Nuggets Add Dario Saric, Keep Vlatko | Do They Have Enough?
never nuggets at Dario sarich they keep blacko chanar they’re still waiting on Russell Westbrook we’ll talk about the moves and what’s next for the Nuggets here on locked on nuggets you are locked on nuggets your daily Denver Nuggets podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to locked on nuggets your daily de nuggets podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thanks for joining us making us part of your day appreciate you guys being with us here if you listen to this on the podcast you’re catching it on a Sunday morning before world’s finest later tonight I want to go ahead and get in an episode here on Saturday to talk about the big news because the nuggets have themselves a new big man Dario sarich signed with the de nuggets on Saturday they finally get their guide this has been been hinted at by Harrison wind about a million times over the last couple of weeks and so they add Dario sarich they get their guy that’s the guy they’ve had the nuggets have had had two guys kind of circled it’s Russell Westbrook and Dario sarich and they’re still waiting on Westbrook and we’ll talk about why they’re waiting on Westbrook later today we’ll talk about all that more on today’s show plus we’ll get into the impacts of not only getting sarich but keeping vacco CH chanar and where they are in the Western Conference Today’s Show is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms do apply uh thanks for joining us if you’re catching Us by the way on youtube.com lockon nuggets so many folks hanging out with me on on a Saturday night just you’re good people in in the chat if you want to support the show give me a like on youtube.com locked on nuggets tell me how big a factor you think Dario SAR will be for the Denver Nuggets in 2024 hyphen 25h all right let’s get right down to it so the de nuggets get Dario sarage no surp this is not a surprise um we haven’t talked about it much just because I wasn’t sure if it was going to be the actual thing that kind of came through and so I wanted to see whether it actually happened or not because to be quite Frank I think that there was probably a little bit of um competition for it the Nugget signed sarish to a two-year $10.6 million deal the deal does include a player option for the second year so we can try and recoup some of what um I think he’s lost over the last couple of years in free agency SAR spent a lot of time with the Sixers he was a process sixer for um several seasons from 17 through 2019 before he traded in Minnesota and then wound up in Phoenix and that’s really where kind of he had a career Renaissance sarich um I was always kind of like yeah sarich is fine and then with Phoenix when he reinvented himself into a small ball five I I really think that there was a substantial kind of shift here um with where his game is like a lot of guys he’s playing bigger as he gets older that makes sense that’s how most guys are uh he is 610 225 so got some he’s got the size the best thing I can kind of say about sarich is that he’s hyper versatile he’s a guy that is a smart player he combines um kind of like the veteran Savvy of Jeff Green with better athleticism although it’s been diminished since his ACL injury three years ago um shooting capacity as a pick and pop big so like think of what you what everyone wanted Zeke Nagi to be SAR is like that if he was good is is kind not a not terrible way to kind of think about it he’s versatile he can switch so you can play this lineup and in a vacuum I I think there’s probably not a lot that I could say about sarich in terms of his impact he was a negative EPM player that’s that’s the catchall metric I trust most it’s not the only one I look at but it is the one I trust the most he was a negative player on that end and the Warriors despite having Chris Paul and having an overall pretty good bench unit and sarch had some really good stretches for them this season they were still a negative with sarch on the floor and that to me is kind of like telling a little bit that they did lose his minutes despite the bench overall being pretty good now he started a lot and that was part of the problem was like starters weren’t very good for Golden State in related news Klay Thompson’s no longer there um so there’s kind of like this combination of things that he kind of brings to the table I don’t think that this is a fix for this for the second unit I just don’t um what I will say though is that if you kind of link it together with the fact that vaco chanar resigns on a one-year minimum contract deal via V uh bandetto of The Gazette and M Scotto of Hoops hype lao’s back too I actually really kind of like the idea of Lao and sarich together you throw in donon Holmes and I’m all of a sudden I’m like donon Holmes I’m all of a sudden like okay now you’re going to cooking with gas if pton can become a little bit more of a secondary playmaker if they do add Russ this kind of does kind of change the things I like that versatility and it’s another veteran which you know I’m going to be in favor of but also just like sarich has utility there’s things that sarch does now the problem is really sarch like I said was really great in 200 21 with that sun Steam and if he doesn’t get hurt and tear his ACL I genuinely thing that might have been what flipped the finals because they needed a small ball option and they lost it and the next year without sarich being available they abandon that and that really hurt them you need this small ball look I think when joic isn’t on the floor like I do think it’s better to try and because Al linic is not available I do think it’s genuinely better to try and be like okay we can’t program the same way that we do with joic on the floor we need to go the opposite direction and going to a small ball look I think is is a really good option here so like having vaco having sarich two guys with marginal NBA careers both of whom have had ACL surgery not ideal but at least those I think their skill sets complement one another and that’s like a that to me is is maybe the upside of this is I I like sarich less in a vacuum of what he provides and more of okay if we imagine the second unit and the pieces do kind of fit into the where they should go if you get a pop from Julian strawther if Holmes pops if pyton Watson takes a step there I can kind of start to see like okay maybe this can work in the second unit and be like a viable normal second unit where the entire team doesn’t die like passing gas in an elevator like maybe you can get to that point with SAR so like I think it does kind of help in that direction um now this is to say like he’s going to have to earn the minut and he’s going to have to get the the confidence of the training staff and I don’t know where that’s going to be at like or the coaching staff I don’t know where it’s going to be at I just don’t know it’s not that s like sarich is a veteran so he’s gonna have a leg up on the competition but I don’t think that it’s like oh he’s definitely gonna gonna play and play a lot even on this 10.5 because um I think he’ll be the incumbent but he’ll have some competition and he’ll have to kind of earn it if nothing else hey maybe this is good because it gives e naaji somebody to compete with I don’t think he’s done well in that situation before where you know he’s lost minutes the DJ that’s extremely worrisome but maybe maybe with it being a similar type guy maybe Zeke comes in and like competes with that guy and you get more out of him um Zamora ask could Sar play with yic yes EV every human being on the planet can play with Nicole yic um except maybe Gary Trent Jr that’s like the one guy that I would say probably not um I really wish people would stop suggesting him I think that’s an absurd idea and if it happens I’m going to be like I don’t like that that I don’t like that move could entirely happen I’ll just tell you right now do not think that that’s the move um yes sarage can play power forward next to joic if Aaron Gordon or mpj has to miss a game sarich makes a lot of sense as your spot starter so that’s another addition here where I talk a lot about redundancy and taking care of your injury options if Gordon or mpj has to miss time I feel totally fine plugging sarich in and you’re still able to space the floor adequately and he’s got some versatility on the other end like it’s the athleticism is a little bit diminished since he obviously had the ACL surgery but again with him and blacko I just feel like you have a lot of options for how you can go now that power forward spot and really three4 five now has some redundancy likewise if sorry if Nicole yic has to miss a game and the nuggets are playing the Hornets you can plug Dario sarich in and you can probably win that game like you that’s you are better than 50% on the road to win that game uh and that’s that I think is a like a pretty good pickup um Zamora asked the defense doesn’t worry you so I think a lot of this gets into how are you using him right like are you using him in switch all situations are you using him as like a hedge are you just going to play switch all in a playoff environment I care about that Zamora I don’t care a lot I’ll be honest with you about regular season because guys don’t get picked on like nobody get it the guys are every team is just trying to run through their stuff and work on their Dynamics and sharpen their stuff they’re not targeting you except in like really important game situations so if SAR is in the game at the end sure that might be a problem and there might be some games or some teams hunt Oklahoma City will hunt him like that’s an example because Oklahoma City is one of the few teams that does hunt in the regular season they switch hunt the Mavericks will a little bit not as much but a little bit but I’m also not necessarily as worried about that and I do think the sarge probably has better days um ahead offensively I think than um the maybe he’s had I think he’s probably got some better days ahead of him on the other side I want to talk about Russell West Brook the waiting game we’ll talk a little B about blacko plus kcb has some comments about the Nuggets not offering anything we’ll talk about that on the other side here on locked on nuggets right now I want to tell you about eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors is everything you need to maintain your vehicle and and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your parts guaranteed to fit your 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move him to a team that buys him out and then the Nuggets will sign him if that doesn’t happen it will be because the Clippers are that petty versus the Nuggets they wouldn’t let PJ Tucker go last season because they knew that he was either going to sign with Phoenix or Denver and those were both options they didn’t want to have to face in in the Western Conference playoffs so I don’t agree with that tactic I think that if you don’t intend to play a guy especially a veteran you should let him go but with Russ I think that they’re much more like they’re not in a hurry the Clippers don’t need to make do this deal there’s no rush for them because they’re not going to get anything back on it they’re not trading Russ for a second rounder they’re not trading Russ for a player or an asset they’re just trading him to basically move him and move on and as such they’re open to waiting on this it might be August it might be September it might be Camp when they finally make this deal do I expect Russell Westbrook to be in Denver after yeah I do that’s what I expect but Denver’s like not moving assets for Russell Westbrook because they know they’re in the driver’s seat and I don’t think they think of him as H how can I put this I think they feel that getting Russ is important because Nicole yic wants it I don’t feel that they’re in any sort of hurry to get this they’re not anxious to get this deal done they’re not like oo oo oo so they’re not going to give up assets to get Russ that’d be a bad way bad use of assets they don’t have any left anyway so there’s no real option here um they’re going to trade they will wait until someone trades for him and then buys him out it might be Utah again and then they’ll resign and then they’ll sign Russell Westbrook if that doesn’t happens other events will have had to have occurred that I haven’t heard about um kcp and his his introductory pressor today with the Orlando Magic talked about how he um did not get a counter offer from Denver um I know Tony Jones reported that they offer something similar uh look I love Tony Tony’s the best I might have Tony on the show sometime Tony and I get along great um my understanding was that there was no real effort to counter offer kcp that they understood what he was going to get in the market and they had already decided that they were not going to match it because any effort to match it was going to put them in the the apron and they were not going to do that second apron um do I think that that’s like the best way to have handled things probably not like you want to have a better open line of communication with the guy that W you a championship I think that’s probably not great I think that there’s still an appreciation for kcp but I also think that maybe it was pretty clear that both sides were ready to move on for whatever reason I don’t know what those reasons may be are um I would start probably with the confidence that the team has in Christian Brown and that they’re just ready to to move on to that like you got to understand like this team really believes in Christian like it I mean it it really believes in Christian way more than I do and I could be wrong because I’ve been around wrong about lots of guys that they’ believed in but they they believe in Christian Brown a lot and so I think that there was like a real confidence there and I think that they understood that because of the financial realities that even if they were able to get kcp on some sort of deal it would move them within range of the second apron after they do made any other moves and that would mean that they were going to be there plus it would limit their ability next year when they’re gon to be in the exact same spot again with Aaron Gordon with how how deep in the second apron they’re going to be so um that to me is I think how that kind of played out um I think the whole thing is unfortunate but it’s um you know this is a business and everybody understands that including kcp and kcp is always gonna be appreciated in Denver for what he contributed to the first championship in franchise history um and so that to me is is kind of how this goes I kind of rushed over this in the first segment so I want to talk about it blackout chanar resigns on a minimum one-year deal you know look um ACL surgery is no longer bad as it used to be that’s that’s not as bad as it as it kind of was it used to be like a really devastating problem was like if you had a torn ACL you were done uh Amari admire was never the saying they used to have what was called micr fracture surgery and if that sounds horrific it was because it was literally what they did um and it was absolutely terrifying and it ruined a lot of careers thankfully they’ve moved past that and now a L’s are really not that big of a deal long term you’re not the same after as you were before but you’re also not like careers over you can keep playing for quite a long time and I think blacko because he doesn’t have as many miles on him actually has still has quite a lot to bring um blacko is well liked by the team uh blacko is uh a pretty versatile guy and I’m you know I think he gets overstated sometimes by various people that believe that he’s like a real serious impact guy um in terms of like CT basio on Twitter very very big love the guy good analysis but I’m just not as high on him as as that but I have kind of come around to the fact that like no blacko can play like blacko has given them good minutes and when vaco has been removed from the rotation afterwards I’ve been like I don’t agree with that assessment like he’d earned those minutes now for whatever reason the team just hasn’t trusted him so whether that’s coaching staff veterans whatever he has not stayed in that rotation so I think it’s something to kind of wonder about but I am glad to see blacko back because it’s a lot of it’s continuity he’s been there a long time and he understands how to play alongside all the other nuggets so um in general I think blacko is a uh is a bonus for getting him back I think it’s actually a pretty good move for them um all right we have a uh we have an itch in the comments talking about how bad blacko is because of how he was in a qualifier I don’t care man I really don’t on the other side uh we’ll get to this question do the Nuggets have enough in the Western Conference that’s a tough one we’ll talk about that next here unlocked on nuggets back here on lockon nugget thanks for joining appreciate you guys being with us here on a Saturday uh world’s finest will be with you on Sunday Adam and I will break down I think I think we’re doing Sunday night I’ll put it on Twitter whether we’re doing it Sunday or Monday Adam is getting some well-deserved time away um but I think he’s back tomorrow if not we’ll do a show on Monday morning all right let’s answer this question do the Nuggets have enough in the western conference let’s assume they get Russell Westbrook they add dariio arus those were their two Targets they draft Holmes Black’s back Christian Brown is now the two guard Peyton Watson internal development from pton Watson Julian stur and the like what does this look like okay so today I was going through my numbers and if you’ll remember last year those numbers said the Nuggets were going to win less than 50 games and they won 57 which seems bad um the problem for me is that most of the metrics if you kind of look back at them back me up as like no Denver was not as good as their record was now it doesn’t matter like they won their games I had concerns because a lot of it was kind of propped up on their uh based off of their their clutch rating and if you’ll remember that didn’t that didn’t go great like that just did not go great for um the never nuggets in the playoffs was like that was not a great addition so I I ran some of the numbers and I kind of came out with where I think Denver is going to be next season I’m not going to tell you where they are in the Western Conference because I have to like decide if I really want to put that out into the world um I will tell you that there’s a number of teams that are above them and some of these teams are teams I do not think are as good because they just wind up in my numbers as like oh hey this team actually looks really good because of their combination of offense and defense um but they are firmly behind several teams and the biggest problem this has been mentioned in the comments here on youtube.com lockon nuggets they’re way behind the top of the West they’re way behind the thunder so we never really kind of got to test this Theory because the Thunder lost in the second round and the Nuggets lost in the second round the Thunder went three in one versus Denver last year and we kind of like brushed it off like okay well kyp missed a game and they won a clutch weird game in Denver and then there was another one and there was a bunch like it was weird OKC I think matches up better with Denver than maybe we kind of anticipated because the idea is like well yic is so dominant they don’t have a sun and they do now in hartenstein doesn’t really matter yic is going to score on anybody but the big problem is just like Oklahoma City has so much shooting offensively they have an individual player in shis Alexander who by the way the best defender against him on Denver was kcp I don’t think Christian will do as well against him he’ll do better against Anthony Edwards kcp struggled with ant right got cooked by him Christian was pretty good on Ant I think Christian won’t do as well versus Shay GIS Alexander they got Shay they’ve got Chad with another year under his belt they’ve got jayd duub they have all this talent but they also have all the shooting and they add Caruso who’s now going to be able to alongside guys like Cas Wallace guys like Lou Dort Hound M Murray on ball much the way the Minnesota Timberwolves did they have guys like Isaiah hartenstein that are gonna they’re just absolute monsters on the offensive glass and that’s gonna help considerably they have size to combat Denver’s too big like they have Chet hren and hartenstein now and that’s a really big combo um hurricane asks is Mike the only plus shooter on the team right now besides Jamal depends on what you think of Christian Brown maybe Julian depends on what you think of Christian Brown that’s the reality it’s like you got to like if you think that what if you think that what you saw from the break Christian Brown last year is who he is then you got another one uh SAR was also 38% last year he’s a he’s a good shooter um so that’s the Thunder and that’s just one team the other problem is like when I when I ran some numers today I was I Dallas came out way better than I was expecting and now I kind of have to Grapple with the fact of Klay Thompson for all of his warts now at this age after both the Achilles and the ACL Klay Thompson’s still a dude in this league like he’s just still a guy in this league and I gotta be honest with you he’s way more of a guy than Russell Westbrook is in at this point in this league and I hate that because like I loved watching Russ in his prime but Russ just isn’t as much of a gut that’s why he’s on the bench and it’s possible Klay Thom Thompson comes off the bench but I was surprised when I looked at the stuff that I use that I I came out with oh wow they’re way better with Nai Marshall Klay Thompson now I don’t love the fits for those guys as much as I like Derrick Jones Jr and what like Josh Green brought but they are objectively better players and so Dallas upgraded Minnesota hasn’t gotten any worse like they’re just the same team there’s no real reason to think Minnesota should be any worse barring injury now they do have Mike Conley and Rudy goar sure definitely a thing to to be on the on the lookout for they’re gonna have to manage that they’re still going to be really good but those three teams in the Western Conference I have no way for me right now after what has happened to the Nuggets over the last two Seasons losing Bruce Brown then kcp to look at this and go that Denver is better than those teams it’s not really about keeping Pace because I think sometimes that’s a weird way to look at it because a lot of times you add guys and it doesn’t work it’s possible hartenstein just doesn’t work for OKC or Caruso just isn’t as good that’s that weird basketball’s weird it happens Al Horford went to Philadelphia and it was a disaster they hate him there Al hor is a Hall of Famer who everyone loves except Philly that to me says more about Philly but still it happens and so it’s it is impossible to really say that Denver has not lost ground in the Western Conference now the counter to this is just look every single year Malone has gone over the win total every single year nicolea yic is a top three player in MVP every single year joic is one of if not the most impactful players in basketball and you have a guy that great and you surround him with decent enough talent and you can’t say that the talent on the Nuggets is bad they still have Jal they still have AG they still have mpj like mpj didn’t get instantly bad mpj had a good season last year he was a more consistent player than a lot of guys on the Nuggets uh if Jamal has a bounceback year which is going to be all of the talk then they’re going to be way better right so there’s all these ways the nuggets are fine it’s just the best way to kind of think about this is that their insurance policies are gone on those random nights where it was like oh man you know nobody really had it go on but kcp gave him 25 off the B 25 like that happened like kcp had huge scoring nights sometimes just had the opportunity found his way into some threes hit some pull-up jumpers do I have confidence Christian Brown’s gonna do that no I do not is this bench unit gonna be better next year maybe somebody was arguing with me on Twitter saying like all it’s got to be is like a normal bad and I’m kind of at the point where I’m like look guys I’ve seen so many iterations of this and it’s never normal bad it’s always horrifically terrible to the point where I I have to imagine that that’s something to do with how the team is constructed or coached rather than it is any sort of like one combination of players the players look this is a big key the players the Personnel will always look worse when the team doesn’t work right like good players look bad when the team doesn’t work right and we see that all the time in the NBA it’s one of the reasons why I’m pretty high on the Pelicans because I think dejonay Murray is really good him in Atlanta didn’t work nobody in Atlanta works right now and I don’t really have the answer for why Trey young is a shorthand for it like everyone just like well it’s Trey young because it’s a consistent Factor but I can’t point to anything Trey’s doing and be like ah it’s this it just doesn’t work now if the Nuggets if Christian Brown comes in and it works that’s all you’re going to care about and guess what then everyone’s going to be like man Calvin Booth what a genius he identified that c that Christian Brown was better than kcp and that’s not true like where we are right now Christian Brown is not a better player than kcp and it’s to be perfectly quite honest with you it’s not particularly close I don’t mind my colleagues talking about how it’s going to be fine because they are right that if you put anything next to to Nicole yic it’s going to be pretty good the difference is that kcp was good other places was a championship level starter other places before he got to play with Nico yic the only good we’ve seen from Christian Brown is when he plays with joic I get nervous of that I want to make this about Christian Brown the entire way it’s true for pretty much everybody with Miami there’s this concern if Miami lets somebody go like Caleb Martin just sign with the six if the heat let somebody go automatically red flags start going off because every guy that they’ve let walk Josh Richardson Gabe Vincent all of these Max stru to a certain degree all of these dudes have been so much worse when they go other places outside of heat culture and with the Nuggets you don’t really see that much but I will tell you that Jeremy Grant looked a lot better playing next to Nico yic than he has anywhere else uh Marshall ma says all the weight can’t be on yic again this season well guess what it’s going to be again um lapper beat says lack of depth killed this team going to the playoffs everyone was Gass or hurt now’ll be two times worse uh okay I want to address that real quick because we got some time do you want to know who has to be the most forward about taking care of that problem and you’re going to hate this answer because it goes against how we think about sports here’s how we think about sports the players play and the coaches coach that’s not how it is in the NBA the players most often times the star players they make their rotations so Nicole yic plays the entire first quarter or 10 minutes first quarter last eight second quarter all third quarter last eight fourth quarter that’s because that’s what Nico yic wants and I will just tell tell you right now that again a big reason why the starters played so much together last year which is such a huge talking point this season is because that’s what the players wanted they wanted to win games and if you want to win games you play your starters heavy minutes that’s what you do they wanted to get the one seed the starters have to collectively in tanon with the coaches and the coaches have to be upfront about this I’m not letting the coaches off the hook here the coaches have to be like hey we got burned last year because you guys were gassed you gotta sit but the players then have to be like okay fine all right like yic always says if they want me to sit I’ll sit nope that I don’t believe that I’m me personally I don’t buy that I think yic that’s the tone and is like can I play yes you can play I’m playing yic has to take that step back Aaron Gordon has to take that step back Jamal quite honestly needs to be a like this is what’s going to be frustrating Jamal’s going to get this extension if he signs it and when he signs it and he plays this season there’s gonna be times when he needs to sit and you’re going to be frustrated that he’s not available but you have to do those things so you don’t wind up with it with a repeat of last year and you say like well he sat and he was still hurt absolutely which is a hard thing to balance but you also can’t go the other way and be like well he’s hurt then so we’re going to play him that’s how you’re going to end up with a long-term injury see got to do all those kind of things okay okay uh final thing the Nuggets still have enough in the Western Conference they still have the best every any given night they’re going to have the best player in the world on their team um Jamal has still a very big ability to step up and have a better season Christian can surprise me and be every bit as good as everyone kind of thinks he can be um pyton Watson I actually have the most optimism for of making a big leap SAR and Westbrook can work out great there’s still like a lot of upside for this team you should not you should be able to turn the corner now this offseason was disappointing yes this offseason was disappointing you have not gone from Championship Contender favorite in the West to eight seed you are somewhere in the middle you are no longer that I don’t think you’re no long I think you are no longer the top dog at the conference Sports books still think you are it’s either the Thunder or the Nuggets is the favorite in the Western Conference at all the books okay but you’re somewhere between the top which I think is the Thunder and the six seed and where you fall in there is probably going to be determined by Health by luck by internal development but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t worth rooting for just because you’re frustrated doesn’t mean this team is not good enough to win you a championship because it is because I tell you this this team is still considerably better than the Dallas Mavericks were last year they’re still better than that team now this current Mavericks team might be better but they’re still better than the Mavs were last year and the Mavs were three wins away from an NBA title that’s should be like the way to think about this it doesn’t matter how you get there get back to the finals just beat the guys in front of you figure it out get back to the finals and you do that you’re in pretty good shape that’s G to do it for lockdown nuggets appreciate you guys being with us hope you guys have yourselves a great Sunday uh I will talk to you again on World’s Finest either Sunday night or Monday morning make sure to hit the like And subscribe buttton give me the five star reviews have yourselves a great day and I’ll see you guys again next time here on lock on nuggets
Matt Moore discusses the Nuggets signing Dario Saric and Vlatko Cancar, where the Nuggets are in the West after a rough offseason, why Denver didn’t counter-offer KCP and what’s taking so long with Russell Westbrook.
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15 Comments
Meh
A guy that won you a championship
KCP? 😂
Trade zeke and our last first to the clippers for Westbrook and Coffe or Miller, and then try and get Hayward here on the vet min, and if at all possible get Gary Trent jr and this team is ready to rumble.
I think with so many teams going full-bore in free agency, and the nuggets the only team backing off, I think its possible is what we're are seeing is two franchises going all out to increase their value (Boston, Minnesota) and the other with a GM desperately wanting a championship (OKC). If 2/6 of their young guys work, the nuggets with Jokic, Murray, Gordon, MPJ they are in great position for 25-27. I think Westbrook can push the nuggets into a sleeper team for a Boston-OKC-DAL-MIN favorites field.
I mean isn't he the best backup center we've had in a while? The only other contender is Mason Plumlee, until he decided to run into Lebron and call a completely unnecessary switch to give up the most crucial game in the bubble.
Matt definitely have the best analysis.
Gary Trent can’t play with Jokic?
WTF are you smoking? I’m not saying he’s worth the money he wants per se, but anyone can play with Joker especially a career
14.3 ppg (16.2 PPG and 7.1 3P attempts per game the last 4yrs) on 39% 3P% (for career) GTjr.
Nuggets still Co favorites to win the West with OKC and their tied for 3rd to win title with OKC (barely behind 76ers who are 2nd) and Celtics big fav (relative to everyone else).
Title odds (Top10)
Celtics +295
76ers +800
Nuggets & Thunder +850
Knicks +950
Mavs Wolves +1000
Bucks +1100
Lakers +3000
Suns +3500
PS while I love Dunks&threes EPM & Estimated Wins Jokic this past yr was 5th in EPM & 3rd in Estimated Wins. SGA was 2nd and 1st in those (1st and 1st of guys who played 40+ games).
Also Murray had a down playoffs but he had his best yr by far in regular season. Stop saying it was a down yr. He has his best per 100 stats by far across the board pretty much and best 3P shooting. Nuggets also 62 win pace when he played and 47-48 win team without Jamal. Murray was also 94th percentile in EPM. 97th percentile in OffEPM (14th best in NBA). 91st percentile in Estimated wins.
Jamal Murray last year in regular season per 100 possessions averaged
33.3 points (career high before 29.8 in 22-23)
10.2 assists (career high before was 9.2 in 22-23)
6.4 rebounds (tied for most ever w/ 18-19)
119 offensive rating (career high before that was 116 twice in 20-21 & 22-23)
+8.6 On Court Per 100 (best ever…20-21 was +7.6 and 22-23 +6.2)
Jamal def had his worst playoffs ever (I don’t think he was right and even still he still joined LeBron as only player of play by play era aka 1997-2024 playoffs to have 2 game winners in final 5 seconds in the same series….+ he averaged 34 & 5apg in games 5 vs lakers and game 7 vs wolves to move onto WCSF & WCF).
1 block (career high before was 0.7 in 16-17…he was only 0.4 in 22-23)
1.5 steals (3rd most & most since 2020-21)
I see Saric has more of a replacement of Jeff Green. A big body in the front court, versatility is good. He's a useful player even if the team loses the minutes he plays.
Denver is done
Dobro doslo Dario, welcome to the Nuggets family.
Stop saying that nonsense about Jokić wants Russ! Jokić guarantee didn't say a single word about Russ and someone bringing him in Denver and especially didn't demand for him! Bro go home after that lost and said see you next season!
I don't have anything against it, Denver definitely need point guard on bench,but c'mon let stay there,no need for expending the story!
It's SHA-RICH
you lost two pieces of your championship team and still better than a team that has hobe to the finals? you weren’t in the finals last year… you weren’t even in rhe conference finals. you probably be lucky to get to the second round next season
meh
If CB played equal number of minutes as KCP, he WOULD have had 20+ pts games. I love KCP, but I do believe that CB can replace him!