of it and that hurts them entering year two so I think Denver is a team where there’s clearly a lack of organizational alignment and maybe things got better after the season maybe this this coming year Malone will play those younger guys and maybe Hunter Tyson ends up really good maybe picking ends up really good but I mean the fact is is that it’s hard to replace kcp especially one year after losing Bruce Brown we saw how tough it was to replace Bruce Brown and it’s undeniable that the nuggets are a worse team today than they would have been with kcp and this hurts their finals chances in pretty profound ways considering how vital he’s been you mentioned all the tough player the good opponents he defends the shooting he provides Denver’s in a tough spot all of a sudden and this is a massive bet on young guys taking a leap like Brown’s going to be Christian Brown’s going to be way better Payton Watson’s going to be better as a shooter and if you do end up signing Russell Westbrook and it seems like they’re gonna I mean Harrison wind a very reliable reporter over at dmvr he was the first to report that jic wants Russell Westbrook on the team that he’s pushing for it if you sign Russ and I know you and I see differently on Russ but I’m sure you and I can at least agree on the strange fit in Denver if you’re adding Russ a guy who shoots 25% from three you can’t play him with Aaron Gordon they already sag off of Aaron Gordon and force him to shoot you can’t play those guys together I just think it’s going to be a complete disaster fit and then also it takes minutes away from some of those young guys that you need to work out yeah say whatever you want but I mean Reggie Jackson played for him right I mean they they moved off of him too like I just don’t I don’t get it man this should be a team that’s like going for titles right now it’s like you there’s a there’s a window where this guy is the best player in the world and you got to surround him with a team that and kyp’s number is not that high 22 million an reasonable you I mean I get it if somebody like massively overpaid like everybody looked at the Bruce Brown thing and went yo man go get your bag yes but is reasonable very reason nobody’s going to be like wow but like if you’ve got a small for or you know a shooting guard SL a wing that defends the best player on the other team every night and hits 40% of his threes $22 million is super reasonable for that very reasonable and so that that’s why like I think with Denver they’re the team right now where you look at and say that’s cheap ownership like you got Boston right now who just paid their fifth play over $30 million annually they’re fifth they’re fifth and then nuggets can’t dip into the second APR for the first year with giving kcp 20 million I mean like that that’s a failure to support your your meast star in yic your future Hall of Famer your all-time great your three-time MVP that’s on ownership and it is on front office as well in the sense that they didn’t have to sign Zeke Nagi if they didn’t give Zeke Nagi the money last year then they wouldn’t be in this position where they they’d have to move off of him where they couldn’t be in a spot where they’d go over the second apron so I think for for Denver here I look forward to seeing if they got any other moves coming I think Russ would be a major mistake it would be one of the worst mistakes if jokic’s career to end up pushing for him he would learn the same thing that LeBron James learned I hope I wish they had signed like Delon Wright who went to the bucks for the minimum to me that would have made a hell of a lot more sense there’s other guys free agency I’d rather go for I’d rather go for like tus Jones maybe you could work some trade for him with that zek Nagi salary number or go grab Malcolm Brogden from you know Washington or you there’s just other paths I’d rather go here and then the other side of it though two Chris’s I forget who reported it forgive me but somebody said I think it was Sam anik with the athletic that crew said that the nuggets made an offer for Paul George including Michael Porter Jor uh of which the Clippers declined like they did all of these other sign and trade or optin and trade scenarios so that is at least an indicator that that the nuggets are open to moving Michael Porter Jr and that’s the big salary number you look at their team a $35 million guy Conley gave that deal not booth that was before Booth took over but that mpj mpj number is massive for a guy who doesn’t do a lot off the dribble he is largely just a shooter and he’s an okay Defender that’s the salary that you look at on the nuggets and I’m like like how do you split this into multiple role players or or a better you know higher a higher paid player than mpj that’s the that’s the piece that they need to flip somewhere along these lines in order to I think optimize the roster around yic [Music]

KOC and Verno discuss the Orlando Magic acquiring Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and what this means for Orlando, the Denver Nuggets, and KCP.

Check out the Bill Simmons YouTube channel: youtube.com/billsimmons

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