August 20, 2026 • 33 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Five six, six nine zero is the text line Brian
chiming in asking if we can ask Sean Keeler about
Deon Sanders trying to dodge a subpoena or whatever.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We'll see when Sean Keeler comes on a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I think he's coming on eight o'clock if I'm not
mistaken at him getting the your thumbs up from No,
that's not a thumb stuff, that's a middle finger from Zach.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We've got the Texans taking on the Raiders right now.
Not been the greatest day for Mendoza. Texans up seventeen
three and that one in five point fifty to go
second quarter. Broncos signed Taylor Rapp today. We talked a
little bit about that. What do you think over all
of this signing, because you know, as we look at this,
this guy with Super Bowl experience, this guy with turnovers experience,
(00:44):
it looks like a positive addition to the room. The
obvious thing here is that there's some odd men out,
but it looks like that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
This is is a positive addition to the room.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, it's a positive addition because you're adding a guy
who has experience and playing experience in the game, and
that's something that you don't want to have a drop of.
And knowing as though the strongest side of the Broncos
from a team standpoint it is their defense. So to
(01:20):
add more quality players that you can plug and play.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
To me, that exactly what you want.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
But what you do, even at this stage a preseason,
you are anticifying competition. You were stating that competition is
still important. And also to those guys who were backup
Tyson Anderson, Jail Skinner, you're letting them know, hey, you
hadn't made the team yet. I know you probably looked
around in the room and say, you know, based on
(01:47):
prior experience, being familiar Tyson Anderson with Robert Limiston, the
new passing game coordinator who was demons of coordinator for
the CU Buffs, you feel as though, hey, look maybe
I made the team. And Jail Skinner he's in here
for a while, he's been in his defense. But it's
to let those guys know, hey, man, don't rest on
your laurels. You know how this game works. You're not
(02:08):
just competing with the guys who are in your dB room.
You're competing with guys who are on the thirty one
other teams, especially if you look at a team and
let's just say that they are heavy, and what I
mean by that they have a multitude of different guys
or better yet, from they're too deep, they're good. So
now you're looking from the on the three deep level,
(02:30):
all the Broncos were looking at, maybe doing the pre
draft process, or guys that they were ironing a couple
of years ago who now may come available. Those are
the guys that you're competing with, because the one thing
you don't want to do in the NFL is rest
on your laurels and become complacent.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, yeah you can't.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I mean in the NFL, you can, you can, You'll
get passed by yes, you know. Yeah, Look, I think again,
he has experienced in this defense dating back to his
experience with the Rams with Wade Phillips his rookie year. Obviously,
the guy is able to and I think for me
and I didn't realized Taylor Rap had that many receptions
over the course of his career.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
He's got twelve interceptions.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You know, he was a guy who's got sticky hands,
makes plays, makes plays on the ball, and so I
think viewing it through that lens, you're bringing in a
guy who's known for doing that, right, and this is
a defense that wants to generate more turners of getting
the sacks. They're holding people to certain points, but they
want to generate they want to actively generate turnovers. On
top of that, they have not done that over the
last couple of years, and they feel like that that
(03:31):
that's been the.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Missing piece that this defense has been. The piece that
this defense is.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
It's not just, you know, the whole idea the missing
piece for the defense. The offense benefits from it as well,
because remember the conversation heading into the game against the
Patriots when coach Peyton mentioned that, hey, the defense hadn't
created enough takeaways.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
I mean, they were part.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Of the reason why the Broncos were in a position
that they were in not to take anything went from
Boenicks in offense. But let's be totally real and transparent,
because Peyton said to himself, right, the strength of the
team is the defense, and the defense led the league
in sacks two years in a row. The one area
that they were suffering was turnovers. And the reason why
(04:16):
that's so vital and it's the lifeblood of the offense
because those are extra possessions that you didn't intend for
in the game that can now set you up to
score a.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Massive amount of points.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Looking at the preseason game with the Texans and the
Las Vegas Raiders right watching CJ. Straw move the ball
down the field, and oh, by the way, you have
one of the better pass rushing groups outside of the
Denver Broncos. And what were they able to do? All
be a a young quarterback and Fernando Mendoza. They turned
(04:49):
or flipped the turnover into points. And that's what the
Broncos are hoping to do. So you want to add
more of that flavor. Look at it like this likes
bland Chicken. Well, you know what, let me.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Take that back. I would agree with you.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
But for every time I say something like that that
I find somebody here that that's their jam.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Hey, listen, if you like bland Chicken, more power to you.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I like seasoning on my ticket. Right, So when we
look at the defense and turnovers, all that is is
extra seasons and spices. Is not the Colonel Sanders, you know,
the six herbs and spices. But hell, give me some
season on my ticket.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Breaking news.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Nick Ferguson calls the Broncos defense chickens season season chicken chicken, Yes,
eleven herbs and spices. By the way, have you ever
seen the KFC Twitter accountant?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
It follows the five spice girls and six guys named
herb eleven urbsans.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But you know, yeah, that's all they follow. Sounds about right,
So it's good following, you know, it sounds about right.
That's that's clever. Yes, that's clever, very clever.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Five six six nine zero is the text line. What
does this say about Denver's safety depth? Do you think
that this is a Sean Payton move events Joseph move?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's is everybody move?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Well, I'm saying, like, who's who's the impetus here at
the end of the day? Because Rob Lovers starting brought
his guy in, Tyson Anderson, he brought his guy in earlier.
Is this advance a shot? Like whoo? Who's kind of
coordinator or orchestrating?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right, So I was.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Holding off on this conversation watching training can but since
we're here, I'm just going to hear the lid off.
One of the reasons that we're here because when you
look at what was happening on the second and third
unit in training camp. When you talk about the top
being blown off and guys being out of position, that
(06:41):
was the That's the first thing that I noticed. I
was like, Oh, we're gonna have some problems, and I
don't care. I mean, you could have had John Randall,
Aaron Donald, whoever you want to have up front. Rushing
a passer if you're back in is not helping you
out by making the proper reads being in position.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Teams are gonna move the ball on you.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
So when we get past that first unit for the
Denver Broncos from a safety position, to me, it was
just like everything was up for grabs. So I'm sure
they were seeing what I was saying, and it was like, look,
if we're going to make a move, we need to
make a move right now to make sure that we
are ready for the first couple slate of games heading
into the scene and because we know that's the Broncos
(07:25):
murderous role of games in those first seven games.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Do you think Taylor Rop can make the fifty three?
I'm not sure. That's kind of where I was with that.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
His resume, based on what he's done, shows that, hey,
he's a proven playmaker. But the biggest issue, like I
told you before, is how quickly can he get the
grabs of the defense. That's gonna be the tail of
the tape. And you would think, well, he's a seven
eight year veteran, he should be able to get it
really quickly. But not so fast because Drey Greenlaw he
(07:58):
struggled himself too.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah, I'm the difference is green Law had no experience
in the style of defense before, whereas Taylor Rap obviously
has a year with Oh with wayde Phillips and has
some of the terminology.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And that makes a world of difference. It really does.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I mean, having a year in something and knowing something
it gives you. Even it's been a while, they're still
you're going to retain some knowledge, right, and that's gonna
that's gonna make the ramp up a little bit easier
for you.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Well, you hope that it makes the ramp up a
lot easier for you because you encounter different systems.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Right, The defensive schemes.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Are somewhat the same because you can run you know,
one high middle, close, cover.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Two, cover, eight, cover, cet whatever. Those covers are not
going to change.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But the verbia is required when you when the team
goes from a pro set to maybe they go love
in personnel this emotion, that's when you had to start
to think as a player. Now once again, it goes back.
If he could come in Taylor Rep And grabs a
whole of them and then go out and he can execute,
then that changes everything about the conversation we're having and
(09:06):
tell it can go out and say, you know what, this.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Is my spot. I'm holding out.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Number three, number four spot on the second team, and
guess what, it's a rat.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
What do we want to see out of the run
game tomorrow? You know, we talked earlier about these running backs.
We talked earlier about the run game being unfairly miliged.
What do we want want to see out of it
against the Packers?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Well, here's a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I want to see the offensive line fire off and
establish a new line of scrimmage because run plays are
different than pass plays. Pass plays, you're sitting waiting for
a guy to come to you. On run plays, you're
firing off, you're setting the tempo. And I want to
see the Broncos offensive line across the board, no matter
(09:45):
first team, second team of thirteen, if they call a
run play, establish a new line of scrimmage. Don't allow
some of the penetration that we've seen in practice. Don't
allow some of the penetration we saw last week against
the Falcons. I want to see guys firing and off
and also too, you know the damn snap count.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Don't jump off signs. Yeah don't, Yeah, I don't jump.
That's you know, self inflicted.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, yeah, that'll that'll get Sean Payton, That'll get that
that looked that he gets on his face where it
looks like he just ate a shard of glass, you
know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Like he gets that look like you can see it,
like you can see it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It's like that moment he's just laughing at and then
the evil like creeps into the eyes and the jaw
gets set. It looks like he's just sitting there chewing
on that juicy fruit, looking like he's chewing on just
shards of glass.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
See you know what, See Sean Payton has that look
that you're describing. See for us, playing for Mike Shanahan,
Mike's face would turn.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Red, you do, like beat red, And you didn't have
to ask any questions. You already knew what was.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Gonna happen, iither at halftime after the game, but more importantly,
once you went back to the facility to watch the film, Oh.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You knew he was gonna dig into you. Well.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Once again, it's just a level of frustration that a
coach shows because their competitives too. Yeah, they want to win, right,
but the only problem is that they can't get out
there and do it. Yeah, so they have to coach
and live vicariously through you as a player.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Which is what people like me do. I'm living vicariously.
I want to win.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I want to win everything I would. I would to
win the you know, I want to win the jog
down to the you know, the parking lot every night,
I would win.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Well, you always win that, I do, you always.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I shoved it first and down to the elevator on
Heisman post one time, and he was like, yeah, that's
the last time that's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, you pressed up, but I'm gone gone. But again,
I get that sense of like competition, I get that,
you know, having that that mentality.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And then and certainly, you know, coaches, in order to
coach in the NFL, you have to have that right.
You can't just you can't just have a You can't
be non competitive because.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You're not gonna last. You got to win games.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well you know you're not gonna win games, and you
have to find a very unique way to articulate that
to your players. Now, some some coaches like a way.
Phillips he's he's different. Uh when it comes to articulating
his level foot straight. I told you, Mike Shanahan, he
just turns beat red. Bill Parcells had choice words. Hey,
(12:07):
dumb button. Yes, you're hitting the dumb button for him.
But all of those guys, when you make a mistake
as a player, you want to avoid those guys. There
was a moment where I had like sixty yards and
penalties of myself in one game.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And yes, yes, and all the third downs, all the
third downs. So I bet you Parcels was happy with you. Well, Well,
here's the thing. It was with Mike Shanahan. Oh okay.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So so there was a little grace that was provided.
But he never said a word.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
He just looked. He just gave a look that just
kind of could could cut through.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Glass and your your your eyes went anywhere else. Well,
some stuff on the ground over here, far away from coach.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yes, yes, because somebody brought me a water bottle, anything
not to lock eyes with.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
That was the whole idea. I'm not gonna look at
him in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
But you knew right away you made somewhat of a
mistake and he was going to hold you accountab before it.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah, that's and we've all been around, been around there.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
As far as the rest of it goes, I mean,
I want to see you're right, I do want to
see the offensive line fire off. I'd like to see
the running backs exhibit the vision and patients the guys
I want to see. I mean, I've seen enough of
jk and and Coleman. I'm good there. I want to
see RJ. Harvey a little bit, see if he's if
the vision, if the running between the tag has slowed
down for him enough that he's, you know, he's a
little bit more patient. I want to see Cody Schrader
(13:32):
get some runs. He ripped off that one looked pretty good,
but was tough behind the third string line. H Jaliel.
You know, we saw him look pretty tough, but then
then cough one up and he's just like.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Oh, but Ben really quickly. Let me painting the picture
for you, right, being a running back. I know everyone
was saying that r. J. Harvey's not being patient enough.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I get it. Something I's usually said.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
About, you know, running backs in their first the second
year and sticking.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
With the play.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Well, when you cause me seeing penetration right away, well
you're constantly seeing no movement on plays in practice.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
They look one way in a game and look entirely different.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But you want me to show a love of patience
when I'm seeing penetration. At some point you have to
be able to rely on your natural instincts to be
a running back. But by definition along it says running back, right,
if the hole is locked up and blocked and it's penetration,
what's the problem with putting your foot in the ground
(14:33):
and reverse the fhiel in getting up and getting some
positive joke?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, the problem with that, especially if there's a cutback
lane there. I'd love to see it so that those
are the things I'm not trying to malign RJ.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Harvey. I just want to see the instinct start to kick.
Because he still runs like a quarterback run the football.
It doesn't run like a running back.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Sometimes you know, you see it with JK, you see
it with Jonah Coleman, you see Jaliel's They just have
that nap because they've had so many carries as a
running back over the course of their lives and RG
just doesn't have that many.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
But this is where if you see that as a
coach position, a coach or officeer coordinator, you know what
you do?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
You help him out.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Okay, you said, well, here are some of the plays
that we want some view in college or even last
year that you were able to pick up positive yards
because we know when he's coming down here, he's a
bone the ball, right, just like JK, just like Jonah. Right,
So this put him in in those situations where it's
advantageous to a skill set.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
So if you wanted to start off.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
The game by saying, you know what, we know he
likes to get on the outside, Well, why don't you
run a play where you pull Quinn Miners and get
him out there in front of him?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Well and that, yeah, I'm with you on that. I mean,
we've talked about that kind of at nauseam.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
You know those are there some other things that I
think Ben Powers doesn't really move that well. But you
bolt get those cards on the move and you know,
and using their size to pave the way as something
that I think would would be beneficial.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
We got to hit a break. We come back. We're
going to talk to Ryan Blackburn.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
See what he makes the paid Watson trade, what this
does for the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
He has listen a Broncus Country night here. Okay, wait hey,
Nick Ferguson, Zach Seeger's here with you.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Five six six nine zero is the text line sev
one nine, giving us an update on that hailstorm down
there in the spring.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Said, it's as you said.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
If you don't like the weather in Kala Wira, wait
ten minutes, springs back to normal.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Storm past for now. So glad nobody got everybody's the
hails out of there, and the hope everybody stayed safe.
Nobody got hurt. The hail can hurt, man, I know,
the stuffhurts. I mean that gives a whole new meaning
to hell.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, it's like ice following from the skies. Hurts. Yellow
had hurt at that speed and it's following pretty far.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, let's rather have to get away. It comes Peal
Health Hotline and bring on our guy Ryan Blackburn from
My Life Sports to Pick Action World podcast. He's coast
locked on Nuggets. You can find him on Twitter NBA Blackburn, Ryan,
How you doing this evening.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
I'm good. Thanks for having me on. It's been a
pretty busy time for the Nuggets all of a sudden
that it has.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And of course the Nuggets in that three way deal
dealing Peyton Watson. What did you think of that deal?
In the contract that Pete Watson ultimately signed.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
Fir contract. First and foremost, I think that he probably
on this particular market, was not going to get near
where Christian Brown's per year contract was going to be.
But not a surprise that they ultimately settled for something
smaller with a player option and trade kicker and things
like that. But four years, eighty eight million is still
(17:27):
a very good payday. But for Denver and for their purposes,
this is a horrible situation. This is a horrible move,
And I don't think that's hyperbolic either. The actual return
that Denver gets until it is turned into players that
can help Nikoliokas and Jamal Murray try to win a
championship is just not good enough compared to what Payton
(17:48):
Watson was going to be for these next four seasons.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
No Ry, I'm going to ask a very interesting question.
How do we get here? Well, I know we see
the final product, Well, how do we get to play?
Were the Nuggets are trading away Peyton Watson, the guy
who I thought brought a lot of energy to the organization.
And then you still think about where the Nuggets are
from a bent standpoint, They didn't get any better this offseason.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Now, if anything, that got significantly worse, and then certainly
there's a whole bunch of uncertainty there. But the reason
why we are here is because Denver made a commitments
that remember Josh Crunkie in at the beginning of the
off season basically said everything is on the table apart
from trading fifteen, apart from trading the Kolo kitchen. Then
(18:35):
Jokic doesn't sign his extension, things get a little bit weird.
I know for a fact that Denver did explore the
markets for trading other players, including Jamal Murray and Aaron
Gordon and Christian Brown and Caam Johnson. What they ultimately
found was a whole bunch of teams that were circling
them like sharks. They were circling them in a very
(18:56):
uncomfortable situation where they just weren't going to be able
to get requisite value for those players back at which
Denver valued those guys like Jamal Murray just made All
NBA and All Star for the first time. They weren't
getting All NBA and All Star returns, that's for sure.
Aaron Gordon is a player who has tied together a
championship team before. That's not what they were receiving in
(19:17):
these talks. And then teams were just like they were
trying to take advantage of Denver as much as possible
and trying to take advantage of the fact that they're
the only team in the second Aprons. So the long
short of it is that the deal that den that
and the fine and trade that Denver negotiated did not
allow them to take back a player because they didn't
(19:40):
send out additional salary beyond Peyton Watson. They would have
had to send out one of Zieg Naji or Christian
Brown or Cam Johnson or something like that. In the end,
Denver simplified this thing and they decided to take back
just a first round pick and a second round pick
of that deal. I think it was the wrong decision,
but it was the simplest way to exit from the
Peyton Watson experience, and I don't think it was a
(20:02):
good idea.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Ryan Blackburn, an NBA. Blackburn on Twitter, Yeah, I'm with
you on this. This trade was weird to me, and
it feels like that what they got back on the
surface looks okay, except that it doesn't help immediately.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And then when you start to.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Look at what it's going to take to offload Christian
Brown's contract, it's probably that this team feels like it's
just gone into the season and gotten significantly worse in
an era where you need to load up and take
advantage of the waning Jokic window.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Undoubtedly, and now that you have the uncertainty of Yoku's
playing on an expiring contract. I don't think anybody in
that building actually thinks that Jokic is walking away. But
if you're trying to diagnose a pathway that says, yeah,
Jokic may not be back to the Nuggets this next season.
It's the one where you lose your entire bench unit
and don't get better and you don't add to the
(20:49):
team in any way, shape or form. Now that could
change with the pick that they just acquired and some
of the second round picks that they acquired, maybe they
try to make another move, but that means you're gonna
have to, like you already let oh Payton Watson in
order to get that, and then you'd have to trade
one of your starters.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
To get that.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Scene not exactly like bolstering talent on this roster at
this point. And yes, there's a couple of guys that
they could still sign in free agency, namely Tomarta Rosen,
But like I do think that Denver is just in
a really uncomfortable place where they've committed to their current
group with their starters and Jokih, Murray Gordon, those guys
(21:26):
combined make one hundred and forty million, and that Denver
is now operating with the second taper and as a hardcap.
So you have to make a choice every single year.
They have to make a choice at every single point.
Are you going to keep your core together or are
you going to kind of skimp on the rest of
the rock and skimp on the rest of the roster,
or are you going to try to bolster the rest
of the roster thereby probably trading one of those other
(21:47):
top guys. That's the dilemma that they found themselves in.
They don't want to break up a championship team, but
I kind of think that we're heading down that pathway
is things don't get better from here.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Well, you brought up something that was very interesting an apron,
and I think the Nuggets are one point three over
that second apron. How much do you think a lot
of that part of its factor into the team realizing
they were not going to be able to return the
services of one Peyton Watson.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
A huge deal. I think that there were probably better
ways for them to navigate it than they did, But
I'm not privy to those trade conversations that they're having
to try to figure that out. But yeah, it's the
unfortunate reality that nugget Stands probably probably don't want to hear.
But it's one that the rest of the NBA has
learned from. And no teams are currently in the second
(22:39):
apron outside of Denver at this point, and I don't
think that we are done seeing Denver Shed's salary and
trying to get under that themselves for all intentsive purposes.
The way that the second daypron is kind of structured
and with the way that it's not even the second apron,
it's more about the repeater tax that Denver has to
pay because for every dollar over the luxury tax, they
(23:02):
basically have to pay seven dollars of luxury tax on
top of their their normal rosters. So if they had
added Peyton Watson to that twenty two million dollar contract,
then what you're doing is multiplying that by seven and
you're adding one hundred and fifty million in luxury tax payments.
(23:23):
So that's why this happened, That's why they decided to
skimp out on it. And there was nothing that prevented
them from going into the second daper and other than
financial concerns, and at the beginning of the season or
off seasons, there were questions as to whether they would
stay in this thing or not. And I think we
have our answer.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Talking with Ryan Blackburn and NBA Blackburn on Twitter. Okay, so,
is there any way in which this team has gotten.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Better this offseason?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
You know, the Brazil draft pick, you know, maybe been
adding you know, Diallo.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Or Ronnie Walker. Is there any way these guys got better?
Speaker 5 (23:58):
No, there's there's be very shocking to me that Denver
was a better basketball team now. They were good enough
to win a title last year. I believe that they
were good enough. The actual question is whether they're going
to be healthy enough, and to me, losing the depth
that they had, like the depth that they had last
(24:18):
year helped them win fifty four games and survived major
injuries to forward their different starters at the same time.
Peyton Watson, of course, was included in the reason why
they were able to survive in the middle.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Of the year.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
So, yeah, they don't have Tim Hardaway, they don't have
Peyton Watson, they don't have Janna Salnce Schnis, they don't
have Bruce Brown. They are replacing those guys. The main
backup unit at this point is Tias Jones Julius rather
out of Diallo Spencer Jones, who they did retain, and
I think they deserve credit for that. And Martin Bagley.
I think that that like each of those guys individually
(24:50):
is fine. Each of those guys individually can be solid,
But in terms of adding it all together, Denver just
doesn't have a lot of talent. So I don't think
that we're done. I think Denver's going to try to
make an additional move at some point to get better,
But in terms of being able to get as good
as what they had with Peyton Watson, that's a really
large question mark, Ryan.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Let's just cut to the chase. I mean, we we
know the Nuggets are. You know, when you look at
the Nuggets in comparison to other teams around the league,
they have Nikola Jokic.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So with that in mind, everyone is saying the Nuggets
have a chance.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
But after this move, and you mentioned the Valanietas and
no Tim Hardy Junior, no Peyton Watson, how does this
Nuggets team actually stack up, not against the Eastern Conference
but in the West Alan by itself.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Yeah, stuff, You've seen some other teams try to get
better around them. Minnesota got different. I think that they
got better talent wise, but in terms of the fits,
not necessarily sure how well they fit in comparison because
one of the things that they had over Denver with
their size and athleticism. But they traded their bigs for
smalls and we'll see whether that kind of changes that
(26:00):
matchup in any way. But I do think that the
Lakers like they got different. I'm not sure if they
got better. The Rockets are better by way, of having
Fred Vans leap back. You know that Okac and San
Antonio are the pillars of the conference now with where
they are from multi talent and depth standpoints. So in
terms of where Denver fits into that mix, I'm going
(26:23):
to say that they're a second tier contender. It means
that they have an opportunity to get out of the
Western Conference still, but the percentages are not very high
and Denver has to have everything go right for them,
which means in each of the last three seasons, Aaron
Gord's been hurt, Jamal Murray's been hurt, Michael Bord's been hurt,
Christian Brown's hurt. Like They've had a whole bunch of
(26:43):
injuries to those guys over the course of.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
The last three seasons.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
You just got to be perfectly healthy in this particular year.
If you're not healthy, if you're not operating at full
strengthen you could just say goodbye. There's just not enough
talent on the back end of the rock to pick
up the slack for what those guys would be missing
if they missed a starter at any point. So I'm worried,
(27:08):
and I think Nuggets fans are too, But they could
still make a trade and try to add to this group.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Try with Ryan Blackburdon. I had to be a blackbird
on Twitter. Is there any hope out there? I mean,
you mentioned derosion, but is there anybody out there that
there's a difference maker that Denver can sign, put on
this roster and give these fans a little bit more
hope going into the season.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
From a free agency perspective, no, I think that Denver
sort of missed the boat here and they've been operating
with two arms tied behind their back because they can
only offer minimum contracts and there's very few players that
are going to be solid options for Denver on the
open market at this stage of the offseason. One of
the guys that we had been naming was Russell Westbrook,
(27:53):
and now he is not available.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
He is retired.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
It's possible that maybe they make overtures to Jonathan could
Inga or Benettict Matherin, two players that I'm not sure
if they have homes yet. Will We'll see what that
looks like. But those are the only two, like shockingly
good names that I think Denver like they should make
overtures to those guys. There's certainly a role or either
of them if they're they're able to if they're interested
(28:20):
in filling it. But Denver can only offer so much money,
and those guys are certainly looking for more. So I'll
be curious to see how Denver handles this. I would
I would wager various dollars that Denver uses their twenty
thirty one first round pick or the first round pick.
But they just acquired from Cleveland during the middle of
(28:42):
the season to upgrade either their starting units or to
trade one of the starters and really upgrade the depth
of the team. I just can't imagine that this was
the plan that they had going in. This feels like
a contingency. So this is a a another step in
the process. But the season is long, the trade deadline
(29:04):
is in February. There's plenty of time for them to
try to straighten some things out. But as it stands
right now, and can't point to any specific names, well.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Ryan, sell me on this, sell me on this idea
that I know. Nicola Jokich says that you know he
wants to remain a Denver nugget, and.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Planers often say, well, I want to remain whatever team
for my life. But watching the Nuggets not really do
anything this offseason, and watching the Nuggets have an early
exit against I believe with a sixty Minnesota Timberwolf team,
what is increasing Nicola's jokiche desire to remain with the team,
as he's said to become a free agent next season.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Well, the best thing is money. Denver has the opportunity
to offer him a five year, three hundred and fifty
nine million dollars deal, averaging over like about seventy two
million per season. No team can offer that much money,
No team can offer that large in a contract, and
Denver would be really good in that situation. Now, it
(30:06):
doesn't necessarily mean that other teams can't offer like a
comparable amount of money over four years. And so what
Denver has to do is they've got to show, hey, Nicolo,
we are committed to winning. We are like the home
team for you. He's always said that he wants to
be the Tim Duncan of the Denver Nuggets, and Tim
Duncan wasn't always perfectly happy, but he was somebody who
(30:30):
did his job on a consistent basis. And then the
San Antonio Spurs is a very good organization. They found
ways to reload they added a guy in Kawhi Leonard
who was then a finals MVP for them back in
twenty fourteen, towards the tail end of Tim Duncan's career.
You know who reminds me of that version of Kawhi
Leonard was a Peyton Watson. Not necessarily sure that Denver's
(30:54):
doing the right things here with regard to adding and
retaining the young talent and the game channing talent that
that can help Nicole a long term. But I do
think that as long as Jokich, Murray, and Gordon are healthy,
the Nuggets has a chance versus almost anybody. But it's
just going to be so much to have to endure.
And I'm worried for this upcoming season for him because
(31:16):
this is going to be is going to be a
burdensome season for Yokich, and he has an opportunity like
he'll he might say that he wants to be a
Nugget for the rest of his life, and I wants
to be that for the rest of his career. But
he's on an expiring contract and I had a whole
bunch of time between now and when he has to
put pen to paper.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Right, last one from me the Nuggets Sata Dave Order is.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
The assistant coach lead assistant on the staff.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
That one kind of raised a little eyebrows. How do you
feel about the Adaman era overall?
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I'm one of those people who says, never hired the
interim coach, clean house and start over.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I wanted Chris Quinn from from Miami to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
How would you rate the Adamman era so far for
the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, I'd give it a CEA. I wouldn't say that
there's been anything massively substantial from a positive direction. I
think say you could look at Denver's mentality in the
first round exit that they had against Minnesota and some
of the way that I don't think David Adaman certainly
handled that as best as he possibly could, but there's
(32:18):
probably some things behind the scenes that we don't know
about that ultimately had him sort of direct his frustrations
and towards the internal side of things rather than trying
to motivate people externally. So Denver did have the best
offense in the NBA last year from a regular season's standpoint.
They did win fifty four games, despite the fact that
(32:39):
Yoka sustained the first major injury of his career and
then struggled when he got back, and Denver had other
guys that were in and out of the lineup as well,
So it was an upgrade. And I do think that
Adalman is brilliant when it comes to drawing up some
plays and putting some good things together from a place
(33:00):
standpoint and then an offensive design standpoint. But he like
I'm not surprised that they went with Jaeger. I'm not
surprised that they added Dave Yeger to that mix because
he has coaching experience with somebody that's going to light
a fire unto everybody. He's going to be very sarcastic
and then get under people's skin a little bit. But
I think the Nuggets need to be a little bit
more uncomfortable at this point. They got a little bit
(33:23):
too comfortable with losing in the first round this last year.
It's unacceptable. It can't happen again, and if it does,
then you're probably going to see a coaching change.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Appreciate it, uh, Ryan Ryan Blackburn at NBA Blackburn on Twitter.
They pick Action Le Podcast, My Life Sports. We always
appreciate getting a chance to talk to you guys. Appreciate
it absolutely when we come back. Sean Keeler from the
Denver Post. He was in Nebarcos Country tonight here on
Kataway
Five six, six nine zero is the text line Brian
chiming in asking if we can ask Sean Keeler about
Deon Sanders trying to dodge a subpoena or whatever.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We'll see when Sean Keeler comes on a little bit.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I think he's coming on eight o'clock if I'm not
mistaken at him getting the your thumbs up from No,
that's not a thumb stuff, that's a middle finger from Zach.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We've got the Texans taking on the Raiders right now.
Not been the greatest day for Mendoza. Texans up seventeen
three and that one in five point fifty to go
second quarter. Broncos signed Taylor Rapp today. We talked a
little bit about that. What do you think over all
of this signing, because you know, as we look at this,
this guy with Super Bowl experience, this guy with turnovers experience,
(00:44):
it looks like a positive addition to the room. The
obvious thing here is that there's some odd men out,
but it looks like that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
This is is a positive addition to the room.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Well, it's a positive addition because you're adding a guy
who has experience and playing experience in the game, and
that's something that you don't want to have a drop of.
And knowing as though the strongest side of the Broncos
from a team standpoint it is their defense. So to
(01:20):
add more quality players that you can plug and play.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
To me, that exactly what you want.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
But what you do, even at this stage a preseason,
you are anticifying competition. You were stating that competition is
still important. And also to those guys who were backup
Tyson Anderson, Jail Skinner, you're letting them know, hey, you
hadn't made the team yet. I know you probably looked
around in the room and say, you know, based on
(01:47):
prior experience, being familiar Tyson Anderson with Robert Limiston, the
new passing game coordinator who was demons of coordinator for
the CU Buffs, you feel as though, hey, look maybe
I made the team. And Jail Skinner he's in here
for a while, he's been in his defense. But it's
to let those guys know, hey, man, don't rest on
your laurels. You know how this game works. You're not
(02:08):
just competing with the guys who are in your dB room.
You're competing with guys who are on the thirty one
other teams, especially if you look at a team and
let's just say that they are heavy, and what I
mean by that they have a multitude of different guys
or better yet, from they're too deep, they're good. So
now you're looking from the on the three deep level,
(02:30):
all the Broncos were looking at, maybe doing the pre
draft process, or guys that they were ironing a couple
of years ago who now may come available. Those are
the guys that you're competing with, because the one thing
you don't want to do in the NFL is rest
on your laurels and become complacent.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, yeah you can't.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I mean in the NFL, you can, you can, You'll
get passed by yes, you know. Yeah, Look, I think again,
he has experienced in this defense dating back to his
experience with the Rams with Wade Phillips his rookie year. Obviously,
the guy is able to and I think for me
and I didn't realized Taylor Rap had that many receptions
over the course of his career.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
He's got twelve interceptions.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
You know, he was a guy who's got sticky hands,
makes plays, makes plays on the ball, and so I
think viewing it through that lens, you're bringing in a
guy who's known for doing that, right, and this is
a defense that wants to generate more turners of getting
the sacks. They're holding people to certain points, but they
want to generate they want to actively generate turnovers. On
top of that, they have not done that over the
last couple of years, and they feel like that that
(03:31):
that's been the.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Missing piece that this defense has been. The piece that
this defense is.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
It's not just, you know, the whole idea the missing
piece for the defense. The offense benefits from it as well,
because remember the conversation heading into the game against the
Patriots when coach Peyton mentioned that, hey, the defense hadn't
created enough takeaways.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
I mean, they were part.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Of the reason why the Broncos were in a position
that they were in not to take anything went from
Boenicks in offense. But let's be totally real and transparent,
because Peyton said to himself, right, the strength of the
team is the defense, and the defense led the league
in sacks two years in a row. The one area
that they were suffering was turnovers. And the reason why
(04:16):
that's so vital and it's the lifeblood of the offense
because those are extra possessions that you didn't intend for
in the game that can now set you up to
score a.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Massive amount of points.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Looking at the preseason game with the Texans and the
Las Vegas Raiders right watching CJ. Straw move the ball
down the field, and oh, by the way, you have
one of the better pass rushing groups outside of the
Denver Broncos. And what were they able to do? All
be a a young quarterback and Fernando Mendoza. They turned
(04:49):
or flipped the turnover into points. And that's what the
Broncos are hoping to do. So you want to add
more of that flavor. Look at it like this likes
bland Chicken. Well, you know what, let me.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Take that back. I would agree with you.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
But for every time I say something like that that
I find somebody here that that's their jam.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Hey, listen, if you like bland Chicken, more power to you.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I like seasoning on my ticket. Right, So when we
look at the defense and turnovers, all that is is
extra seasons and spices. Is not the Colonel Sanders, you know,
the six herbs and spices. But hell, give me some
season on my ticket.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Breaking news.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Nick Ferguson calls the Broncos defense chickens season season chicken chicken, Yes,
eleven herbs and spices. By the way, have you ever
seen the KFC Twitter accountant?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
No, I haven't.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
It follows the five spice girls and six guys named
herb eleven urbsans.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
But you know, yeah, that's all they follow. Sounds about right,
So it's good following, you know, it sounds about right.
That's that's clever. Yes, that's clever, very clever.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Five six six nine zero is the text line. What
does this say about Denver's safety depth? Do you think
that this is a Sean Payton move events Joseph move?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
It's is everybody move?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Well, I'm saying, like, who's who's the impetus here at
the end of the day? Because Rob Lovers starting brought
his guy in, Tyson Anderson, he brought his guy in earlier.
Is this advance a shot? Like whoo? Who's kind of
coordinator or orchestrating?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right, So I was.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Holding off on this conversation watching training can but since
we're here, I'm just going to hear the lid off.
One of the reasons that we're here because when you
look at what was happening on the second and third
unit in training camp. When you talk about the top
being blown off and guys being out of position, that
(06:41):
was the That's the first thing that I noticed. I
was like, Oh, we're gonna have some problems, and I
don't care. I mean, you could have had John Randall,
Aaron Donald, whoever you want to have up front. Rushing
a passer if you're back in is not helping you
out by making the proper reads being in position.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Teams are gonna move the ball on you.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
So when we get past that first unit for the
Denver Broncos from a safety position, to me, it was
just like everything was up for grabs. So I'm sure
they were seeing what I was saying, and it was like, look,
if we're going to make a move, we need to
make a move right now to make sure that we
are ready for the first couple slate of games heading
into the scene and because we know that's the Broncos
(07:25):
murderous role of games in those first seven games.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Do you think Taylor Rop can make the fifty three?
I'm not sure. That's kind of where I was with that.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
His resume, based on what he's done, shows that, hey,
he's a proven playmaker. But the biggest issue, like I
told you before, is how quickly can he get the
grabs of the defense. That's gonna be the tail of
the tape. And you would think, well, he's a seven
eight year veteran, he should be able to get it
really quickly. But not so fast because Drey Greenlaw he
(07:58):
struggled himself too.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah, I'm the difference is green Law had no experience
in the style of defense before, whereas Taylor Rap obviously
has a year with Oh with wayde Phillips and has
some of the terminology.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
And that makes a world of difference. It really does.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I mean, having a year in something and knowing something
it gives you. Even it's been a while, they're still
you're going to retain some knowledge, right, and that's gonna
that's gonna make the ramp up a little bit easier
for you.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Well, you hope that it makes the ramp up a
lot easier for you because you encounter different systems.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Right, The defensive schemes.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Are somewhat the same because you can run you know,
one high middle, close, cover.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Two, cover, eight, cover, cet whatever. Those covers are not
going to change.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
But the verbia is required when you when the team
goes from a pro set to maybe they go love
in personnel this emotion, that's when you had to start
to think as a player. Now once again, it goes back.
If he could come in Taylor Rep And grabs a
whole of them and then go out and he can execute,
then that changes everything about the conversation we're having and
(09:06):
tell it can go out and say, you know what, this.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Is my spot. I'm holding out.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Number three, number four spot on the second team, and
guess what, it's a rat.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
What do we want to see out of the run
game tomorrow? You know, we talked earlier about these running backs.
We talked earlier about the run game being unfairly miliged.
What do we want want to see out of it
against the Packers?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Well, here's a couple of things.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I want to see the offensive line fire off and
establish a new line of scrimmage because run plays are
different than pass plays. Pass plays, you're sitting waiting for
a guy to come to you. On run plays, you're
firing off, you're setting the tempo. And I want to
see the Broncos offensive line across the board, no matter
(09:45):
first team, second team of thirteen, if they call a
run play, establish a new line of scrimmage. Don't allow
some of the penetration that we've seen in practice. Don't
allow some of the penetration we saw last week against
the Falcons. I want to see guys firing and off
and also too, you know the damn snap count.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Don't jump off signs. Yeah don't, Yeah, I don't jump.
That's you know, self inflicted.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
Yes, yeah, that'll that'll get Sean Payton, That'll get that
that looked that he gets on his face where it
looks like he just ate a shard of glass, you
know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Like he gets that look like you can see it,
like you can see it.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
It's like that moment he's just laughing at and then
the evil like creeps into the eyes and the jaw
gets set. It looks like he's just sitting there chewing
on that juicy fruit, looking like he's chewing on just
shards of glass.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
See you know what, See Sean Payton has that look
that you're describing. See for us, playing for Mike Shanahan,
Mike's face would turn.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Red, you do, like beat red, And you didn't have
to ask any questions. You already knew what was.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
Gonna happen, iither at halftime after the game, but more importantly,
once you went back to the facility to watch the film, Oh.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You knew he was gonna dig into you. Well.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Once again, it's just a level of frustration that a
coach shows because their competitives too. Yeah, they want to win, right,
but the only problem is that they can't get out
there and do it. Yeah, so they have to coach
and live vicariously through you as a player.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Which is what people like me do. I'm living vicariously.
I want to win.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
I want to win everything I would. I would to
win the you know, I want to win the jog
down to the you know, the parking lot every night,
I would win.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Well, you always win that, I do, you always.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I shoved it first and down to the elevator on
Heisman post one time, and he was like, yeah, that's
the last time that's gonna happen.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Yeah, you pressed up, but I'm gone gone. But again,
I get that sense of like competition, I get that,
you know, having that that mentality.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And then and certainly, you know, coaches, in order to
coach in the NFL, you have to have that right.
You can't just you can't just have a You can't
be non competitive because.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
You're not gonna last. You got to win games.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Well you know you're not gonna win games, and you
have to find a very unique way to articulate that
to your players. Now, some some coaches like a way.
Phillips he's he's different. Uh when it comes to articulating
his level foot straight. I told you, Mike Shanahan, he
just turns beat red. Bill Parcells had choice words. Hey,
(12:07):
dumb button. Yes, you're hitting the dumb button for him.
But all of those guys, when you make a mistake
as a player, you want to avoid those guys. There
was a moment where I had like sixty yards and
penalties of myself in one game.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And yes, yes, and all the third downs, all the
third downs. So I bet you Parcels was happy with you. Well, Well,
here's the thing. It was with Mike Shanahan. Oh okay.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So so there was a little grace that was provided.
But he never said a word.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
He just looked. He just gave a look that just
kind of could could cut through.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Glass and your your your eyes went anywhere else. Well,
some stuff on the ground over here, far away from coach.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Yes, yes, because somebody brought me a water bottle, anything
not to lock eyes with.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
That was the whole idea. I'm not gonna look at
him in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
But you knew right away you made somewhat of a
mistake and he was going to hold you accountab before it.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Yeah, that's and we've all been around, been around there.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
As far as the rest of it goes, I mean,
I want to see you're right, I do want to
see the offensive line fire off. I'd like to see
the running backs exhibit the vision and patients the guys
I want to see. I mean, I've seen enough of
jk and and Coleman. I'm good there. I want to
see RJ. Harvey a little bit, see if he's if
the vision, if the running between the tag has slowed
down for him enough that he's, you know, he's a
little bit more patient. I want to see Cody Schrader
(13:32):
get some runs. He ripped off that one looked pretty good,
but was tough behind the third string line. H Jaliel.
You know, we saw him look pretty tough, but then
then cough one up and he's just like.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Oh, but Ben really quickly. Let me painting the picture
for you, right, being a running back. I know everyone
was saying that r. J. Harvey's not being patient enough.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I get it. Something I's usually said.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
About, you know, running backs in their first the second
year and sticking.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
With the play.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Well, when you cause me seeing penetration right away, well
you're constantly seeing no movement on plays in practice.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
They look one way in a game and look entirely different.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
But you want me to show a love of patience
when I'm seeing penetration. At some point you have to
be able to rely on your natural instincts to be
a running back. But by definition along it says running back, right,
if the hole is locked up and blocked and it's penetration,
what's the problem with putting your foot in the ground
(14:33):
and reverse the fhiel in getting up and getting some
positive joke?
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah, the problem with that, especially if there's a cutback
lane there. I'd love to see it so that those
are the things I'm not trying to malign RJ.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Harvey. I just want to see the instinct start to kick.
Because he still runs like a quarterback run the football.
It doesn't run like a running back.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Sometimes you know, you see it with JK, you see
it with Jonah Coleman, you see Jaliel's They just have
that nap because they've had so many carries as a
running back over the course of their lives and RG
just doesn't have that many.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
But this is where if you see that as a
coach position, a coach or officeer coordinator, you know what
you do?
Speaker 2 (15:04):
You help him out.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Okay, you said, well, here are some of the plays
that we want some view in college or even last
year that you were able to pick up positive yards
because we know when he's coming down here, he's a
bone the ball, right, just like JK, just like Jonah. Right,
So this put him in in those situations where it's
advantageous to a skill set.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
So if you wanted to start off.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
The game by saying, you know what, we know he
likes to get on the outside, Well, why don't you
run a play where you pull Quinn Miners and get
him out there in front of him?
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Well and that, yeah, I'm with you on that. I mean,
we've talked about that kind of at nauseam.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
You know those are there some other things that I
think Ben Powers doesn't really move that well. But you
bolt get those cards on the move and you know,
and using their size to pave the way as something
that I think would would be beneficial.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
We got to hit a break. We come back. We're
going to talk to Ryan Blackburn.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
See what he makes the paid Watson trade, what this
does for the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
He has listen a Broncus Country night here. Okay, wait hey,
Nick Ferguson, Zach Seeger's here with you.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Five six six nine zero is the text line sev
one nine, giving us an update on that hailstorm down
there in the spring.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Said, it's as you said.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
If you don't like the weather in Kala Wira, wait
ten minutes, springs back to normal.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Storm past for now. So glad nobody got everybody's the
hails out of there, and the hope everybody stayed safe.
Nobody got hurt. The hail can hurt, man, I know,
the stuffhurts. I mean that gives a whole new meaning
to hell.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Yeah, it's like ice following from the skies. Hurts. Yellow
had hurt at that speed and it's following pretty far.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Yeah, let's rather have to get away. It comes Peal
Health Hotline and bring on our guy Ryan Blackburn from
My Life Sports to Pick Action World podcast. He's coast
locked on Nuggets. You can find him on Twitter NBA Blackburn, Ryan,
How you doing this evening.
Speaker 5 (16:50):
I'm good. Thanks for having me on. It's been a
pretty busy time for the Nuggets all of a sudden
that it has.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And of course the Nuggets in that three way deal
dealing Peyton Watson. What did you think of that deal?
In the contract that Pete Watson ultimately signed.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
Fir contract. First and foremost, I think that he probably
on this particular market, was not going to get near
where Christian Brown's per year contract was going to be.
But not a surprise that they ultimately settled for something
smaller with a player option and trade kicker and things
like that. But four years, eighty eight million is still
(17:27):
a very good payday. But for Denver and for their purposes,
this is a horrible situation. This is a horrible move,
And I don't think that's hyperbolic either. The actual return
that Denver gets until it is turned into players that
can help Nikoliokas and Jamal Murray try to win a
championship is just not good enough compared to what Payton
(17:48):
Watson was going to be for these next four seasons.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
No Ry, I'm going to ask a very interesting question.
How do we get here? Well, I know we see
the final product, Well, how do we get to play?
Were the Nuggets are trading away Peyton Watson, the guy
who I thought brought a lot of energy to the organization.
And then you still think about where the Nuggets are
from a bent standpoint, They didn't get any better this offseason.
Speaker 5 (18:13):
Now, if anything, that got significantly worse, and then certainly
there's a whole bunch of uncertainty there. But the reason
why we are here is because Denver made a commitments
that remember Josh Crunkie in at the beginning of the
off season basically said everything is on the table apart
from trading fifteen, apart from trading the Kolo kitchen. Then
(18:35):
Jokic doesn't sign his extension, things get a little bit weird.
I know for a fact that Denver did explore the
markets for trading other players, including Jamal Murray and Aaron
Gordon and Christian Brown and Caam Johnson. What they ultimately
found was a whole bunch of teams that were circling
them like sharks. They were circling them in a very
(18:56):
uncomfortable situation where they just weren't going to be able
to get requisite value for those players back at which
Denver valued those guys like Jamal Murray just made All
NBA and All Star for the first time. They weren't
getting All NBA and All Star returns, that's for sure.
Aaron Gordon is a player who has tied together a
championship team before. That's not what they were receiving in
(19:17):
these talks. And then teams were just like they were
trying to take advantage of Denver as much as possible
and trying to take advantage of the fact that they're
the only team in the second Aprons. So the long
short of it is that the deal that den that
and the fine and trade that Denver negotiated did not
allow them to take back a player because they didn't
(19:40):
send out additional salary beyond Peyton Watson. They would have
had to send out one of Zieg Naji or Christian
Brown or Cam Johnson or something like that. In the end,
Denver simplified this thing and they decided to take back
just a first round pick and a second round pick
of that deal. I think it was the wrong decision,
but it was the simplest way to exit from the
Peyton Watson experience, and I don't think it was a
(20:02):
good idea.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
Ryan Blackburn, an NBA. Blackburn on Twitter, Yeah, I'm with
you on this. This trade was weird to me, and
it feels like that what they got back on the
surface looks okay, except that it doesn't help immediately.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
And then when you start to.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Look at what it's going to take to offload Christian
Brown's contract, it's probably that this team feels like it's
just gone into the season and gotten significantly worse in
an era where you need to load up and take
advantage of the waning Jokic window.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Undoubtedly, and now that you have the uncertainty of Yoku's
playing on an expiring contract. I don't think anybody in
that building actually thinks that Jokic is walking away. But
if you're trying to diagnose a pathway that says, yeah,
Jokic may not be back to the Nuggets this next season.
It's the one where you lose your entire bench unit
and don't get better and you don't add to the
(20:49):
team in any way, shape or form. Now that could
change with the pick that they just acquired and some
of the second round picks that they acquired, maybe they
try to make another move, but that means you're gonna
have to, like you already let oh Payton Watson in
order to get that, and then you'd have to trade
one of your starters.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
To get that.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Scene not exactly like bolstering talent on this roster at
this point. And yes, there's a couple of guys that
they could still sign in free agency, namely Tomarta Rosen,
But like I do think that Denver is just in
a really uncomfortable place where they've committed to their current
group with their starters and Jokih, Murray Gordon, those guys
(21:26):
combined make one hundred and forty million, and that Denver
is now operating with the second taper and as a hardcap.
So you have to make a choice every single year.
They have to make a choice at every single point.
Are you going to keep your core together or are
you going to kind of skimp on the rest of
the rock and skimp on the rest of the roster,
or are you going to try to bolster the rest
of the roster thereby probably trading one of those other
(21:47):
top guys. That's the dilemma that they found themselves in.
They don't want to break up a championship team, but
I kind of think that we're heading down that pathway
is things don't get better from here.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Well, you brought up something that was very interesting an apron,
and I think the Nuggets are one point three over
that second apron. How much do you think a lot
of that part of its factor into the team realizing
they were not going to be able to return the
services of one Peyton Watson.
Speaker 5 (22:17):
A huge deal. I think that there were probably better
ways for them to navigate it than they did, But
I'm not privy to those trade conversations that they're having
to try to figure that out. But yeah, it's the
unfortunate reality that nugget Stands probably probably don't want to hear.
But it's one that the rest of the NBA has
learned from. And no teams are currently in the second
(22:39):
apron outside of Denver at this point, and I don't
think that we are done seeing Denver Shed's salary and
trying to get under that themselves for all intentsive purposes.
The way that the second daypron is kind of structured
and with the way that it's not even the second apron,
it's more about the repeater tax that Denver has to
pay because for every dollar over the luxury tax, they
(23:02):
basically have to pay seven dollars of luxury tax on
top of their their normal rosters. So if they had
added Peyton Watson to that twenty two million dollar contract,
then what you're doing is multiplying that by seven and
you're adding one hundred and fifty million in luxury tax payments.
(23:23):
So that's why this happened, That's why they decided to
skimp out on it. And there was nothing that prevented
them from going into the second daper and other than
financial concerns, and at the beginning of the season or
off seasons, there were questions as to whether they would
stay in this thing or not. And I think we
have our answer.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Talking with Ryan Blackburn and NBA Blackburn on Twitter. Okay, so,
is there any way in which this team has gotten.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Better this offseason?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
You know, the Brazil draft pick, you know, maybe been
adding you know, Diallo.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Or Ronnie Walker. Is there any way these guys got better?
Speaker 5 (23:58):
No, there's there's be very shocking to me that Denver
was a better basketball team now. They were good enough
to win a title last year. I believe that they
were good enough. The actual question is whether they're going
to be healthy enough, and to me, losing the depth
that they had, like the depth that they had last
(24:18):
year helped them win fifty four games and survived major
injuries to forward their different starters at the same time.
Peyton Watson, of course, was included in the reason why
they were able to survive in the middle.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Of the year.
Speaker 5 (24:29):
So, yeah, they don't have Tim Hardaway, they don't have
Peyton Watson, they don't have Janna Salnce Schnis, they don't
have Bruce Brown. They are replacing those guys. The main
backup unit at this point is Tias Jones Julius rather
out of Diallo Spencer Jones, who they did retain, and
I think they deserve credit for that. And Martin Bagley.
I think that that like each of those guys individually
(24:50):
is fine. Each of those guys individually can be solid,
But in terms of adding it all together, Denver just
doesn't have a lot of talent. So I don't think
that we're done. I think Denver's going to try to
make an additional move at some point to get better,
But in terms of being able to get as good
as what they had with Peyton Watson, that's a really
large question mark, Ryan.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Let's just cut to the chase. I mean, we we
know the Nuggets are. You know, when you look at
the Nuggets in comparison to other teams around the league,
they have Nikola Jokic.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
So with that in mind, everyone is saying the Nuggets
have a chance.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
But after this move, and you mentioned the Valanietas and
no Tim Hardy Junior, no Peyton Watson, how does this
Nuggets team actually stack up, not against the Eastern Conference
but in the West Alan by itself.
Speaker 5 (25:40):
Yeah, stuff, You've seen some other teams try to get
better around them. Minnesota got different. I think that they
got better talent wise, but in terms of the fits,
not necessarily sure how well they fit in comparison because
one of the things that they had over Denver with
their size and athleticism. But they traded their bigs for
smalls and we'll see whether that kind of changes that
(26:00):
matchup in any way. But I do think that the
Lakers like they got different. I'm not sure if they
got better. The Rockets are better by way, of having
Fred Vans leap back. You know that Okac and San
Antonio are the pillars of the conference now with where
they are from multi talent and depth standpoints. So in
terms of where Denver fits into that mix, I'm going
(26:23):
to say that they're a second tier contender. It means
that they have an opportunity to get out of the
Western Conference still, but the percentages are not very high
and Denver has to have everything go right for them,
which means in each of the last three seasons, Aaron
Gord's been hurt, Jamal Murray's been hurt, Michael Bord's been hurt,
Christian Brown's hurt. Like They've had a whole bunch of
(26:43):
injuries to those guys over the course of.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
The last three seasons.
Speaker 5 (26:47):
You just got to be perfectly healthy in this particular year.
If you're not healthy, if you're not operating at full
strengthen you could just say goodbye. There's just not enough
talent on the back end of the rock to pick
up the slack for what those guys would be missing
if they missed a starter at any point. So I'm worried,
(27:08):
and I think Nuggets fans are too, But they could
still make a trade and try to add to this group.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Try with Ryan Blackburdon. I had to be a blackbird
on Twitter. Is there any hope out there? I mean,
you mentioned derosion, but is there anybody out there that
there's a difference maker that Denver can sign, put on
this roster and give these fans a little bit more
hope going into the season.
Speaker 5 (27:32):
From a free agency perspective, no, I think that Denver
sort of missed the boat here and they've been operating
with two arms tied behind their back because they can
only offer minimum contracts and there's very few players that
are going to be solid options for Denver on the
open market at this stage of the offseason. One of
the guys that we had been naming was Russell Westbrook,
(27:53):
and now he is not available.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
He is retired.
Speaker 5 (27:57):
It's possible that maybe they make overtures to Jonathan could
Inga or Benettict Matherin, two players that I'm not sure
if they have homes yet. Will We'll see what that
looks like. But those are the only two, like shockingly
good names that I think Denver like they should make
overtures to those guys. There's certainly a role or either
of them if they're they're able to if they're interested
(28:20):
in filling it. But Denver can only offer so much money,
and those guys are certainly looking for more. So I'll
be curious to see how Denver handles this. I would
I would wager various dollars that Denver uses their twenty
thirty one first round pick or the first round pick.
But they just acquired from Cleveland during the middle of
(28:42):
the season to upgrade either their starting units or to
trade one of the starters and really upgrade the depth
of the team. I just can't imagine that this was
the plan that they had going in. This feels like
a contingency. So this is a a another step in
the process. But the season is long, the trade deadline
(29:04):
is in February. There's plenty of time for them to
try to straighten some things out. But as it stands
right now, and can't point to any specific names, well.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Ryan, sell me on this, sell me on this idea
that I know. Nicola Jokich says that you know he
wants to remain a Denver nugget, and.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Planers often say, well, I want to remain whatever team
for my life. But watching the Nuggets not really do
anything this offseason, and watching the Nuggets have an early
exit against I believe with a sixty Minnesota Timberwolf team,
what is increasing Nicola's jokiche desire to remain with the team,
as he's said to become a free agent next season.
Speaker 5 (29:45):
Well, the best thing is money. Denver has the opportunity
to offer him a five year, three hundred and fifty
nine million dollars deal, averaging over like about seventy two
million per season. No team can offer that much money,
No team can offer that large in a contract, and
Denver would be really good in that situation. Now, it
(30:06):
doesn't necessarily mean that other teams can't offer like a
comparable amount of money over four years. And so what
Denver has to do is they've got to show, hey, Nicolo,
we are committed to winning. We are like the home
team for you. He's always said that he wants to
be the Tim Duncan of the Denver Nuggets, and Tim
Duncan wasn't always perfectly happy, but he was somebody who
(30:30):
did his job on a consistent basis. And then the
San Antonio Spurs is a very good organization. They found
ways to reload they added a guy in Kawhi Leonard
who was then a finals MVP for them back in
twenty fourteen, towards the tail end of Tim Duncan's career.
You know who reminds me of that version of Kawhi
Leonard was a Peyton Watson. Not necessarily sure that Denver's
(30:54):
doing the right things here with regard to adding and
retaining the young talent and the game channing talent that
that can help Nicole a long term. But I do
think that as long as Jokich, Murray, and Gordon are healthy,
the Nuggets has a chance versus almost anybody. But it's
just going to be so much to have to endure.
And I'm worried for this upcoming season for him because
(31:16):
this is going to be is going to be a
burdensome season for Yokich, and he has an opportunity like
he'll he might say that he wants to be a
Nugget for the rest of his life, and I wants
to be that for the rest of his career. But
he's on an expiring contract and I had a whole
bunch of time between now and when he has to
put pen to paper.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Right, last one from me the Nuggets Sata Dave Order is.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
The assistant coach lead assistant on the staff.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
That one kind of raised a little eyebrows. How do you
feel about the Adaman era overall?
Speaker 1 (31:43):
I'm one of those people who says, never hired the
interim coach, clean house and start over.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I wanted Chris Quinn from from Miami to do that.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
How would you rate the Adamman era so far for
the Denver Nuggets.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Yeah, I'd give it a CEA. I wouldn't say that
there's been anything massively substantial from a positive direction. I
think say you could look at Denver's mentality in the
first round exit that they had against Minnesota and some
of the way that I don't think David Adaman certainly
handled that as best as he possibly could, but there's
(32:18):
probably some things behind the scenes that we don't know
about that ultimately had him sort of direct his frustrations
and towards the internal side of things rather than trying
to motivate people externally. So Denver did have the best
offense in the NBA last year from a regular season's standpoint.
They did win fifty four games, despite the fact that
(32:39):
Yoka sustained the first major injury of his career and
then struggled when he got back, and Denver had other
guys that were in and out of the lineup as well,
So it was an upgrade. And I do think that
Adalman is brilliant when it comes to drawing up some
plays and putting some good things together from a place
(33:00):
standpoint and then an offensive design standpoint. But he like
I'm not surprised that they went with Jaeger. I'm not
surprised that they added Dave Yeger to that mix because
he has coaching experience with somebody that's going to light
a fire unto everybody. He's going to be very sarcastic
and then get under people's skin a little bit. But
I think the Nuggets need to be a little bit
more uncomfortable at this point. They got a little bit
(33:23):
too comfortable with losing in the first round this last year.
It's unacceptable. It can't happen again, and if it does,
then you're probably going to see a coaching change.
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Appreciate it, uh, Ryan Ryan Blackburn at NBA Blackburn on Twitter.
They pick Action Le Podcast, My Life Sports. We always
appreciate getting a chance to talk to you guys. Appreciate
it absolutely when we come back. Sean Keeler from the
Denver Post. He was in Nebarcos Country tonight here on
Kataway
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