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Speaker 1: Is up, Fella, sickos, I am Damp Valley coming at

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you with another twenty twenty five twenty twenty six NBA

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season look ahead. We are onto the Denver Nuggets, which

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means I have the distinct pleasure of being joined by

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Adam Addez. He is a co he's a host of

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the All City NBA podcast with Tim Legler, and he

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is also over at DNVR Nuggets VP of Content and

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Strategy and growth at All City as well, and you

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should check out all the DNVR sports content your guys.

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Nuggets post game shows are like when I'm trying to

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check in on the Nuggets. They're a lifeblood for me.

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So you do great work over there.

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Speaker 2: How you doing, Adam, I'm good. I appreciate that intro.

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We do have a lot of fun over there, and

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the Nuggets give us a lot to talk about, which

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is always nice, especially this year.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, so I listened to a few of

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the most recent podcasts in prep of this show, and

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I even watched the preseason game against the Clippers, the

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first half of it. Anyway, I when I found out

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we were doing this, But I want to start with

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just last season really quickly. It was kind of like

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the perfect ending for the team that the Nuggets were

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because they fire Calvin Booth and Michael Malone like way

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or way too late in the season, it felt like,

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and then they put they pushed the Thunder to seven

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games they end up doing, so it kind of just

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didn't make a ton of sense. What were just some

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of your biggest overarching takeaways or lessons learned that are

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sticking with you as you were journeying through the off

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season but also heading into this year.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's it's so funny, so over on the DMVR

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Nuggets podcast. You know, I'm an ex collegiate player. I

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like analytics. Yeah, I like to break down tape. I

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like to do all that stuff. This is my twelfth

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year covering the NBA, and people think I'm joking or

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think I'm being ridiculous. Vibes are such a more important

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part of basketball than people think. It's funny because we

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always talk about the vibes of the team over there,

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and I've had people in the various front offices and

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coaching staff and always tell me, hey, man, you guys

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are right. It's about the vibes. It's about the vibes.

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The vibes were horrible last year, and culture in an

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organization or in a lot locker room, it's hard to build.

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It's even more hard to sustain. And I think if

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you ask about lessons, the Nuggets made a move on

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Michael Malone and Calvin Booth, who I think we're at

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the heart of the culture disintegrating, and they moved too late,

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and that just that move was able to turn a

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very mediocre team around with three regular season games to

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prep to make it all the way to Game seven

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of the second round against the eventual champs. So that's

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the lesson is that the Nuggets, when they have Nicoli Jokich,

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are going to have a very high floor as long

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as you can have a culture that can compete and

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stay together.

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Speaker 1: What type of power do you have to get the

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Nuggets to create, maybe like a vibes metric. I feel

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like we need to figure out a way to quantify vibes.

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Speaker 2: Now, there's got to be something that you can observe

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that's like, yeah, this is actually what it is. Like,

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there's some way to observe it. You know, you see

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it when you're covering a team. You can just tell

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how a team's doing but there's probably one thing you

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could point out and say, does this team do this?

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They have bad.

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Speaker 1: Vibes And look, you've talked to your credit. You talked

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about a lot on the DNBR show. I think you

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talked about last year when we were doing the Denver

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Nuggets look Ahead, just about the Michael Malone Calvin Booth dynamic.

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So you were in front of that, and then you know,

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with four games less than the season or three games

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less in the season, they finally acted on it, whatever

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it ends up being. Yes, the Cam Johnson trade. You've

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been adamant too from listening that it was not just

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a cost cutting move. I one hundred percent agree with that.

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When you're looking at his fit on this team, specifically offensively,

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what is going to be the biggest difference for Denver

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going from Michael Porter Junior to him?

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Speaker 2: I think, without question the biggest difference is that you

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now have in your starting lineup five guys who know

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how to solve a variety of problems on the fly.

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It's not just about drawing up plays or drying up

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a scheme or drawing something together. It's when you get

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into a playoff series, teams are going to test you

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in a variety of ways. And Jokic is the world's

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greatest problem solver, but he's a collaborative problem solver. You

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need everybody else on the court to be on his level,

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you know, thinking through when to cut, when to space,

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what's what's happening so you can read everything. Michael Porter

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Junior was just not very good at that. He was

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very skilled and he could do things, but he limited

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Denver's collective ability to problem solve on the fly. And

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I think Cam Johnson is a very good one. I'm

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an above average problem solver or a guy that just

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kind of understands what's going on, what's the team trying

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to do to us, and what's the pressure point. He's

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very good at that. So now you have Christian Brown,

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who I think is very good at this. He's really

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developed into this over the years. Aaron Gordon who's become

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a very smart player, Jamal Murray obviously, Nicolaijokich, and now

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Cam Johnson. It gives you five people to work together

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to solve problems, which, in my opinion, is what the

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playoffs are all about.

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Speaker 1: When you look at the Cam Johnson minutes, do you

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expect him to be mostly tethered to Nicole Jokich, or

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could he be more of a part of those some

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of those stagger units, especially because like he ran, maybe

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not conventionally ran, but he ran a lot of offense

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for the Nets last year, and the Nets, like the

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players on their team were probably worse than the players

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that are going to be in the Denver Nugget second

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unit at this point, and so I'm just curious how

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you expect them to use him in that way.

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Speaker 2: That's a good question that I don't have the answer for.

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I would say the early returns or that he will

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be pretty tied to Jokich. I think Denver wants to.

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David Adaman has said he wants to run a ten

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maybe eleven man rotation this year, which is a huge

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departure from Michael Malone, who I think would run an

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eight man rotation in the regular season if he could,

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but a ten or eleven man rotation maybe doesn't. You're

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probably only staggering one or two guys. In this last

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preseason game, it was Jamal Murray primarily with a little

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bit of Christian Brown playing with the second unit. But

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I also could see a world where I don't think

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Denver knows the answer to that yet. I think they

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want to try a couple different looks with their second

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unit and see what works, figure out what the personality is.

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So my hunch would be I think he mostly is

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tied to Yokich, but Denver's gonna experiment and see how

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that goes.

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Speaker 1: One of the other things that's been talked a lot about,

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and then you guys over at deem Your were talking

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about it coming out of that Clippers game, is the

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defensive like schematic changes that the Nuggets are going to employ.

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Do you have any sense of what that's going to

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look like or what are the biggest changes that you're

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going to be tracking for this team on the defensive end.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I actually have a video out here, a

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little film breakdown of some of the stuff that they

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did in this last game. Should be up here shortly,

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probably by the time this is published. But there's a

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couple things. First and foremost, it's the three quarter court pressure,

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the pickup points. Denver last year did not apply a

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lot of full court pressure, in part because they didn't

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have the bodies that can do it. They didn't have

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the depth. So first of all, you're looking at six

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guys who you sort of trusted, Russell Westbrook being the sixth,

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and you didn't want to wear your guys out with

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that because you didn't have anybody to spell them. This year,

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ten to eleven man rotation, they're going to use a

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lot of full court pressure and just try to get

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the ball out of the other team's primary ball handlers,

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and then they'll have certain configurations where they're trying to

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pick them up at half court, so it's not three

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quarter court press, but they're still trying to make their

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pickup points higher. Then the second thing is they want

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to get more physical, and they've talked about this in

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their media availabilities that they look around the league and

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they look how the playoffs were, how they were defended

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in the playoffs, and they say, hey, the league allows

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the defense to set the physicality of a game, and

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we're going to try to really test what that is.

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And you've seen that in that last game, Bruce Brown,

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Christian Brown, even Jokic just getting physical and trying to

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initiate contact to establish a higher baseline, trusting that they

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have the bodies that if a guy gets in foul trouble,

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it's not as damning as it would have been last year.

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But the third and last thing, it's a mixture of

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both zone, which I think they're going to try to

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play a lot of zone. The league is moving more

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and more towards zone, more teams are playing it. But

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the zone principle in particular of rather than having Jokic

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play high up in the pick and roll and then

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you're vulnerable to that pocket pass and that's we're behind

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that type of high show. Instead, what they're doing is

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they're bringing the defender, the guard defender from one pass away,

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really far away from his defender to be the guy

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that kind of keeps the ball handler from turning the corner.

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That allows Jokic to play drop a little bit more So.

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The pocket pass isn't there either, but instead of turning

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the corner and going downhill towards jokicchen drop, it's the

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guard coming one pass away. It leaves yourself vulnerable to

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that quick pass one pass away and the guy knocks

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down a shot. But I think Denver would rather that

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than get themselves into rotation where they're giving up everything.

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Speaker 1: Two five questions on that do you think they have? Now?

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I know they're deeper but do you think they have

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the personnel or maybe the better way to phrases the

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athleticism to really increase their pickup points when you're looking

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at three quarter court pickups.

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Speaker 2: It's a great question. And I think the teams that

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have success with this, they have athleticism in length and

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speed and those types of things. I think Bruce Brown

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can be this. He's not going to be playing a

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ton of minutes, so I think you talk about being

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able to go all out a little bit more. I

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think Christian Brown has the strength to do this against

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certain types. I think Peyton Watson probably has the length

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to do this against certain types. Outside of those guys, no,

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I don't think there's anybody else that you're really counting on.

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It's not Tim Hardaway Junior. It's not going to be

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Jamal Murray. Cam Johnson's not going to be in that role.

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So I think you're really looking at those three guys.

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And and by the way, Spencer Jones, which I maybe

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we'll get to the Spencer Jones person of the show.

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Speaker 1: You were extolling the virtues of Spencer Jones. So I

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have a question about Spencer Jones. Tell you what, But

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so the other question I would have is when you're

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talking about them even just varying their schemes, or when

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you're talking about like if you have to be the

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person that's gonna cheat off of the one pass away guy,

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how much of that was Okay, we don't think Michael

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Porter Junior can be in a bunch of varied setups.

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Now we have Cam Johnson, who we might think is

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going to be better in those circumstances. Is that a

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factor at all? Or is this more about maybe trying

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to make life easier on Jokich.

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Speaker 2: Well, they started to do this a little bit more

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actually in the playoffs under David Adaman, So I do

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think this was a little bit of like already in

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the in the works. But I absolutely think part of

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why Michael Porter got traded this offseason was David Adelman

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looked at it and said, we're not athletic enough or

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just defensively talented enough with our core ross the core

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of our roster to be able to just play like

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most teams do. We're gonna have to be smart, we're

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gonna have to have complex rotations. And yes, Michael Porter

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offensively he limited Denver because there was only so much

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he could do, you know, so much he could read

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the court in real time. He was a slow thinker,

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you know, he just wasn't that type of guy. But

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defensively is where I think it really showed up. He

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was a guy that made a lot of mistakes, and

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teams took advantage of that. Out of timeouts, I always said,

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people would be like, where are they going to attack?

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What are they going to try to do? It was

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always the same. Put Michael Porter Junior as the low man,

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run something up top and make him be the rotation

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guy that has to like rotate and read what's happening.

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And that was Denver's vulnerability. So yes, I think this

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scheme is more complicated. It probably requires more behind Jokich,

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you know, in terms of like quick early reads. It's

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a lot about meeting the defense higher up the court

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as opposed to waiting and reacting to what they have

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what they do. And yeah, I think that they look

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at it and say, hey, we have maybe the smartest

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starting five in the NBA, so we're going to lean

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into a scheme that requires more intelligence.

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Speaker 1: They ones Salentuns trade still insanity that the Kings put

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themselves in position where they need to make it. But

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how how much do you actually think that he is

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going to give nikolea Jokic your breeder, Like, how much

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of an emphasis is it going to be, like we

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have a backup five that can actually play real minutes now.

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Speaker 2: I think it's one hundred percent of the plan. Whether

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it works or doesn't work, they're going to go with it.

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I don't think this is a thing like Dario Sarich

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last year, where it's you get a couple games into

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the season, say that didn't work, let's pivot. I think

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they're going to sink or swim with the onus Valentunas

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being there sort of the anchor of that second unit,

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and I think he can do it. I mean part

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of it is Denver's building in the zone schemes, So

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even with Jokics, they're trying to play a little bit

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more zone. Well that translates to Valentunas as well. You're

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teaching everybody how to play the zone. So when you

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go to your second unit, your hope is you can

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spell them with that. You're playing this drop but one

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pass away help help scheme that again allows your bigs

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to be a little less mobile, And it's really trying

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to cover for them. So I think there's a I

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think that the plan is to just go with it

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until it works, and I think it will work. But

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the big thing is Jamal Murray staggers with the second unit,

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so that's just like your starters. Bruce Brown is kind

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of like Christian Brown, where he's not that great of

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a shooter, but he can do it. He can slash

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a little, he plays hard, he plays defense. Tim Hardaway

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Junior is a floor spacer like Cam Johnson, the CE

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version of him. But you know somewhere there Peyton Watson

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defensive rangeye a little bit of an ag and then

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Valentunis obviously you're five. They're trying to use him a

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little bit like Jokic, mostly the on the block version

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of Jokich, and I think that that's like close enough.

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If you look at years past Russell Westbrook, DeAndre Jordan,

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that's nothing like Jokich. So even if you say that

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VAL's not really like Jokic, he's much more like him

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than DeAndre Jordan was. And I think that's kind of

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the idea of this this nugget roster.

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Speaker 1: What is the closest they've come to not deviating too

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far from the Jokic principles in the second unit as

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the backup five, is it Maason Plumley.

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Speaker 2: It's for sure Mason Plumley. I mean they basically were

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able to run the same thing. Obviously he's not as

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much of a threat from outside, but it was all

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the same actions delay and elbow intry and those types

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of things. And I will say, actually, what I think

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this one reminds me of with Valentunas is less like

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Mason Plumley and more like DeMarcus Cousins. If you remember

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the brief stint DeMarcus Cousins was Denver's backup center. It

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went well where it was something like the Jokic offense.

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As if Jokic shot ten times more than passed, you know,

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ten times less.

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Speaker 1: I would be curious to see if they're gonna use

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Jonas and at least some of the same situations around

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the block more. Is that someone who in the past,

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like he's been able to draw in the past, maybe

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not so much less he's a ton of fouls and

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that adds to the time that Jokic gets to rest

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if he's just not on a court court for the floor,

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like all of a sudden, he's on the bench for

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what four minutes? And that turns into how many extra

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if there's pauses for free throws or fouls? And I've

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always wondered if that's av It's the same thing we

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talked about this my cost and I with Jimmy Butler

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during the non Stephen Curry minutes in Golden State. It's

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a little bit different for Denver because like yonas Valentun

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is gonna be that high volume of a guy. But

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anything to just get Jokic to not have to play

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like thirty seven thirty eight minutes a night would be incredible.

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Speaker 2: I this is why I love doing this show. As

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you think of angles on things that I haven't thought

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of yet, the I don't You're right he does draw fouls.

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First of all, he's a very physical guy, so he's

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either gonna foul you. I think he's gonna foul a lot,

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but he's also going to, you know, draw a lot

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of fouls. Yeah. I don't know if it's going to

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mean anything towards like Jokic actually got of real time,

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not clock time, but just of real time. He got

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an extra three four minutes because there were free throws

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and stuff like that that could make a meaningful impact.

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But what I really think it makes an impact on

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is Jokic is really good at drawing non shooting fouls,

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and he is actually one of the guys who is

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significantly more impactful as a player when the team is

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in the bonus. He's just not good at getting into

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the you know, into the bonus. So if you help him.

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This is actually a thing that Russell Westbrook brought to

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the team last year, as he drew a lot of fouls,

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and so to start the second quarter he would be

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on And if you're if you draw three four fouls

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in the first four or five minutes of the quarter,

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Yoki checks in and draws all those other ones and

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now they're free throws. So it actually could It's crazy,

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but I could see that being a case where val

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accelerates you getting into the bonus so that when yok

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checks in, all those off ball fouls become free throws.

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Speaker 1: I made a note of it, and I stopped exactly

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what I was doing. So I was trying to work

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during the Nugget Clippers game, but they played Valencunis and

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Yolkic together for a hot minute were they just experimenting,

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or do you think that that could become a tool

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in their belt, especially like you said before, if they're

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gonna try and implement these zone defensive principles.

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Speaker 2: David Adalman said at media Day in no uncertain terms,

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they will play together. I do want to play them together. Now.

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He has also said there's a lot of ideas we

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have and we're gonna try him. Not everything will work,

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and that's okay, and so that might fall into the Yes,

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we gave it a real try and it didn't work

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out the way we hoped. But I think it is

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one hundred percent a part of their plan this year

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to make that work. And I understand why Denver is

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a team You always go into these playoffs series and

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you think about this team wants to do what they

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want to do. We want to do what we want

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to do. Who can force teams to kind of put

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down one of their weapons. Valenciunas is such a big

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bodied guy that if it works, if they find a

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way to defend somewhat adequately with it, He's such a

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big body that he would alter your rotation. You wouldn't

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be able to just say we go small and oh yeah,

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to start the end of the first quarter, we go

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with our real small lineup. He's the type of guy

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that would say, no, you need a real power forward

378
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at minimum on the court, because you need a center

379
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for Val and you need at least a John Collins

380
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sized player to guard Yokich. You can't go with a

381
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Jalen Williams or a mere coffee type guy for Yokich.

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You're gonna have to alter your rotation to match us.

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We'll see if it works. I'm somewhat optimistic. I'm more

384
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just intrigued. I like when teams find like David Adams

385
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or Steven Adams and Shngun last year was cool because

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it wasn't something I would have thought would have worked,

387
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but it did. And I always like when teams find

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something that seems like it wouldn't work and it's like, hey,

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this is a whole new type of way of playing,

390
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and now you have to blink or not.

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Speaker 1: It does feel like we've come a long way in

392
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a very short time from just like it almost feels

393
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like if it was yesterday, were wondering could Evan Mobley

394
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and Jared Allen play together? To now? How many double

395
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big from like now it's oh, Jonnis and Jokich will

396
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play together. We're just not gonna bat and eye like

397
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we want to see it. But it's just like, yeah,

398
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that makes sense.

399
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Speaker 2: What was interesting with Denver, I mean one hundred percent right. Usually,

400
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,319
first of all, ten years ago, it was like Robert

401
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,680
Covington can play the five. I mean, who cares? He

402
00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:28,200
might have been a three in two thousand and eight,

403
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,079
but now he's a center. And then yes, in recently,

404
00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:34,119
it's even Mobley and Allen. They're both mobile and can

405
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do thing. They're defensive minded, so it kind of makes

406
00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:38,680
sense Valan Jokich are not. Neither one of them is

407
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defensive minded, very slow, and it's like, hey, well, who knows,

408
00:17:42,559 --> 00:17:44,319
Maybe there's a way to cover for that because they're

409
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so good offensively. What I think is interesting is if

410
00:17:47,079 --> 00:17:50,920
you think about double bigs, typically you want spacing around them.

411
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Denver yesterday put out Christian Brown, Julian Strather, and Peyton

412
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Watson around him. Not exactly an elite three point shooting group,

413
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but they're all enormous, and I think if you're gonna

414
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play zone, one of the things you need is as

415
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much wingspan as you can get, and Denver put you know, all,

416
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Christian Brown's the smallest guy that was out there. I

417
00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:10,759
think he's six y six, So it was just a

418
00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:13,519
big lineup to try to cover him defensively, hoping that

419
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those two guys would just grab like six offensive rebounds.

420
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Speaker 1: Is that the direction you would go in fleshing out

421
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:20,640
a double big lineup for them, or is they're like, well, like,

422
00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,799
what would be your ideal three from this team around?

423
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Speaker 2: I think it's at this moment a low leverage lineup,

424
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,319
so it's not when you're gonna alter everything else. You'd

425
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probably fit in whatever's remaining pieces around it, as long

426
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as there's length. But Cam Johnson seems like he could

427
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give one of those guys a spell because he also

428
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has length and can play the three or one of

429
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:42,319
those spots. So I think I would experiment a little

430
00:18:42,319 --> 00:18:45,680
bit with that. You probably will need a little bit

431
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more shooting on the court overall, so maybe Cam Johnson

432
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,160
in for like a Peyton Watson or a Christian Brown.

433
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Speaker 1: So I was going back and watching basically all of

434
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:56,680
Peyton Watson's preseason possessions, which I really try not to

435
00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,519
do before I do shows like this because I don't

436
00:18:58,559 --> 00:19:00,799
want to be like in f did with like the

437
00:19:00,839 --> 00:19:04,440
good preseason just vibes. But Adam, the ball's in his

438
00:19:04,519 --> 00:19:07,160
hands a lot. I like it, is this like is

439
00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:08,920
this going to be a thing or are they again

440
00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:11,759
my same question or is it just like preseason experimentation

441
00:19:11,799 --> 00:19:13,720
that maybe won't get busted out in the regular season

442
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that much.

443
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Speaker 2: I think that the style of play, So just to

444
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,680
take people back who don't follow Peyton Watson, defensive player,

445
00:19:22,079 --> 00:19:25,039
very athletic, very long built, like Jaden McDaniels, and I

446
00:19:25,039 --> 00:19:26,640
think the hope is that he can become a Jaden

447
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,680
McDaniels type defender. But offensively, what is he under Michael Malone?

448
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,279
He basically was a corner three point shooter who can't shoot,

449
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So it's you know, he didn't really have that skill.

450
00:19:36,519 --> 00:19:38,960
I have always thought he handled the ball well and

451
00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,559
he passes surprisingly well. He makes these very good reads

452
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when he has the ball in his hands. So I said,

453
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give him the ball. I know it sounds counterintuitive this

454
00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:48,359
guy who's not an offensive player will give him the ball,

455
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,559
but I actually think that's the way you use him.

456
00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,799
And David Adaman seems to agree because so far, through

457
00:19:53,799 --> 00:19:56,200
three preseason games, he's bringing the ball up, he's running

458
00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:58,920
pick and rolls, he's initiating the offense, and I actually

459
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,400
think he has He might be more like a Men

460
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,000
Thompson than Jaden McDaniels. I mean, the B or C

461
00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,079
version of him. He's not a superstar type, He's not

462
00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:08,400
as strong and obviously a skilled but he might have

463
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,880
more of that skill set. And what I'll say is,

464
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,000
I think David Adelman is going to stick with this

465
00:20:13,079 --> 00:20:15,759
for a long time, putting the ball in his hands.

466
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,559
I'm not sure how he'll do. I am betting on

467
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,759
him because I think he's a good player. But if

468
00:20:20,799 --> 00:20:23,279
you told me it didn't work out, wouldn't I wouldn't

469
00:20:23,279 --> 00:20:24,079
be wholly surprised.

470
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Speaker 1: Does maybe like the lack of a conventional backup playmaker

471
00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,279
bode well for them? Like, well, yeah, we're gonna see,

472
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:34,440
really if this thing works well.

473
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,359
Speaker 2: The thing I think is going to evolve over time,

474
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,559
and we already saw this in the preseason, is if

475
00:20:38,599 --> 00:20:41,279
I'm guarding Denver, I just look and say, okay, whenever

476
00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:43,200
Jamal Murray's out of the game, we are full court

477
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:45,400
pressing whoever has the ball. Because I think Peyton Watson

478
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,119
has a good handle, he doesn't have a point guard handle.

479
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,839
If you put Lou Dort or Cason Wallace on him,

480
00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:53,319
he's going to struggle to bring the ball up to

481
00:20:53,319 --> 00:20:56,000
the court. And I think teams will slowly come to

482
00:20:56,039 --> 00:20:58,200
that realization. Even if they don't have a Lou Door

483
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,400
to Cason Wallace on their team, I think they're still

484
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,039
going to say, yeah, but just get into him, because

485
00:21:02,039 --> 00:21:03,240
I don't think he's going to be able to beat

486
00:21:03,279 --> 00:21:04,480
you consistently up the court.

487
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,119
Speaker 1: Christian Brown, So last year you called your shot on

488
00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,400
the Jamal Murray extension. He got one like three days

489
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:13,440
after you did the show. I remember messaging you about it.

490
00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:16,480
You want to call your shot for Christian Brown. How's

491
00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:17,559
that situation going to end?

492
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,119
Speaker 2: It's going to end with him getting an extension, and

493
00:21:20,799 --> 00:21:22,680
my hunch is that it will be. If I were

494
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,160
to try to take a guess, I'm going to say

495
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,960
it's going to be four years, one hundred and five million.

496
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,640
You know, it's about twenty six million. I wouldn't be

497
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,759
surprised if it was more than that. I think Nuggets

498
00:21:32,799 --> 00:21:36,440
fans will be. I think he's really a valuable player

499
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,319
and has made himself even in this preseason. It looks

500
00:21:39,319 --> 00:21:41,839
like there's more to his game. Twenty six million a

501
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,720
year feels about right to me. If he got thirty

502
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:46,519
million a year, I think Denver would have to sort

503
00:21:46,559 --> 00:21:48,920
of take it, you know, they'd have to agree to it.

504
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:51,559
But my hunch is there's a little leverage about going

505
00:21:51,599 --> 00:21:54,079
into this year without a deal that they can get

506
00:21:54,079 --> 00:21:55,359
it for about one hundred and five million.

507
00:21:56,319 --> 00:21:58,279
Speaker 1: I think that's a good number. I don't restrict a

508
00:21:58,319 --> 00:22:00,720
free agency is weird now, Paul. He's the last guy

509
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,960
to get an offer sheet from another team, but he

510
00:22:03,039 --> 00:22:05,519
seems like something like he's the archetype of player, even

511
00:22:05,519 --> 00:22:07,559
with the maybe the iffy shooting that, I think teams

512
00:22:07,559 --> 00:22:09,839
would come in and say they have cap space or

513
00:22:09,839 --> 00:22:11,319
they're really trying to push for like a sign and

514
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:13,759
trade scenario. So I think it's smart. One oh five

515
00:22:13,839 --> 00:22:16,319
over four feels like I'd probably pounce on that. If

516
00:22:16,319 --> 00:22:17,759
I'm Denver, I'm not gonna lie, but I tend to

517
00:22:17,799 --> 00:22:20,559
get his offense than a lot of people. Yeah.

518
00:22:20,559 --> 00:22:22,119
Speaker 2: I think the other thing you think about, though, is

519
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,079
if Denver didn't want to offer that, if Denver really

520
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,480
wanted to play hardball, it's just tough for a guy

521
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,240
like Christian to go to a full year without a deal,

522
00:22:28,319 --> 00:22:30,960
So there's a little bit of leverage from just the Yeah,

523
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,119
it's a little discount. You probably can get one hundred

524
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,400
and ten one hundred and twelve next year, but come on,

525
00:22:35,839 --> 00:22:37,319
sign the paper and it's locked in.

526
00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:39,599
Speaker 1: Man. If I was his agent, though, I'd be like,

527
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,079
look at what I shot on two pointers with Nikoliokic

528
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:43,839
off the floor last year, Like who else do you

529
00:22:43,839 --> 00:22:45,119
have on this team that is going to do that?

530
00:22:45,279 --> 00:22:47,400
Which leads me to the actual question for him, like

531
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,119
what is the more important area of offense continued offensive

532
00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,960
development for him? Is it doing more on ball things

533
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,680
outside of transition, or is it, Hey, we it was

534
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,519
cool that he shot thirty nine percent or whatever from

535
00:22:57,519 --> 00:22:59,799
three last year, but that volume needs to tick up

536
00:23:00,079 --> 00:23:00,480
beyond there.

537
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,720
Speaker 2: It's a great question because I think it's both, and

538
00:23:03,759 --> 00:23:05,519
so you're asking me to pick. If you look at

539
00:23:05,519 --> 00:23:07,920
the playoffs, it just came down to scoring the three

540
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,440
point shot. I mean it was Oklahoma City is gonna

541
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:11,799
do And this, by the way, I just talked about

542
00:23:11,839 --> 00:23:14,519
denver scheme helping one pass away to stop the pick

543
00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:16,359
and roll. What Denver's really doing there is trying to

544
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,920
force the ball into like last night it was it

545
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,319
was Chris Dunn or John Collins for three or Derek

546
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,240
Jones Junior said hey, you guys are going to take

547
00:23:25,279 --> 00:23:28,359
ten shots today and Kawhi Leonard you we're gonna try

548
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,160
to limit your shots. That's exactly what Oklahoma City did

549
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,720
last year is they said, guess what this quarter, Christian

550
00:23:33,759 --> 00:23:36,359
Brown's taking eight shots because we're going to not guard

551
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,759
him and force it and so in that regard, his

552
00:23:38,839 --> 00:23:40,759
handle doesn't really matter. He has to be able to

553
00:23:40,799 --> 00:23:43,559
punish him there. So I think ultimately it's the three

554
00:23:43,599 --> 00:23:46,279
point shot, and I'm not even sure if it's on volume.

555
00:23:46,319 --> 00:23:49,240
It's just it's consistency. He took a low volume last

556
00:23:49,319 --> 00:23:52,240
year because he was able to pass up open looks.

557
00:23:52,559 --> 00:23:54,640
In the playoffs, they said, no, there's nothing else, we're

558
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,440
packing the paint, there's nowhere to drive. You have to

559
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,240
shoot it, and of course he didn't shoot him very well.

560
00:23:59,279 --> 00:24:01,240
So I think it's that. But I will say I'm

561
00:24:01,279 --> 00:24:03,359
more confident that he has more to who is off

562
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,880
the dribble game than what he has shown in years past,

563
00:24:06,039 --> 00:24:07,599
and we've already seen it in the playoffs where he

564
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,079
might be kind of a nice little pick and roll

565
00:24:09,079 --> 00:24:09,640
ball handler.

566
00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,759
Speaker 1: I kind of hate boiling it down to this question,

567
00:24:13,759 --> 00:24:16,200
but does Denver need to take more threes? Just when

568
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:17,920
you look at the way that other teams are like,

569
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,480
I know they have Jokic, I know the way that

570
00:24:19,519 --> 00:24:21,799
they can generate their own shots. But as you just

571
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:23,920
mentioned with Christian Brown in the playoffs, it comes down

572
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:27,359
to make hitting or missing threes, and it's like math

573
00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:28,720
starts to come into the equation.

574
00:24:28,839 --> 00:24:32,279
Speaker 2: For me, I don't think so, and I'm I'm kind

575
00:24:32,279 --> 00:24:34,880
of alone on this one. I think Denver will get

576
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:38,279
more threes this year just because they have better shooters

577
00:24:38,319 --> 00:24:40,680
and so I think they'll make a handful more. But

578
00:24:40,839 --> 00:24:43,400
Denver is so good at punishing you in the paint.

579
00:24:43,599 --> 00:24:46,920
The three point shot is such a tension between your

580
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,400
threes and your shots at the rim. I'd be curious

581
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,559
to see if there was a metric that was because

582
00:24:51,559 --> 00:24:53,839
everybody's like the three point attempt to rate or three

583
00:24:53,839 --> 00:24:57,079
point shots. I'd be if you combined three point rate

584
00:24:57,279 --> 00:25:00,599
and shots in the restricted area and then just combine

585
00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:03,279
that into one number. I wonder where Denver would fall,

586
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,559
because my hunch is that they are just the rare

587
00:25:05,599 --> 00:25:08,640
example of a team that is mostly at the rim part,

588
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,640
but they really work together. Denver puts pressure on the rim.

589
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,920
The three point shot is the release valve. A lot

590
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,599
of teams put pressure on the three point line, and

591
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,880
the rim is the release valve. Denver just has it

592
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:19,799
in reverse order.

593
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 1: That's a good point. And so I'm looking now, so

594
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:27,400
PBP stats has the rim or three frequency and last

595
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,960
year Denver was I must be missing them because now

596
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:33,599
they're actually, let's let's do a search.

597
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,359
Speaker 2: Great man, I'm so curious. I'm actually very curious for

598
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:37,759
this number. I'm glad they have this.

599
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:41,079
Speaker 1: So they were eighteenth, which is about right right.

600
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 2: So if they're the worst three point shooting team and

601
00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,240
then they're right basically league average when you combine the two,

602
00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,480
and I think that actually feels right to me.

603
00:25:49,839 --> 00:25:52,880
Speaker 1: So the streets are saying that Jamal Murray's in shape,

604
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,039
that he's more of a leader. I know you some

605
00:25:55,079 --> 00:25:56,519
of the guys at DMVR I have talked about his

606
00:25:56,519 --> 00:25:59,440
defense during the preseason. Are we buying into the pre

607
00:25:59,559 --> 00:26:01,200
I don't know what The last time we had preseason

608
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,279
Jamal Murray hype was maybe coming out of the twenty

609
00:26:03,319 --> 00:26:05,519
twenty three title a little bit, but are we buying it?

610
00:26:06,039 --> 00:26:07,599
Speaker 2: There was none coming out of the title, and I

611
00:26:07,599 --> 00:26:09,319
think that year he kind of came in and said

612
00:26:09,319 --> 00:26:12,960
as much at Media Day, like, yeah, man into shape,

613
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:13,839
that's why.

614
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,680
Speaker 1: Off of going on shows and they were acting like

615
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,839
is Jamal Murray a top ten NBA player now? And

616
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,680
so in my head I just have it that's like

617
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,519
everyone was really high on Jamal Murray after the title. No.

618
00:26:24,319 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 2: I think Jamal has successfully been humboled over these last

619
00:26:27,279 --> 00:26:29,400
handful of years. He's also had a healthy off season,

620
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,960
but he looks legitimately great. I thought at Media Day

621
00:26:32,039 --> 00:26:34,440
was by far the best I'd ever seen him, and

622
00:26:34,519 --> 00:26:36,359
all of the intel out of the summer was that

623
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,440
he had turned a corner on those types of things.

624
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,799
I think it's fair to be skeptical because when you know,

625
00:26:41,839 --> 00:26:44,079
it's been nine years for him in the NBA and

626
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,000
nine years in a row, you come in out of

627
00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,200
shape and then you work your way into shape. You know,

628
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:50,480
you kind of have to prove it. But what I

629
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,440
will say is he was around Denver all summer. He

630
00:26:53,599 --> 00:26:57,240
organized team workouts throughout the entire offseason and team outings.

631
00:26:57,559 --> 00:26:59,799
David Adaman credited him and said, yeah, but it wasn't

632
00:26:59,839 --> 00:27:02,279
just getting Aaron Gordon and like the main guys together.

633
00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,039
He reached out to the two ways. He was staying

634
00:27:04,039 --> 00:27:06,160
with them. He was making the whole team feel like

635
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:07,720
they were part of it. The whole team went down.

636
00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:09,680
I think they sent eleven guys to the Rico Hines

637
00:27:09,759 --> 00:27:12,960
Run a couple weeks or a month and a half

638
00:27:13,039 --> 00:27:16,799
ago in the offseason like this unofficial but organized team

639
00:27:16,799 --> 00:27:19,279
workout that he put together. And so I think he's

640
00:27:19,279 --> 00:27:21,480
taken on this leadership role. And yes, he looks great.

641
00:27:21,559 --> 00:27:25,799
I mean his quick twitch is back. I will say

642
00:27:25,799 --> 00:27:29,119
that before the injury. Before the ACL injury, he was

643
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,759
a dunker. If you remember, he had some like big

644
00:27:31,839 --> 00:27:33,960
drive to the rim and dunks. I don't know that

645
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,880
we're gonna ever see that Jamal again. But the guy

646
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,319
that can shakes like a Chris Dunn one on one

647
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,920
in isolation, can he shake free to be honest with

648
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,039
you more often than not? Jamal couldn't over the last

649
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:46,599
two years. He's been doing that all preseason where I'm like, Okay,

650
00:27:46,599 --> 00:27:48,359
he can beat those types of guys one on one.

651
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:49,440
Now to get to his spots.

652
00:27:51,559 --> 00:27:53,839
Speaker 1: We've talked a little bit about this team's depth so far.

653
00:27:54,839 --> 00:27:58,160
Are they meaningfully deeper to you? Because the Valanchoun is

654
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,440
ad I think is big, and I've liked Bruce Brown

655
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,640
and Tim Hardaway Junior as names of what Bruce Brown

656
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,960
did last time he was in Denver, But like, this

657
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,039
isn't two years ago, and it feels like they're setting

658
00:28:07,039 --> 00:28:10,160
themselves up to be maybe overly reliant on two of

659
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,000
these minimum contract guys and then maybe a mystery box

660
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,759
or two in a Jallan Picket or a Julian Strawther.

661
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,599
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I'm definitely with you on Julian Strauther and

662
00:28:19,759 --> 00:28:22,960
Jalen Pickett. I think both of those guys are worrisome

663
00:28:23,039 --> 00:28:25,319
to me as your depth pieces. But I think there's

664
00:28:25,319 --> 00:28:28,759
no question. I mean mostly because their depth was horrible

665
00:28:28,839 --> 00:28:31,039
last year. I think he was almost underrated how bad

666
00:28:31,079 --> 00:28:34,039
it was. It really was Russ and then question marks

667
00:28:34,039 --> 00:28:38,839
after that. Whereas this year, I think I buy Valanciunas

668
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,200
as a guy that can play in that lineup. I

669
00:28:41,359 --> 00:28:43,880
buy Peyton Watson because I think he's a really good

670
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,119
player that had this untapped potential and now he's in

671
00:28:46,119 --> 00:28:48,119
that role. I buy Bruce Brown and the role the

672
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,440
Nuggets play him in. I just think it. First of all,

673
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,200
even if you don't think he is like this like

674
00:28:53,279 --> 00:28:56,640
great rotational player last year, he's replacing basically Julian Strather

675
00:28:56,759 --> 00:28:58,880
of last year, you know, who was a really really

676
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,160
rough player there. It's a step up. Tim Hardaway Junior.

677
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:03,640
I'm with you. I mean, he's a veteran, he knows

678
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:05,440
where to be, but I'm not sure he's an actual

679
00:29:05,519 --> 00:29:07,680
like value most teams. Would he be the eighth ninth

680
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,960
man on most teams? Maybe not. But what I think

681
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,400
is more important is that Denver has more than six

682
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,039
guys and even Spencer Jones, which I know is funny

683
00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:19,680
like he's the big curveball here, because I kind of

684
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,759
think Spencer Jones is the tenth guy on the Nuggets roster.

685
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,799
And when you talk about the guys have defined roles,

686
00:29:25,839 --> 00:29:27,839
they just need they want a full court press, Spencer

687
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,839
Jones might play three minutes a half just to go

688
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,279
in there and full court press the ball for a

689
00:29:32,319 --> 00:29:35,279
couple minutes. So to me, yes, I was very low

690
00:29:35,319 --> 00:29:37,200
on the Nuggets last year in large part because I

691
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,200
didn't believe in their depth. I do believe in it

692
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,680
this year as being meaningful to provide a spell for

693
00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:43,799
the second unit or for the first unit, And I

694
00:29:43,799 --> 00:29:46,319
actually think it'll it'll turn out to be a league average,

695
00:29:46,359 --> 00:29:47,920
if not better bench.

696
00:29:49,759 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: Who would you make as that first sub then with

697
00:29:52,039 --> 00:29:54,240
the Nuggets when you're pulling Jamal Murray?

698
00:29:54,279 --> 00:29:58,400
Speaker 2: Presumably so they did it the other day, and man,

699
00:29:58,519 --> 00:30:00,119
now I'm trying to think of who it was that

700
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,839
they brought in. I can't believe. I can't remember exactly

701
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,599
who it was that came in for Jamal. You would

702
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:07,240
think it would be Bruce Brown, but maybe it was

703
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,799
Tim Hardaway Junior that came in. I know he ended

704
00:30:09,839 --> 00:30:12,440
this first the first half with the starting lineup instead

705
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,039
of Christian Brown, but I don't remember off the top

706
00:30:15,039 --> 00:30:17,640
of my head which one it was, So I'm not

707
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:19,160
sure who I would say the first one would it

708
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,160
would be? I want Peyton Watson to play more minutes

709
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,519
with Jokis, just because he has such great defense and

710
00:30:24,559 --> 00:30:26,720
such great length that I'd like to see more and

711
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:28,720
more of it. But I don't recall who. I don't

712
00:30:28,799 --> 00:30:31,079
I don't know who it's gonna be. Maybe Bruce Brown.

713
00:30:31,799 --> 00:30:34,440
Bruce was obviously if you remember the championship year, Bruce

714
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,640
actually has a typical nugget, really bad when he wasn't

715
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,680
with Jokic, really good with him. When you got to

716
00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,319
the playoffs, he played almost exclusively with Yokis because Jokis

717
00:30:42,319 --> 00:30:44,319
played the whole game and he was good, and that

718
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,640
was really the arc of his season. So maybe you

719
00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:47,759
repeat that again this year.

720
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 1: So who, in your estimation do you think it ends

721
00:30:50,519 --> 00:30:52,480
up being by the end of the year more important

722
00:30:52,519 --> 00:30:54,839
to this team, Jalen Picket or Julian Strother. I know

723
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,519
you're a little bit lower on Strather than a lot

724
00:30:56,519 --> 00:30:57,240
of others.

725
00:30:57,799 --> 00:31:01,119
Speaker 2: I'm pretty low on Julian Strawther. The reason I'm low

726
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,319
on him is because I think that he is a

727
00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:07,359
guy who's really kind of tunnel visioned and his role

728
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:10,079
would be sort of almost as a gunner, and I

729
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:11,880
just don't know if he's good enough to be a gunner.

730
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:13,640
And if he's not that for the Nuggets, then what

731
00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,119
else is he doing? Like, I don't think he can

732
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,039
be Cam Johnson, who can is very comfortable being the

733
00:31:19,079 --> 00:31:22,359
fifth option in an offense. Julian doesn't provide as much,

734
00:31:22,359 --> 00:31:24,920
and then defensively he's tough. I think I'm gonna say

735
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:26,759
Jalen Pickett. But the real answer is, I don't know

736
00:31:26,759 --> 00:31:28,000
if either one of them is going to be a

737
00:31:28,039 --> 00:31:31,519
major impact piece this year. Here's what I'll say, Jalen Pickett,

738
00:31:31,559 --> 00:31:33,319
I think if you told me Bruce Brown or Jamal

739
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,599
Murray we're out for two weeks, I think Jalen Pickett

740
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,440
would do a very nice job filling in for them,

741
00:31:37,599 --> 00:31:41,000
way less dynamic, but can just he's smart, He'll plug

742
00:31:41,039 --> 00:31:42,680
in and for two weeks he'll make it work. Whereas

743
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:46,440
Julian Strawther, your personality as a unit changes when he's

744
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:46,960
on the floor.

745
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,839
Speaker 1: So if you're mentioning Spencer Jones as a potential tenth man,

746
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,559
that's someone who's contract will then be converted by the

747
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:54,240
end of the season.

748
00:31:54,839 --> 00:31:57,079
Speaker 2: I wonder what Denver's gonna do there. They kept an

749
00:31:57,119 --> 00:31:59,799
open roster spot for a reason because I think they

750
00:32:00,039 --> 00:32:02,279
tend to feel it fill it later on and they

751
00:32:02,279 --> 00:32:03,519
want to have that. They don't have a ton of

752
00:32:03,599 --> 00:32:06,319
trade assets, so keeping a roster spot open right now.

753
00:32:06,319 --> 00:32:08,839
Do they need a backup point guard, Do they need

754
00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:11,519
another defender, do they need a power forward? I think

755
00:32:11,559 --> 00:32:13,799
that they don't know that yet and they'll probably get

756
00:32:13,839 --> 00:32:15,599
till later in the year. And keep that spot open.

757
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,240
But my hunch is when you talk about playoffs, he's

758
00:32:19,279 --> 00:32:21,720
not dynamic at all. I don't trust his offense. He

759
00:32:21,759 --> 00:32:23,440
doesn't do a whole lot of things. But he's a

760
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,559
big body who defends really really hard and really really well,

761
00:32:26,799 --> 00:32:29,160
and he's a smart guy. I can see him being

762
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,119
in a playoff rotation if they were to convert him

763
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:34,359
and being in a playoff rotation just to do the Hey,

764
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,160
it's the last two minutes of the first quarter, go

765
00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:39,519
out there and wear down Shay or whoever it is.

766
00:32:40,039 --> 00:32:42,680
Just go out there. You might get a foul, you

767
00:32:42,759 --> 00:32:44,200
might get too, but you're just going to go out

768
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,160
and go really hard on defense and annoy somebody for

769
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:47,480
a few minutes. He's really good at that.

770
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,359
Speaker 1: I root for sort of random rookies like that to

771
00:32:51,359 --> 00:32:54,000
all of a sudden start contributing to good teams, even like

772
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,839
on the level of Okay, Christian Brown was drafted in

773
00:32:55,839 --> 00:32:57,519
the first round and then he ends up being integral

774
00:32:57,559 --> 00:33:00,599
of Denver's title run. Is always fun a route to

775
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:01,000
see that.

776
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:04,480
Speaker 2: He's a He's an interesting guy, man. I think it's

777
00:33:04,519 --> 00:33:07,000
weird to me, Like Doron Holmes and Zeke Nagia barely played.

778
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,839
They've basically been garbage time all preseason. Spencer Jones was

779
00:33:10,839 --> 00:33:13,519
playing first half minutes, you know, with the starters, it's

780
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,079
it just shows you where David Adaman views him.

781
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 1: What are your impressions of Deron Holmes like, even dating

782
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:22,359
back to Summer League, right. I liked a lot of

783
00:33:22,359 --> 00:33:24,039
what I saw from him at Summer League when I

784
00:33:24,039 --> 00:33:26,079
was doing his write up, But it doesn't seem like

785
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,039
if he's playing for this team, it feels like catastrophe

786
00:33:29,079 --> 00:33:31,119
is kind of struck or it's garbage time. Obviously.

787
00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,279
Speaker 2: I think he's a guy that had Achilles injury and

788
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,039
is a rookie, So he's both both a rookie and

789
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,559
coming back from a pretty catastrophic injury, and the team

790
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,759
is going to treat him as such. He'll be in

791
00:33:41,799 --> 00:33:44,400
the G League for the first couple weeks at least.

792
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:46,240
You know, when the G League opens up, he'll be

793
00:33:46,279 --> 00:33:48,279
down there, and I don't think the Nuggets will even

794
00:33:48,319 --> 00:33:50,000
look at him until after. But if you ask me

795
00:33:50,039 --> 00:33:52,799
about as a prospect, I believe in a shot because

796
00:33:52,799 --> 00:33:54,640
his shot looks I just have seen him shooting an

797
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:56,880
empty gym too much. I've seen him shoot Summer League,

798
00:33:56,880 --> 00:33:59,200
and even in preseason he shot the ball really well

799
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,079
and really confidently. And the idea is he could be

800
00:34:02,119 --> 00:34:04,759
a very versatile defender, like as a power forward. He's

801
00:34:04,759 --> 00:34:07,640
a guy that can guard one through five. That part

802
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,519
he hasn't proven yet and the game is moving fast

803
00:34:10,559 --> 00:34:12,800
and all those things. But that's what the next couple

804
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,400
months are for to see if he can build up.

805
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:15,840
If he is that, I actually think he will have

806
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:17,920
a role in the Nuggets down the line. I just

807
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:19,360
would be shocked if that was this year.

808
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:22,679
Speaker 1: There anybody else, whether it's like the exhibiting guy like

809
00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,719
Tesler Edwards or Curtis Jones, that we should be keeping

810
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:26,199
an eye on.

811
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,320
Speaker 2: Not really, I mean Curtis Jones. The team is hyping

812
00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:30,960
up a lot, but I think they're hyping him up

813
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,360
as a two way player that will be in the

814
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,599
G League this year and maybe is a guy they

815
00:34:35,599 --> 00:34:38,719
add to the roster next year. But no, I don't

816
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,360
think there's anybody else that's going to be playing minutes

817
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:41,239
for the Nuggets this year.

818
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:43,760
Speaker 1: I Curtis Jones, and he's gonna be one of those

819
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,880
guys that puts up like numbers in the G League

820
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:47,599
and then people are gonna wonder like, oh, why wasn't

821
00:34:47,599 --> 00:34:49,760
he called up? He knows how to.

822
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,320
Speaker 2: Score, He's smooth. I think he's this very smooth player

823
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,519
we're thinking about this. Russell Westbrook was really good with Jokic,

824
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:57,920
and Denver has not had a lot of guys who

825
00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:00,960
can just beat their man off the dribble. Jones can't either.

826
00:35:01,159 --> 00:35:05,039
The Nuggets keep getting trade Alexander last year Jamal Murray.

827
00:35:05,119 --> 00:35:07,079
They are a bunch of crafty guards who just know

828
00:35:07,119 --> 00:35:10,039
how to get open with like slithery moves, but nobody

829
00:35:10,079 --> 00:35:12,760
that can just one step get by you. And I

830
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:14,519
kind of wish they had one in the pipeline because

831
00:35:14,519 --> 00:35:16,159
I would be very curious if it was as an

832
00:35:16,199 --> 00:35:17,719
effective weapon next to Yo Kisch.

833
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,239
Speaker 1: Are you ready to enter the cookie Cutter slash Lightning

834
00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:22,360
round portion of the podcast?

835
00:35:22,519 --> 00:35:23,119
Speaker 2: Let's do it?

836
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,159
Speaker 1: Looking at the roster right now before the regular season

837
00:35:26,159 --> 00:35:28,960
even begins, what do you view as Denver's biggest.

838
00:35:28,639 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 2: Need man this one? The team is so new and

839
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,440
it has such a new identity to it that I

840
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,480
think this is harder to answer than most years. It

841
00:35:39,519 --> 00:35:41,960
does feel like what I just said is probably part

842
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,199
of this. I'm worried that teams are gonna have, especially

843
00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:46,480
athletic teams are going to have an advantage against Denver

844
00:35:46,559 --> 00:35:49,400
full court pressing them when Jamal Murray's off the floor.

845
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,119
So it might be a reliable ball handler who can

846
00:35:52,119 --> 00:35:54,920
just beat a press. That's one of the things that

847
00:35:55,079 --> 00:35:57,880
Russ might have disguised last year. You can't press Russ.

848
00:35:57,880 --> 00:35:59,760
He's too quick. He gets around everybody, and so we

849
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,239
never thought about this as an issue. But now that

850
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,159
it's Bruce Brown and Peyton Watson and Tim Hardaway Junior

851
00:36:05,159 --> 00:36:07,719
bringing the ball up the court when Murray's off, you

852
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,559
kind of lutch it and go, yeah, they're not really

853
00:36:09,599 --> 00:36:12,119
good enough to break a press on their own, and

854
00:36:12,159 --> 00:36:14,519
so it might be something as simple as that, And

855
00:36:14,559 --> 00:36:16,320
that might be something that the Nuggets look for at

856
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:16,880
the deadline.

857
00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,840
Speaker 1: Is there anything about this team that's flying under the

858
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:23,599
radar that we haven't discussed that you think deserves more attention?

859
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:29,440
Speaker 2: Hmm. You know, here's I guess. The way I'll answer

860
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,360
this is to say that one of the takes I

861
00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,639
have that is some sort of illogical I guess, but

862
00:36:36,119 --> 00:36:37,679
sometimes you just get a hunch about a team when

863
00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:40,840
you're watching him. Aaron Gordon shot forty something percent last

864
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,159
year from the three point line, and most of the

865
00:36:43,159 --> 00:36:45,199
time when a guy had his eleventh year makes a

866
00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:47,519
ten percent jump in his three point shot, you say, Okay,

867
00:36:47,519 --> 00:36:50,400
it's probably a fluke, And I think forty four or

868
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,239
whatever it was is probably a fluke. He was one

869
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:55,079
of the highest, the best volume three point shooters last year,

870
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,519
but I kind of buy Aaron Gordon the new shooter.

871
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,840
Number one. He also improved his free thro shooting quite

872
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,239
a bit, so it wasn't like one number not the other.

873
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,679
And then two. Aaron Gordon is one of these guys

874
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,760
that has like really good body control just in all

875
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,360
of the things he does. And when I watch his

876
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,360
shot last year, there was clearly a mechanical change, and

877
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,360
it felt mechanical. It feels like this year everything is

878
00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:21,000
much more fluid, as if he had to like train

879
00:37:21,039 --> 00:37:23,840
his body very rigidly to make this new motion and

880
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,039
now the motion is just integrated into what he's doing.

881
00:37:26,119 --> 00:37:28,559
So if I were to predict, I think Aaron Gordon's

882
00:37:28,559 --> 00:37:31,159
gonna shoot thirty nine percent from three this year, Like

883
00:37:31,199 --> 00:37:32,880
I have a second year in a row where he's

884
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,920
like a reliable three point shooter.

885
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,039
Speaker 1: Do you think Denver's defensive approached, assuming that he's not

886
00:37:39,079 --> 00:37:40,880
the one who's like handling the high pickup points or

887
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:42,519
if they are going to more zone. Does his life

888
00:37:42,559 --> 00:37:44,119
get easier this year on defense?

889
00:37:44,159 --> 00:37:46,840
Speaker 2: Then I don't think it gets easier. I think it

890
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:49,519
gets more logical, you know, like he could. What I'll

891
00:37:49,559 --> 00:37:51,719
say is I think it makes a bigger impact because

892
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,239
you are right that last year he had to cover

893
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,280
for Michael Porter quite a bit and just say, Okay,

894
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:57,880
well Mike can't guard this guy, so you have to

895
00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,719
do it. And that can be impact when you have

896
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,559
to go guard Kawhi Leonard. Okay, Kawhi might get shut

897
00:38:03,599 --> 00:38:06,079
down or whatever. But Aaron Gordon can make a bigger

898
00:38:06,119 --> 00:38:08,800
impact as a help defender, as an all around scheme

899
00:38:09,079 --> 00:38:11,599
cover for Jokich. And I think he'll be in position

900
00:38:11,639 --> 00:38:13,519
to do that a lot more this year. So I

901
00:38:13,519 --> 00:38:15,039
don't think it makes it easier. I just think it

902
00:38:15,079 --> 00:38:16,119
makes it more impactful.

903
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:19,800
Speaker 1: So if I was to ask you to build the

904
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,920
ten man rotation for this team, we know who the

905
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,519
starters are, there are those five who will end up

906
00:38:24,559 --> 00:38:26,840
being the five most used reserves to you.

907
00:38:27,679 --> 00:38:30,559
Speaker 2: To me, no question, it'll be Peyton Watson and Valancunis.

908
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,119
I think it's almost certainly going to be Bruce Brown

909
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,320
and Tim Hardaway, and then I think the next if

910
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:39,079
you're asking me what they will go with, it's going

911
00:38:39,159 --> 00:38:41,280
to be Julian Strather. I think more often than not

912
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,440
early on, I think there's a chance that it could

913
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,280
be Spencer Jones, and I think there's a chance it

914
00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:50,280
could be Jalen Pickett. I like Spencer Jones and Jalen

915
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,960
Pickett significantly more than I like Julian Strather, and I

916
00:38:54,079 --> 00:38:57,119
might even like those guys more than Tim Hardaway. I

917
00:38:57,159 --> 00:38:59,079
think you need the shooting, and so Tim's going to

918
00:38:59,119 --> 00:39:01,039
be up there and probably have a long runway to

919
00:39:01,119 --> 00:39:03,960
kind of acclimate to the team. But I really like

920
00:39:04,119 --> 00:39:06,679
Jalen Pickett, I really like Spencer Jones, and I think

921
00:39:06,679 --> 00:39:10,320
that those guys I would not be surprised with as

922
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:13,000
opportunities guys are out and they just move up a chair,

923
00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,199
I would not be surprised if the team looks as

924
00:39:15,199 --> 00:39:17,159
good or better when they when they play, and maybe

925
00:39:17,199 --> 00:39:18,599
earn some more minutes by the end of the year.

926
00:39:19,159 --> 00:39:21,599
Speaker 1: You mentioned before about David Adaman saying he wants to

927
00:39:21,639 --> 00:39:24,039
go nine ten eleven players deep. And it feels like

928
00:39:24,679 --> 00:39:26,920
in training camp now where we used to have muscle watch,

929
00:39:27,039 --> 00:39:29,679
it's one slimmed down watch all of a sudden, like

930
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,239
this guy lost weight. And now the new thing is, yeah,

931
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:33,960
we're gonna play like we want to play ten deep.

932
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:37,239
Do you think that David Adaman actually means this, like

933
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:38,840
we're looking at the Nuggets on a game to game

934
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,559
basis and they are routinely going ten eleven guys deep.

935
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:43,920
Speaker 2: Well, the thing about that is, I think one hundred

936
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,639
percent believes it. The question is if the Nuggets are

937
00:39:46,679 --> 00:39:51,320
four and seven, you know, the the the urge to

938
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,760
play Yokic thirty eight minutes is gonna be there, and

939
00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,519
it's gonna you know, whatever happens, that's that'll be the

940
00:39:56,559 --> 00:40:00,760
real test. But I think that David Adaman truly leaves that.

941
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,199
You watch the Oklahoma City thunder play and you say,

942
00:40:03,199 --> 00:40:04,960
how do you make it through an eighty two game season,

943
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,239
and how do you play it defense for eighty two games?

944
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,039
You play it by playing ten or eleven guys, because

945
00:40:10,599 --> 00:40:12,400
that means four or five of your guys are only

946
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:14,920
playing ten twelve minutes a night, and those guys can

947
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:17,639
go really hard on defense. And if Jokich instead of

948
00:40:17,679 --> 00:40:19,719
thirty seven is at thirty three thirty four. He can

949
00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:22,000
go a little bit harder on defense in select spots,

950
00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:24,199
So I think he truly believes that the only way

951
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:27,480
to defend in today's NBA is with athleticism and intensity,

952
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:29,119
and the only way to do that is to play

953
00:40:29,159 --> 00:40:31,480
ten eleven deep. We'll just see if it if. Like

954
00:40:31,559 --> 00:40:33,480
I said, Nuggets just can't fall behind early in the

955
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,599
season in the schedule, and.

956
00:40:35,639 --> 00:40:37,679
Speaker 1: If they can go that deep, I think it helps

957
00:40:37,679 --> 00:40:40,199
a ton to eat the regular season innings. I look

958
00:40:40,199 --> 00:40:42,239
at their roster and wonder though, like, is that a

959
00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,719
ten man rotation that would work in the playoffs? The

960
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,920
one I kind of Indiana and okayc And the answer

961
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:47,199
to me.

962
00:40:47,199 --> 00:40:48,800
Speaker 2: Is no, There's no way, There's no way. I think

963
00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,360
the Nuggets I think about this last year. They had

964
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,360
six guys and they fired their coach three days before,

965
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,039
three games before the playoffs, and they still were able

966
00:40:57,039 --> 00:40:58,840
to piece together. I think the Nuggets just know the

967
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,639
regular season is one challenge and once it's over, that

968
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:03,960
challenge has nothing to do with the challenge that's ahead

969
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,880
in the playoffs. So how do they get through the

970
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,880
regular season? I think this, they're they're hopeful that they

971
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:10,840
finally have the depth to do it. Dad.

972
00:41:10,880 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 1: And the thing that just boggles, like Michael Porter Junior

973
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,760
had the shoulder thing, wasn't Aaron Gordon basically playing like

974
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,440
one leg, but they still push OKAC to seven. I

975
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,280
feel like that doesn't get I know some of the game,

976
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:21,800
I know the games they lost for like blowouts, but

977
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:23,679
I feel like that doesn't get talked about enough by

978
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:26,320
by myself included. It wasn't just they pushed them to seven,

979
00:41:26,679 --> 00:41:28,760
but they and I know everyone's banged up, but like

980
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:30,960
you had two of your main guys like dealing with

981
00:41:31,079 --> 00:41:32,719
serious shit at that point.

982
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 2: Michael Porter, I think he averaged seven points per game

983
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:37,960
in one of the series You're talking about. Denver's one

984
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:41,039
of his main their main weapons, and he just could

985
00:41:41,079 --> 00:41:44,400
not score in the in the postseason. So I agree

986
00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,119
with Yeah, he's averaged seven points a game in that

987
00:41:46,199 --> 00:41:49,880
series against Oklahoma City. I think he made nine total

988
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,920
three pointers in seven games. Like he could not shoot,

989
00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,039
he had one arm. And yes, Aaron Gordon was dealing

990
00:41:56,039 --> 00:41:58,360
with that calf injury all year that turned into a

991
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,000
hamstring injury at the end. I'm with you. I think

992
00:42:01,039 --> 00:42:03,280
Denver had three and a half healthy bodies by the

993
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,599
end of it and still competed at the highest level.

994
00:42:07,599 --> 00:42:09,960
Speaker 1: This question, once again is just so pointless for Denver

995
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,039
about their go to crunch time unit. So I will

996
00:42:12,119 --> 00:42:14,719
ask it this way. Do you see any of the

997
00:42:14,719 --> 00:42:16,880
spots in that crunch time lineup having the potential to

998
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:18,679
be futzed and fiddled with or is it just like, no,

999
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:21,119
that's the default, Like there's really no shifting from there.

1000
00:42:21,639 --> 00:42:24,079
Speaker 2: I think that there is likely to be no shifting,

1001
00:42:24,159 --> 00:42:26,440
especially if Christian Brown continues to play well. But one

1002
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,320
of the things I will point out was that in

1003
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:30,960
the playoffs last year, Christian Brown was a little spooked

1004
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,000
from three, especially in that Oklahoma City series. And I

1005
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,239
would not be surprised if Denver got to a point

1006
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,719
where they said, you know what, especially if your final

1007
00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,239
three minutes and you're down five, where it no longer

1008
00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:44,480
becomes about you know, it becomes more about scoring than

1009
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,639
it is getting stops. I wouldn't be surprised if they

1010
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:48,880
tried a Tim Hardaway Junior in that spot, or even

1011
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:52,000
a Bruce Brown and just said, okay, Cebee is not

1012
00:42:52,199 --> 00:42:54,559
making his shots. I don't think this would happen in

1013
00:42:54,559 --> 00:42:57,000
one game, but over the course of a series, I

1014
00:42:57,039 --> 00:42:59,199
could see them just going to that offensive lineup and

1015
00:42:59,199 --> 00:43:02,320
trusting their zone little bit. And we saw this yesterday.

1016
00:43:02,639 --> 00:43:04,800
Denver actually got out scored by like nine points in

1017
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:06,559
three minutes when they went to Tim Hardaway and for

1018
00:43:06,679 --> 00:43:08,559
Christian Brown at the end. But if you go back

1019
00:43:08,559 --> 00:43:11,639
and watch those possessions, wide open shot for Cam Johnson

1020
00:43:11,679 --> 00:43:14,519
for three, wide open shot for Cam Johnson again, wide

1021
00:43:14,519 --> 00:43:17,400
open shot for Tim Hardaway, they missed all three. But

1022
00:43:17,480 --> 00:43:19,679
when you just talk about what quality of a shot

1023
00:43:19,719 --> 00:43:22,119
did they get in their four possessions in that lineup,

1024
00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:24,239
three of them were wide open threes for their best

1025
00:43:24,239 --> 00:43:26,039
three point shooters. They just happened to miss him.

1026
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:29,239
Speaker 1: Do you have a whack a Doodle lineup that you'd

1027
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:30,920
like to see David Adaman try this year?

1028
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:33,559
Speaker 2: I think the double bigs counts for this, to be

1029
00:43:33,599 --> 00:43:36,039
honest with you, I'm just so intrigued by it. Do

1030
00:43:36,119 --> 00:43:39,320
you remember the Plumble Yokics lineups from a couple years back?

1031
00:43:40,559 --> 00:43:42,719
Speaker 1: No, I feel like mate, that I wipe those from memory.

1032
00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:43,360
Seems like something.

1033
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,039
Speaker 2: There were a handful of plays, like there's one play

1034
00:43:46,079 --> 00:43:49,960
in particular that I remember where Yoke pitches his to

1035
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:52,440
Mason plum Lee out on like the left wing or

1036
00:43:52,480 --> 00:43:55,760
right wing, runs a little fake dribble handoff, then turns

1037
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:59,000
back and runs an actual dribble handoff for an empty

1038
00:43:59,079 --> 00:44:00,719
corner lob for him. And it was just one of

1039
00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:03,079
these things where it's like, that's two centers running a

1040
00:44:03,159 --> 00:44:06,599
dribble pitch, fake dho pick and roll into a lob

1041
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:09,360
in quick order. And it was awesome. And I just

1042
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,840
have these hopes for the val Jokic lineups being this

1043
00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:14,920
weird lineup that everyone's like, we don't know what to do.

1044
00:44:16,079 --> 00:44:17,760
Speaker 1: I want to see that lineup and I don't know

1045
00:44:17,800 --> 00:44:19,480
what it would look like on offense then, but like

1046
00:44:19,519 --> 00:44:23,239
then let's get them with Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson, and

1047
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:24,719
Christian Brown and they'll just be.

1048
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 2: Enormous monsters all around.

1049
00:44:27,239 --> 00:44:29,880
Speaker 1: Maybe Spencer Jones instead of Christian Brown. He's six to seven, right,

1050
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:31,239
so we'll throw him in there, you know.

1051
00:44:31,199 --> 00:44:33,639
Speaker 2: What I mean. Maybe Deran Holmes when he gets done

1052
00:44:33,679 --> 00:44:35,239
with his G League stint. You know, like he can

1053
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:37,079
shoot the three. I really think he can, and he

1054
00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:39,440
has a huge wingspan, so maybe he's part of this.

1055
00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: So before I ask you to just make a couple

1056
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:43,840
of predictions. Is there anything else about the Nuggets we

1057
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,079
haven't discussed that you think warrants some spotlight.

1058
00:44:47,239 --> 00:44:49,679
Speaker 2: I'm very curious. I think their front office had a

1059
00:44:49,679 --> 00:44:52,320
really good offseason and it was a rookie front office,

1060
00:44:52,639 --> 00:44:57,039
John Wallace and Ben Tenzer. If you look at it,

1061
00:44:57,079 --> 00:44:59,480
they signed two guys to minimums and they're guys were

1062
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:03,239
excited about Tim Hardway junior Bruce Brown. Good value. They

1063
00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:05,599
Cam Johnson deal was incredible. I did not see it

1064
00:45:05,599 --> 00:45:07,519
coming and I think it was good value. And the

1065
00:45:07,559 --> 00:45:11,360
Valentniss deal is also just opportunistic. I mean, they really

1066
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:16,079
got rid of of an albatross Dario Sarich contract for Valentunis,

1067
00:45:16,079 --> 00:45:18,719
which just feels like a double win. It's insane. So

1068
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,760
I'm inclined to say these guys seem really good. But

1069
00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:24,039
we're gonna find out what they do with Christian Brown

1070
00:45:24,079 --> 00:45:26,840
and Payton Watson's extension. That's also part of the GM job.

1071
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,000
Can you get good value there? And I do think

1072
00:45:29,039 --> 00:45:31,400
Denver has to make some kind of move at the deadline,

1073
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,000
not has to, but should they kept the roster spot

1074
00:45:35,039 --> 00:45:37,960
open and they have Julian Straw the maybe even Deron

1075
00:45:38,039 --> 00:45:41,199
Holmes as trade chips, and I think Denver is good

1076
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,239
enough to win it this year. But if you get

1077
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:45,079
to that point and you can upgrade your roster even

1078
00:45:45,119 --> 00:45:47,199
just a little bit, so I'm kind of curious to

1079
00:45:47,199 --> 00:45:49,400
see what this rookie front office who had a really

1080
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:52,440
good offseason. It's not really over until they get past

1081
00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,559
the trade deadline, and I just have no idea if

1082
00:45:54,599 --> 00:45:56,199
they're going to be able to pull that off or not.

1083
00:45:57,039 --> 00:45:58,880
Speaker 1: I've been trying to get figure out a way to

1084
00:45:58,880 --> 00:46:00,760
get Io to soon moved to Denise. I think I

1085
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:02,440
might just pick them to win the title if they

1086
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:04,519
were able to do that, but I can't not having

1087
00:46:04,519 --> 00:46:07,679
their pick available, I don't know if swaps and stuff

1088
00:46:07,719 --> 00:46:09,719
gets it done, especially if like Zeke Najen needs to

1089
00:46:09,719 --> 00:46:11,559
be the outgoing money in that's an area.

1090
00:46:12,199 --> 00:46:14,599
Speaker 2: Se Zeke Naji three years left on this deal or

1091
00:46:14,599 --> 00:46:15,280
something I.

1092
00:46:15,159 --> 00:46:18,239
Speaker 1: Think goes on like that's the Patrick Williams of contracts. Now,

1093
00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:19,599
it's just like goes on, and I know he signed

1094
00:46:19,639 --> 00:46:21,239
it first, but it just goes on forever.

1095
00:46:21,519 --> 00:46:25,400
Speaker 2: I mean, Zeke Naji might be the thirteenth or fourteenth

1096
00:46:25,400 --> 00:46:27,079
guy on the roster right now, and I'm not. I

1097
00:46:27,079 --> 00:46:29,079
think Hunter Tyson, who by the way, also signed a

1098
00:46:29,079 --> 00:46:32,440
contract extension with Galvin Booth, is the fifteenth or the Yeah,

1099
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,800
they're the thirteenth and fourteenth. They don't have a fifteenth spot.

1100
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,679
They're the thirteenth and fourteenth guys. Actually, take that back,

1101
00:46:37,679 --> 00:46:40,320
they're the fourteenth and fifteenth guys. Spencer Jones, who's a

1102
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:41,599
two way, is ahead of both of them.

1103
00:46:41,679 --> 00:46:43,159
Speaker 1: I was gonna say I had a team with fourteen

1104
00:46:43,199 --> 00:46:46,719
guaranteed contracts. One of those the fifteenth guy. Uh. We

1105
00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:48,920
didn't talk about the Peyton Watson extension just because I

1106
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:50,880
didn't think he was gonna get one. Is that the

1107
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:52,760
accurate read on the situation.

1108
00:46:53,199 --> 00:46:55,960
Speaker 2: I think Denver will try to sign him to one,

1109
00:46:56,039 --> 00:46:58,000
and I think if you look at Denver, I mean,

1110
00:46:58,599 --> 00:47:00,679
Denver's in this weird spot where the last two years

1111
00:47:00,679 --> 00:47:03,199
have been so disappointing that I don't think you no

1112
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:05,440
longer think about long term. I mean, I think Otle

1113
00:47:05,519 --> 00:47:08,039
Nuggets fans are just like the windows open. The last

1114
00:47:08,039 --> 00:47:11,159
two years feel like wasted opportunity. Who cares about the future.

1115
00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:14,639
But if you forget that for a second, Cam Johnson

1116
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:17,760
is old, Aaron Gordon is old, Peyton Watson. If he

1117
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:19,719
hits and you were able to get him on an

1118
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:22,519
extension that starts next year for three years, it extends

1119
00:47:22,559 --> 00:47:25,320
the title window for Yokich, the remainder of Yokich's prime.

1120
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:27,800
If it doesn't hit, then you're kind of in trouble.

1121
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:30,199
But if you don't sign him to one and lose

1122
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:32,679
him or whatever happens there, or if you don't sign

1123
00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:34,159
him and he has a great year and now he's

1124
00:47:34,199 --> 00:47:36,760
outside of your price range, you're getting a pickle there.

1125
00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:38,679
So I think Denver has to make a little bit

1126
00:47:38,679 --> 00:47:40,760
of a gamble. I think they can get him on

1127
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:42,840
a tradable contract because I think his skill set is

1128
00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:44,480
at least intriguing, and he's young. He was one of

1129
00:47:44,519 --> 00:47:46,079
the younger players in the draft when he was picked.

1130
00:47:46,079 --> 00:47:48,039
I think he's twenty two years old now, so he's

1131
00:47:48,039 --> 00:47:50,880
still really young. He'll be twenty five when that contracts up.

1132
00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:52,679
As long as he doesn't pull his Zeke Nagy and

1133
00:47:52,679 --> 00:47:55,039
you're able to get him at fifteen million a year,

1134
00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:56,800
I just think there's going to be teams that look

1135
00:47:56,800 --> 00:47:58,800
at that down the road and would trade for that

1136
00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:02,000
if he'd sort of doesn't hit. If he hits, the

1137
00:48:02,039 --> 00:48:04,320
middle of the road mark for him, but I'm hopeful

1138
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,920
that he's very good, and if you have him under contract,

1139
00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:09,599
it gives you flexibility to retol your line up here

1140
00:48:09,599 --> 00:48:11,000
in the next two and three seasons.

1141
00:48:11,519 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 1: You mentioned how Nuggets fans are kind of just like

1142
00:48:13,519 --> 00:48:15,440
in f the Future mode, and I think I noticed

1143
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,679
that in the reactions to the Cam Johnson trade because

1144
00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:21,599
my thing was and in the interest whole transparency, I

1145
00:48:21,599 --> 00:48:23,400
didn't hate the trade, but if I was giving up

1146
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:26,559
my unprotected twenty thirty two pick, I would have wanted

1147
00:48:26,559 --> 00:48:28,480
to get off Zechnology. I wanted something else. So then

1148
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:30,840
grant my coast and I proceeded to exercise in a

1149
00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:33,480
later episode of well how could they have done better?

1150
00:48:34,119 --> 00:48:37,039
And we struggled like it just I don't know that

1151
00:48:37,079 --> 00:48:38,840
I was wrong. I'm still kind of skeptical. I think

1152
00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:41,440
that I go back and forth on Cam Johnson's defense,

1153
00:48:41,519 --> 00:48:44,480
especially in a playoff context, but like I understand it

1154
00:48:44,519 --> 00:48:46,559
better now when you go through that exercise of like

1155
00:48:46,639 --> 00:48:49,280
there's this crown Jewel trade asset to them. But I'm

1156
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:52,800
also I've criticized the Warriors about this, I've criticized other

1157
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:55,480
teams about it like you have this transcendent megastar, the

1158
00:48:55,519 --> 00:48:58,360
best player in basketball, You're obligated to go all in.

1159
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:00,039
And I think the fact that you were able to

1160
00:49:00,039 --> 00:49:02,199
who get Jonnis Valnchunis and like you aren't able to

1161
00:49:02,199 --> 00:49:04,599
do that if you don't make the Michael Porter Junior trade.

1162
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:06,360
So I've come around on it for the most part,

1163
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:08,639
still a healthy skepticism, and I think it's the right

1164
00:49:08,679 --> 00:49:10,639
mindset to have. And again, I don't know what the

1165
00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:13,760
alternative path with that twenty thirty two pick would have been,

1166
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:16,119
but to just the optics of getting rid of it

1167
00:49:16,159 --> 00:49:18,199
and still having z Ikenagy just bought me a little bit.

1168
00:49:18,239 --> 00:49:20,960
Speaker 2: I guess Zeke Naji might still be around in twenty

1169
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:23,320
thirty two as well. I have to check the expiration

1170
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:25,400
on the contract. Here's the thing I'll say, though, my

1171
00:49:25,519 --> 00:49:29,119
theory about roster construction, with Sam Presty being the exception

1172
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:31,800
to the rule on this, I think it's like when

1173
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:33,719
a player in a playoff series gets two fouls, a

1174
00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:35,960
star player and the coach sits him down. It's like

1175
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:39,159
you're punishing yourself prematurely for him being in foul trouble

1176
00:49:39,559 --> 00:49:41,519
and you might not ever matter, and all you did

1177
00:49:41,639 --> 00:49:43,760
was just cost yourself minutes. I think that's how it

1178
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:46,159
is when it comes to future roster construction, like, oh,

1179
00:49:46,199 --> 00:49:48,199
Denver's not going to have many picks in the future.

1180
00:49:48,599 --> 00:49:51,840
Very true, Very possibly could be the case, but more

1181
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:54,239
likely is just try to win now and something will

1182
00:49:54,280 --> 00:49:56,840
make itself available to you. Maybe you signed Spencer Jones

1183
00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:58,239
to a cheap deal and he turns out to be

1184
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:01,079
a tradable asset because he's a really good player. Those

1185
00:50:01,079 --> 00:50:02,880
types of things seem to happen when you just keep

1186
00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,920
the title window open in the short term as long

1187
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:05,440
as you can.

1188
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:08,480
Speaker 1: That's the you know, let's galaxy brain this. They traded

1189
00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:09,880
that pick because they knew they were going to have

1190
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:11,840
Spencer Jones, like they're gonna be able to get him.

1191
00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:14,599
Speaker 2: That's what I'm trying to say. That's what that's exactly it.

1192
00:50:15,440 --> 00:50:18,360
Speaker 1: So, how many games do you have this team winning, Adam,

1193
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:20,559
and where do you see them landing in the West

1194
00:50:20,639 --> 00:50:21,840
regular season standings.

1195
00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:24,480
Speaker 2: A couple weeks ago, I had them at fifty seven wins,

1196
00:50:24,519 --> 00:50:27,519
which is a franchise record. I'm lowering it to fifty six.

1197
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:29,760
I know that's high. I took the under on the

1198
00:50:29,800 --> 00:50:32,599
Nuggets last year, and I hit. I was low on

1199
00:50:32,599 --> 00:50:34,400
them last year. I thought they might be a five seed.

1200
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:36,119
They ended up tying for the five seeds. So this

1201
00:50:36,159 --> 00:50:37,840
is not a thing where every year I picked them

1202
00:50:37,840 --> 00:50:40,320
to be this juggernaut. I just believe in this team

1203
00:50:40,320 --> 00:50:42,320
this year. I think it's the right collection of guys.

1204
00:50:42,760 --> 00:50:44,840
I think David Adaman, we didn't talk much about him,

1205
00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:46,760
but I'm very excited about him as a coach. I

1206
00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:48,639
think he's a very different kind of coach than what

1207
00:50:48,679 --> 00:50:51,559
Michael Malone was. I think Jokic is the smartest player

1208
00:50:51,599 --> 00:50:53,840
in the NBA, and he deserves a coach that is

1209
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:55,760
a bit of a strategist and a thinker. And I

1210
00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:57,599
think David Adaman is that he's one of these young,

1211
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,960
you know, forward thinking coaches that isn't try afraid to

1212
00:51:02,039 --> 00:51:05,280
try new things and really think about the game, not

1213
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:08,519
just go with established principles. I think they're gonna win

1214
00:51:08,559 --> 00:51:13,199
fifty six. I do think that there'll be some figuring

1215
00:51:13,199 --> 00:51:15,920
things out with the bench. But Jamal Murray being in shape,

1216
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:19,440
I mean, here's the thing, man, the Nuggets always get

1217
00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:21,920
to where they get usually top three in the Western Conference,

1218
00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:24,159
with Jamal Murray being out of shape till January or

1219
00:51:24,199 --> 00:51:28,719
mid December, and six playable players and a coach in

1220
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,480
GM that hate each other. So if you can do

1221
00:51:31,559 --> 00:51:36,599
that in a suboptimal situation, this year, to me is optimal.

1222
00:51:36,719 --> 00:51:38,599
This is actually a Nuggets team that I think has

1223
00:51:38,639 --> 00:51:42,559
the right philosophy and personnel for their philosophy, and I

1224
00:51:42,599 --> 00:51:45,159
think it's gonna be a very fun, very successful season.

1225
00:51:45,519 --> 00:51:48,000
Fifty six wins, two seed in the West, because Oklahoma

1226
00:51:48,039 --> 00:51:51,800
City is gonna win eighty four games somehow, and they're

1227
00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:53,840
gonna get to the playoffs, and they're gonna be in

1228
00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:55,800
the same tier as all of the top teams in

1229
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:58,280
the league. I don't not better, not inevitable that they win,

1230
00:51:58,679 --> 00:52:00,159
but I think they're gonna be better than they were

1231
00:52:00,199 --> 00:52:02,079
last year and will challenge all the best teams in

1232
00:52:02,119 --> 00:52:03,159
any series they face.

1233
00:52:03,960 --> 00:52:06,840
Speaker 1: Actually just did my record predictions and I had them

1234
00:52:06,840 --> 00:52:10,159
at fifty three because the Cam Johnson and Aaron Gordon

1235
00:52:10,159 --> 00:52:11,519
of at all, how much time are they missing? Cam

1236
00:52:11,559 --> 00:52:13,000
Johnson's weird because I don't know how much of his

1237
00:52:13,039 --> 00:52:15,639
miss games are due to oh, those injuries were serious

1238
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:17,559
versus or like he was playing for teams that just

1239
00:52:17,559 --> 00:52:21,039
didn't matter. Then I listened to your postgame show after

1240
00:52:21,039 --> 00:52:23,280
the Clippers. I then peddled them in for fifty five.

1241
00:52:23,400 --> 00:52:25,039
You talked to me. I think that lovers at fifty

1242
00:52:25,039 --> 00:52:26,599
four and a half. So you talked me on two

1243
00:52:26,599 --> 00:52:29,079
things based off one preseason.

1244
00:52:28,559 --> 00:52:31,880
Speaker 2: Game, one preseason game. It's not I will say, it's

1245
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:36,880
not just that, you know, the team being together. Michael

1246
00:52:36,880 --> 00:52:38,880
Malone at media day the other day last year was

1247
00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:41,800
asked about, like, you know, how is Peyton Watson look?

1248
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:43,400
He says, I don't know. I haven't seen him all summer.

1249
00:52:43,719 --> 00:52:45,360
I haven't talked to I haven't heard from him when

1250
00:52:45,400 --> 00:52:47,239
I talked to him all ask and he was almost

1251
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:49,840
being coy about the fact that nobody was together all

1252
00:52:49,880 --> 00:52:53,119
off season. This offseason, the Nuggets spent it entirely together

1253
00:52:53,119 --> 00:52:56,000
outside of Valenciunas and Yokich who were abroad, but everybody

1254
00:52:56,039 --> 00:52:58,639
else was in the gym together. They all came into

1255
00:52:58,639 --> 00:53:02,840
the camp in shape. I think they all kind of know, hey, man,

1256
00:53:02,880 --> 00:53:04,639
the title window for us probably is going to be

1257
00:53:04,679 --> 00:53:06,599
like seven total years. When it's all said and done,

1258
00:53:06,679 --> 00:53:08,440
four of them are behind us. We have one title.

1259
00:53:08,719 --> 00:53:11,239
I think they all know that, Hey, these opportunities, an

1260
00:53:11,280 --> 00:53:13,880
opportunity like this doesn't come very often, Let's make the

1261
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,840
most of it. And it's just a very excited but

1262
00:53:16,920 --> 00:53:20,679
also professionally confident group that I haven't seen for the

1263
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:21,360
last couple.

1264
00:53:21,159 --> 00:53:25,360
Speaker 1: Of years non OKAC Division. What as of right now

1265
00:53:25,639 --> 00:53:28,760
do you think is a particularly fascinating or concerning like

1266
00:53:28,880 --> 00:53:30,679
playoff matchup team for Denver?

1267
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,880
Speaker 2: Minnesota and Golden State will be my two answers now.

1268
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:37,239
I think Denver. You know, we haven't seen them play

1269
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:39,199
Golden State with this iteration, and I don't know if

1270
00:53:39,239 --> 00:53:41,280
it's a great matchup for Denver or a terrible one.

1271
00:53:41,719 --> 00:53:43,719
They're just an They're a smart team. I think Denver

1272
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:45,880
smarter than most teams, and Golden State they might not

1273
00:53:45,920 --> 00:53:50,599
be smarter than them, but Minnesota has the athleticism and

1274
00:53:50,679 --> 00:53:54,159
in particular, they have a matchup that Denver can't seem

1275
00:53:54,159 --> 00:53:56,440
to solve, and that's Jamal Murray versus Anthony Edwards. It's

1276
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:58,880
the one guy that Anthony Edwards is the one guy

1277
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:01,880
that turns Jamal Murray in to you know, takes away

1278
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:05,840
playoff Murray. So I think that one. I would love

1279
00:54:05,880 --> 00:54:07,519
it if Denver had to face them this year in

1280
00:54:07,559 --> 00:54:10,320
the playoffs because it feels like the year they won

1281
00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:12,599
the title, they had to go through the Lakers and Lebron,

1282
00:54:12,599 --> 00:54:14,360
the team that had always beat him in the playoffs.

1283
00:54:14,559 --> 00:54:15,840
I feel like this year they need to go through

1284
00:54:15,880 --> 00:54:18,679
Minnesota because if they can beat them, it would be like, Okay,

1285
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:19,719
they've slayed the Dragon.

1286
00:54:20,679 --> 00:54:22,639
Speaker 1: I would love to see. I don't even know what

1287
00:54:22,639 --> 00:54:23,920
I would make of it. If they were up against

1288
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:26,599
Golden State and there's a Horford Quinton post front court

1289
00:54:26,639 --> 00:54:28,880
against Valentudis and jok I don't even know what I

1290
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:32,880
would make of that matchup. Could I get one additional

1291
00:54:32,960 --> 00:54:35,400
Nuggets prediction from you, Adam for this coming season? It

1292
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:38,000
could be whatever you want.

1293
00:54:39,119 --> 00:54:41,440
Speaker 2: I've given you a lot of ones. You know, some

1294
00:54:41,480 --> 00:54:43,440
of my takes about Peyton Watson being good in Thish

1295
00:54:43,440 --> 00:54:46,800
of that, I think it'll beat Jokic's best defensive season.

1296
00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,199
I kind of em betting on if I want to

1297
00:54:50,199 --> 00:54:52,960
get spicy, I might predict here. I'm gonna make a

1298
00:54:52,960 --> 00:54:55,880
couple of predictions on Jokich. I think he's gonna have

1299
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:58,840
the lowest per game averages, probably in both in points,

1300
00:54:58,840 --> 00:55:02,199
rebound's anassist he's had in the last four years, probably

1301
00:55:02,199 --> 00:55:03,800
in every category. So if you go down that might

1302
00:55:03,840 --> 00:55:05,599
be like twenty four and a half points per game,

1303
00:55:06,280 --> 00:55:09,320
eleven ten ten eleven rebounds, and maybe eight assists, still

1304
00:55:09,360 --> 00:55:12,519
a great stat line, but lower in every mark than before.

1305
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:16,519
I think he's gonna finish third or fourth in MVP

1306
00:55:16,679 --> 00:55:18,480
voting because of it, for some you know, for some

1307
00:55:18,519 --> 00:55:21,679
weird reason. But I predict he will have his most

1308
00:55:21,719 --> 00:55:24,239
efficient season yet, which is funny because he's had some

1309
00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:26,800
of the most efficient seasons ever. And I would not

1310
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:29,599
be surprised if he was around twenty four points per

1311
00:55:29,679 --> 00:55:32,840
game on seventy percent true shooting or you know, effective

1312
00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:35,280
field goal percentage, and it's gonna be We're gonna I

1313
00:55:35,559 --> 00:55:37,960
I also predict I was looking at this in Daniel

1314
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,599
Gafford last year he had like thirty nine straight made

1315
00:55:40,599 --> 00:55:42,760
two point field goals. I don't think he's gonna beat that,

1316
00:55:42,760 --> 00:55:46,000
because they're all dunks. I think Yoke might have two

1317
00:55:46,079 --> 00:55:48,599
or three perfect games in a row this year where

1318
00:55:48,599 --> 00:55:51,000
he has like Yoke was eight for eight, next night

1319
00:55:51,039 --> 00:55:53,039
he was seven for seven, and then he starts a

1320
00:55:53,079 --> 00:55:55,039
game six for six before missing a three.

1321
00:55:56,199 --> 00:55:59,800
Speaker 1: What is the logic behind you thinking that? Aside from it, obviously,

1322
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:01,559
I could the lower counting stats if you think especially

1323
00:56:01,599 --> 00:56:04,519
he'll play a few more minutes. But just the efficiency.

1324
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:08,559
Speaker 2: Stuff, I think Jokic can make every shot he wants

1325
00:56:09,159 --> 00:56:11,800
other to a certain degree, and then he has to

1326
00:56:11,840 --> 00:56:14,519
like strain himself to make the other ones, right, so,

1327
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:18,000
and I think that he only strains himself when there's

1328
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,159
no other options available. I think the Nuggets aren't going

1329
00:56:20,199 --> 00:56:22,079
to struggle to get open shots, so I don't think

1330
00:56:22,119 --> 00:56:26,159
they'll find a lot of late clock somdboard shuffles, you know, Okay,

1331
00:56:26,159 --> 00:56:27,960
I gotta really drive into the defense here and go

1332
00:56:28,039 --> 00:56:29,480
up over two guys. I think he'll be able to

1333
00:56:29,519 --> 00:56:31,280
just kind of pick his spots this year and say, yeah,

1334
00:56:31,280 --> 00:56:33,760
I'm open under the rim, a little floatery up, that's

1335
00:56:33,760 --> 00:56:36,440
my jump mid range jumper. That's what I'm doing. And

1336
00:56:36,480 --> 00:56:38,320
I just think he'll have a lot of nights where

1337
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:41,400
he'd only take seven shots, eight shots, and there's just

1338
00:56:41,440 --> 00:56:42,960
bound to be a game or two where he strings

1339
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:43,679
two of them together.

1340
00:56:44,599 --> 00:56:47,199
Speaker 1: Seventy effective field goal percentage or true shooting percentage would

1341
00:56:47,199 --> 00:56:50,000
be insane. I favor that. I like that one. Adam,

1342
00:56:50,039 --> 00:56:51,360
thank you so much for doing this as you do

1343
00:56:51,400 --> 00:56:53,800
every year. Is a great discussion. Are you able just

1344
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:55,719
to remind our audience where they can find you and

1345
00:56:55,840 --> 00:56:58,159
all the fantastic work that you're putting out now.

1346
00:56:58,239 --> 00:57:01,320
Speaker 2: Dnbur Nuggets Podcast. We actually made documentary this year on

1347
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:03,320
the Denver Nugget season. We're so excited for it. We

1348
00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:05,159
made this documentary that'll be on YouTube here in a

1349
00:57:05,199 --> 00:57:07,280
couple of weeks, and then our in a couple of days,

1350
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:10,280
and then uh, the All NBA Show with Tim Legler.

1351
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:12,199
We do it twice a week and then it legs

1352
00:57:12,239 --> 00:57:12,559
is the best.

1353
00:57:12,679 --> 00:57:16,000
Speaker 1: You guys are great. You guys are just appreciate there. Also,

1354
00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:18,039
you taught I meant to mention this. You taught jo

1355
00:57:18,119 --> 00:57:22,159
Kic the word emphasis? Is that true?

1356
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,840
Speaker 2: It is? I ask him the same question every day

1357
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:27,760
and he gets annoyed. So tell me if you think

1358
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:30,480
this is fair or not. When you walk into a practice,

1359
00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:32,960
I ask you know, what did you guys go over

1360
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:36,000
and practice today. It's like an opener question that just says, hey,

1361
00:57:36,239 --> 00:57:37,840
I have questions I want to ask, but I'll let

1362
00:57:37,920 --> 00:57:40,599
you kind of tell us what happened. So I asked

1363
00:57:40,639 --> 00:57:43,039
him what was the emphasis of practice today? And he said,

1364
00:57:43,079 --> 00:57:45,440
what does that mean? I explained it to him, and

1365
00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:47,639
then the very next question, he said, yes, that was

1366
00:57:47,679 --> 00:57:51,199
our emphasis. I was like, hey, man, quick learner.

1367
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:54,159
Speaker 1: I think that's a fair question, and so.

1368
00:57:54,159 --> 00:57:55,639
Speaker 2: To me, it's just kind of like, hey, take the

1369
00:57:55,679 --> 00:57:57,760
wheel real quick. Is there anything you know that stood

1370
00:57:57,760 --> 00:57:59,519
out to you about the practice? Okay, now, I'll get

1371
00:57:59,559 --> 00:58:02,639
into my real questions, but maybe you say so Oftentimes

1372
00:58:02,679 --> 00:58:05,679
that's the most illuminating question because they'll tell you, oh,

1373
00:58:05,840 --> 00:58:08,000
Cam Johnson was going crazy today, we worked on place

1374
00:58:08,000 --> 00:58:09,760
for him and blah blah blah. It's like, oh, okay,

1375
00:58:09,760 --> 00:58:11,599
now I know where my next follow ups will be.

1376
00:58:13,239 --> 00:58:16,199
Speaker 1: Adam, Thanks once again so much. Remember to follow Adam

1377
00:58:16,239 --> 00:58:18,880
on Twitter at adam Underscore modes of the link is

1378
00:58:18,920 --> 00:58:21,920
in the podcast YouTube descriptions and as you know by now, sir,

1379
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:23,800
I will be pestering you again down the line.

1380
00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:24,719
Speaker 2: Let's do it, man,