June 6, 2025 • 26 mins
The Nuggets face crucial decisions this offseason with multiple paths forward after a disappointing follow-up to their championship season. Josh Kroenke's emphasis on internal development signals one approach, but trade possibilities and free agent signings offer alternative strategies to address the team's glaring bench weaknesses.
• Front office restructuring remains unresolved with Ben Tenzer likely to become GM, possibly with another executive above him
• David Adelman's coaching hire represents the first step in the internal development strategy
• Young players like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther need growth to contribute meaningfully
• The Nuggets have zero draft picks and limited tradeable future assets (only a 2031 first-round pick)
• Free agency options are limited by second apron constraints to minimum contracts and the taxpayer exception
• Trading core players is challenging due to their large contracts, though breaking MPJ's deal into multiple rotation pieces is possible
• Potential trade targets include Goga Bitadze (Orlando), Patrick Williams/Kevin Huerter/Ayo Dosunmu (Chicago), or Grant Williams/Josh Green/Josh Okogie (Charlotte)
• Bruce Brown reunion appears likely using the taxpayer exception
• Most realistic scenario involves keeping the core together while adding veteran minimum players to strengthen the bench
Awesome resources for the Nuggets offseason:
Jake Coyne's incredible document
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brian (00:04):
Al right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar
.
It is the offseason and I lovethe offseason.
It's fun to think of all thepossibilities for your team to
either sign a big free agent ormake a big trade.
There's draft picks.
It's kind of fun to think ofall the possibilities, just of
(00:24):
how your team can improve andgive you that hope for the
upcoming season.
So I think it's going to be fun.
We're going to do an off-seasonpreview for the Nuggets today
and there's a lot ofpossibilities.
Some may be more realistic thanothers, but I thought we'd kind
of dive in and review some ofthe off-season previews that
(00:47):
I've seen from actualjournalists and see what ideas
they have and kind of what mypreferences are of what the
Nuggets do.
So I think, before we dive intoall that, the Nuggets still
need a general manager.
So any of these possibilities,if they were to happen usually
it happens because a team has ageneral manager to accomplish
(01:10):
those.
So hopefully the Nuggets getone soon.
From all the reporting it seemslike they're going to promote
Ben Tenzer, who's been with theorganization for a little while.
He was the acting generalmanager once they fired Calvin
Booth and apparently he's areally smart kind of cap guy,
(01:30):
but he's never been like anofficial general manager before,
so it will be interesting tosee how he handles trades and
free agent signings and all thatstuff.
And it may be more so that he'sgetting hired because Josh
Kroenke is the one that'sactually involved or sorry, not
(01:54):
involved but in charge and we'llgo over that a little bit more
later.
But I think the holdup, fromwhat I've heard, uh, both on
DNVR and, um, just otherreporters is that it's not so
much.
The decision is whether they'regoing to hire Ben Tenzer or
somebody else.
It seems like maybe they'regoing to decide whether Ben
(02:16):
Tenzer, as the general manager,will be kind of like the top of
the organization, right underJosh Kroenke, or if they're
going to hire someone else to belike a president of basketball
operations, um, to be rightabove Ben Tenzer and in between
him and Josh Kroenke.
So I hope they do it soon.
(02:37):
Um, I want them to start kindof formulating a plan and be
ready for this off season.
But yeah, we can only wait.
So, speaking of Josh Kroenke,he's had a couple press
conferences so far this offseason and he seems optimistic,
which obviously I love, and hehas mentioned internal
(03:01):
development quite a bit, whichcould be good or bad depending
on how they approach it.
And what does that mean exactly?
Well, we've seen the beginningalready.
They've internally hired DavidAdaman to be the next head coach
, which, as I spoke about lasttime, I actually love.
(03:21):
He showed promise just in theshort time that he was the head
coach last season and,truthfully, the fact that he got
rid of quite a few of theassistant coaches that were also
on Michael Malone's staff I wasencouraged by.
I think a change is needed, andeven though David Adelman was
(03:45):
on the staff, I think herealizes that a change within
the coaching staff is needed aswell, and so I'm kind of excited
to see how he shapes up hisstaff, and we'll have to see if
he gets kind of like the younggeniuses or if he gets former
players or if he gets old,veteran coaches that have been
(04:06):
around and seen everything.
I'm actually pretty fascinatedto see kind of how he shapes his
staff, and obviously Imentioned the GM.
I think that's going to beinternal development as well,
and then Josh Kroenke hasmentioned internal development
from the players as well.
So obviously that can mean theyoung guys, starting with
(04:28):
Christian Brown, peyton Watson,julian Strother, but also Deron
Holmes and Jalen Pickett, likeguys that either were hurt and
didn't get a lot of playing time, were in Michael Malone's
doghouse.
They didn't get a lot ofplaying time or they really need
to develop to prove that theycan belong in the NBA.
And so the young guys if theyare not involved in trades this
(04:52):
offseason, there's a lot of roomto develop, and if that's the
Nuggets' only plan, then I'mgoing to be pretty disappointed
in that.
There's still some veteransthat could see some development
as well.
Obviously, mpj been around awhile.
We kind of know what he is, buthe's always had Michael Malone,
(05:16):
and so you never know, a newsystem, a new coach could unlock
him and he could level up andbe even more of an asset on
offense and you never know ondefense as well.
And the big one obviously isalways going to be Jamal Murray.
He has talent.
It's whether he wants to put inthe effort, and you never know,
(05:39):
maybe David Adelman will holdhim more accountable than
Michael Malone did, maybe JoshKroenke will hold him more
accountable than in the past andmaybe they will say that Jamal
needs to come into the season inshape and maybe he needs to do
something different to try andavoid some of these nagging
injuries and carry more of theload during the regular season.
(06:02):
So that could definitely beinternal development.
And so pretty much throughoutJosh Kroenke's press conferences
you get the feeling that he isgoing to be more involved and
we're going to have to wait andsee whether that's a good or a
bad thing, and I do like that.
He admits that something's gotto change.
(06:24):
But if, whether that's a goodor a bad thing and I do like
that he admits that theresomething's got to change, but
if we're just hoping that theplayers we already have are
going to get better, I don'tnecessarily think that's the
best plan moving forward.
So, other than way, other thaninternal development, what are
other ways the Nuggets canimprove?
(06:44):
Well, normally there's the draft, but the Nuggets have zero
draft picks.
And not only do we have zerodraft picks this year, we really
don't have any draft picks forthe foreseeable future that we
can trade to get players or moredraft picks or anything like
that.
We have one in 2031 that we'reallowed to trade and that could
(07:09):
have some value, because a lotof teams could look at that and
be like well, jokic will be 35by then.
What will the Nuggets look like?
And so it does have some value.
But, as we discussed in thepast, calvin Booth's really
pattern of obtaining players wasjust to throw a ton of draft
picks at the trade to try andmake it happen, and it really
(07:34):
seems like we just reallydepleted all of our draft pick
war chest to get players thatdidn't turn out to do too much
for us so hindsight's 20-20, butthat did not work out in our
favor.
There's possibilities that wecould make a trade and get a
draft pick this year.
There's always the option ofbuying a second round pick.
(07:56):
A lot of teams will just sellthem for a couple million.
I'm not sure how willing theCronkies would be willing to do
that or if there's a player thatcould help the nuggets, um,
that would even make thatworthwhile.
So the draft may be pretty lowkey for the nuggets this year,
um, and that's okay.
(08:16):
There's obviously other avenuesto improve, including free
agency.
Now, free agency should be alittle bit more active for the
Nuggets, although they are veryclose to that dreaded second
apron which is scaring teams todeath, basically.
And so the Nuggets cannot signbig name free agents or really
(08:40):
add much salary.
So it's going to be a lot ofminimum guys.
And they also have the taxpayerexception, which, if you want
to kind of get an idea of whatlevel player that is, our last
two exceptions that we've usedwould be guys like Reggie
Jackson or Dario Saric, and soobviously Reggie had his moments
(09:04):
, but we eventually had to tradehim away and throw in three
second round picks just to getthe Hornets to take him.
And then Dario really was juststuck on the bench because he
had such a disastrous five gamesat the beginning of the season
and just kind of showed thathe's no longer an NBA player.
(09:24):
So minimum guys, it is for thefree agents.
Now there are some interestingnames that we'll go over later.
I think that could really helpthe Nuggets and I don't know if
that's necessarily a good thing.
It just kind of shows you howhow much a lack of depth on our
bench is a problem.
So we'll go over somepossibilities later.
(09:47):
But the third way the Nuggetscan improve is by trades, and
trades are obviously really funto think about.
They've built tools out therewhere you can build the trades
and see if they work as far assalaries go, most of the time
when you see a fake trade on theinternet it is totally
unrealistic.
It's usually like hey, myfavorite team will give you a
(10:09):
bunch of garbage and you give usa superstar.
But I think there are someresources out there that they've
made up some realistic faketrades and I'm going to go over
some of my favorites.
But trades are going to betough.
(10:44):
Like I said, the Nuggets theyhaveal Murray, michael Porter,
jr.
They probably should be on muchlesser contracts and so it's
going to be hard to get any sortof value when trying to trade
those guys to another team aswell, most likely we would be
having to take back some otherteam's bad salary, and so that's
(11:06):
going to be interesting.
The young guys with lowersalaries don't really have value
because they have not beendeveloped, so it's really kind
of tough.
And then to add injury, toinsult injuries.
A lot of our guys, either highpaid or our young guys, have had
injuries, which decreases theirvalue as well.
(11:27):
So if it's Ben Tenzer orwhoever the new GM is, they are
in for a difficult time tryingto make a trade happen.
So my hopes for the offseason.
I'm going to kind of go oversome scenarios I mentioned,
there are some great resourcesout there.
Scenarios I mentioned there aresome great resources out there.
I'm going to try and includethese in the show notes for this
(11:47):
episode just because I reallydo think they're valuable to see
what's realistic from someonethat really spent time and kind
of dug into what a realisticpossibility is.
And so those resources that I'mkind of basing these scenarios
on are from Jake Coyne.
He's known as Statsquatch.
(12:07):
On Twitter he puts out one of myfavorite documents of the year.
He really spends a lot of timecreating just an amazing
document.
If you really want to get nerdyabout the Nuggets offseason,
this is the go-to document, andI'll try and include a link, but
it's it's just every detail youcould ever look for about the
(12:28):
nuggets and what's possible forthe off season.
So Jake Coyne is the man.
This document is amazing.
Uh, another link I'm going toput in is a really cool off
season preview that Sam Vecinidid on his podcast called game
theory.
They are not Nuggets fans,they're not associated with the
Nuggets in any way, and so Ithink it's great to get an
(12:49):
outside perspective on maybewhat the value is for some of
the players and what other teamsmight be looking for as far as
trades or anything like that.
And so it's a short 30-minuteepisode and I thought they did a
great job of kind of breakingdown where the nuggets are at
and then even threw in a tradethat will go over here in a
(13:10):
little bit.
That I think could help thenuggets.
So obviously, dmvr always hasgreat coverage as well, but I
really wanted to highlight thosetwo resources as just an idea
of where these scenarios arecoming from.
I did not want to take creditfor them.
These guys spent a lot of workcreating those documents and
(13:31):
those episodes so I wanted tomake sure to give them credit.
So, as we look at the Nuggetsoffseason, there's different
groups of fans that kind of havedifferent hopes and dreams for
what's going to happen.
There's the group that wants tojust trade everyone.
We need to just trade anyonenot named Nikola Jokic and
almost do a just restart,refresh everything, because they
(13:56):
viewed last year as such adisaster.
There's another group that justsays we just need to trade MPJ
or Jamal and just kind of give asoft reset.
We just need to use resourceslike one of our two best players
to give us a little bit moredepth and break their big
(14:16):
contracts up into little ones.
And then there is the thirdgroup that thinks the Nuggets
are close.
We took the Thunder to sevengames is the third group that
thinks the Nuggets are close.
We took the Thunder to sevengames and all we need to do is
just sign a few veteran guys toreally fill out the bench, to
take the place of the guys thatreally couldn't play this past
year for us and that will justgive us that little extra depth.
(14:37):
I have to say I lean towardeither the second or the third
group.
I love MPJ and I love Jamalbecause they brought us a
championship, but I don't thinkI would be heartbroken if we
were able to trade one of themfor multiple players.
And if the Nuggets decide to gowith the third option and just
(15:00):
sign some veterans to fill outthe bench, I don't think I would
be upset about that either.
I think it really was a disasterbench last year.
Deandre Jordan had moments, buthe's probably passed where we
need him to be to really providebackup center minutes, as we
(15:22):
mentioned.
Sarich didn't provide anything.
Vlatko was hurt or just stuckon the bench all season.
Unfortunately.
Deron Holmes, our first roundpick, was hurt all year Tyson
Hunter or Hunter Tyson.
He doesn't seem to be quitegood enough to get minutes in
(15:43):
the NBA, and so we just had somany players that just didn't
provide anything.
And if you just fill those inwith some veterans that could
provide just nights off duringthe regular season or a key
moment in the playoffs, it couldgo a long way, and so I'm kind
of in between options two andthree.
(16:03):
I'd be very interested to seewhat we could get for MPJ or for
Jamal, but most likely it'sgoing to be just signing some
veterans.
So what are some scenarios fromthose resources that I really
like and I think are realistic?
Obviously, in a dream world, Iwould love to get Kevin Durant,
(16:24):
I would love to get Giannis, butthat's never going to happen.
So let's look at some tradesthat I think could possibly
happen and really help theNuggets.
So the first one is from JakeCoyne's document, and it is
trade Julian Strother, zeke Nagyand a swap of our 2030 first
(16:48):
round pick to Orlando for GogaBatase.
Now, goga Batase is not a hugename, but he is a solid, solid,
big man and I think would be aperfect backup center for the
Nuggets.
Not only could he play backupcenter to give Jokic a rest, but
I also think it could work inbig lineups where we need him
(17:09):
just to play a little bit ofpower forward to give Aaron
Gordon a rest, and so I reallylike this trade.
It would not be my first choiceto give up on Julian Strother,
but you have to give upsomething to get something, and
so with Julian Strother andPeyton Watson, my thought is
(17:29):
there is a chance that theydevelop into really good players
, but there's also a chance thatthey don't.
And so if we need to use Julianto get off of Zeke's contract
and get a valuable backup bigman, I like that, and so Jake
(17:50):
also included that we could signLuke Kennard for that exception
and then signed DeLon Wrightfor a minimum, and so this would
give us a great backup big man.
Luke Kennard would provide someshooting and DeLon Wright would
provide a nice veteran guardwho can handle the ball.
When we play those veteranteams with all the athletes like
(18:12):
Minnesota OKC, we need ballhandling, and Jamal Murray has
proven that sometimes he needssomeone to take the load off of
him when he's under thatpressure.
So that first trade I reallylike giving up Strother but
getting rid of Zeke and gettinga valuable backup big man, that
(18:33):
would check a lot of boxes forme.
The second trade that was alsoon Jake's document is a big one.
This would be trading MPJ Zekeand that 2031 first round pick
to the Chicago Bulls for PatrickWilliams, kevin Herter and Io
(18:56):
DeSumo.
Now obviously giving up MPJ isgoing to hurt.
He's been awesome for theNuggets.
He has not complained abouttaking a backseat to Jokic and
Jamal.
He's one of the best shootersin the league.
But he's overpaid.
He's had injury issues and ifwe need to include him and that
(19:19):
first round pick to get off ofZeke's contract and to break up
MPJ into multiple contracts, I'mwilling to do that.
Now this trade also is what Imentioned earlier.
We are taking back Chicago'sworst contract and what is
considered one of the worstcontracts in the entire NBA in
(19:40):
Patrick Williams.
Patrick Williams was a highdraft pick.
He was supposed to be one ofthose prototypical 3 and D guys
just the 6'8", 6'9" longdefender that can shoot and he
never turned into that and hegot paid a hefty contract that
goes on for another four years.
(20:01):
So the Nuggets would be takingon that In any situation where
we're taking on someone'sproblem.
There's always the hope thatjust a change of scenery or
playing with Jokic can turnthings around and it ends up
looking like a great deal.
Exhibit A Aaron Gordon.
I know a lot of Magic fans thatwere so frustrated with Aaron
(20:22):
Gordon and were ready to get ridof him, and the Nuggets did not
have to give up a lot to gethim and he turned into one of
the all-time Nuggets.
That led us to a championshipand I just love Aaron Gordon so
much and so not saying thiswould happen again.
But I think playing with Jokiccould really help a guy like
Patrick Williams and the factthat we're getting Kevin Herter
(20:43):
for shooting and Io DeSumo forsome much needed point of attack
defense.
He can guard point guard,shooting guard, small forwards.
He's a great defender and thedocument also says that we would
still have room to sign BruceBrown to that exception.
And then Mason Plumlee is ourbackup center, so I kind of love
(21:07):
this one.
This is, I think, reallyinteresting.
One of our best players and ouronly draft pick to trade.
We're taking on bad money, butI think there's a lot of
positives in this type of tradethat would allow the Nuggets to
really go into the season with adeeper bench, with more
(21:28):
shooting, with more defense, andI don't know.
I kind of love this trade onceI saw it.
I think it's something thatit's going to take some guts to
do, but I think it's somethingthat it's going to take some
guts to do, but I think it'ssomething that the Nuggets
should look into.
(21:50):
And then the third trade that Ireally like is from that Sam
Vecini podcast.
Again, he's an outsider justlooking at it from a national
perspective and he agrees thatthe Nuggets need to break up one
of the big contracts into more,more players, get a deeper
bench and just give, giveyourself a little bit more
options to either fight againstinjuries, fight against fatigue.
(22:12):
You may even be able to tradesome of these players in the
future for more assets.
And so his idea was trade MPJto the Hornets for Grant
Williams, josh Green and JoshAkogi.
Now, this may not be the bigname players that we would hope
(22:32):
to get for MPJ, but I think itsimilar to the last deal in PJ,
but I think it similar to thelast deal.
It adds depth and it'ssomething that the nuggets
really need.
So Grant Williams is a kind ofgrind, grinded out every night,
hardcore guy that is full ofenergy.
Now I will say it seems likehis teammates always really get
(22:52):
annoyed with him and don'treally like him.
So that may not be somethingthat we're interested in.
But Josh Green, kind of aslasher wing that could provide
some defense and shooting.
And Josh Akogi, same thing.
He'll play hard, he'll providesome defense, but he's a
professional basketball playerand so turning MPJ into three
useful players I think would begood.
(23:13):
And then in this scenario theythey could also sign Luke
Kennard to the exception andkind of get some shooting to
come off the bench as well.
So really, like those threeexample trades, I think they
each provide something different, but I think it's kind of the
right train of thought where theNuggets need to think about
(23:34):
some either small changes or bigchanges, but add that depth,
add more useful players.
There's been other rumoredtrades like Utah has a lot of
guys that we could be interestedin, like John Collins and Colin
Sexton.
Toronto has a bunch of guysthat we could really use and
then, of course, orlando.
One of my dream scenarios wouldbe some sort of Jamal Murray
(24:00):
trade where we get Jalen Suggsand then a couple of their wings
, slash big men and and I thinkit could really help out both
teams I would be happy for mymagic fans to get a point guard
that can score for the magic,and then I would love the depth
that Orlando could give to theNuggets.
I seriously doubt we're tradingJamal, but that's just kind of
(24:22):
a dream scenario.
And then there's even beenrumors where we would figure out
something to trade to thePelicans to get Zion Williamson.
So there's all sorts ofpossibilities out there.
Obviously, most of it is justfor fun, most likely not going
to happen, but it is fun tothink about, and so I think what
(24:43):
is most likely is we will signBruce Brown to that exception.
Bruce has been pretty openabout how much he loved his time
in Denver and he retweeted whenDavid Adelman got the head
coaching job.
He attended Nuggets playoffgames when he was already
eliminated and they were playingstill.
(25:05):
I really think Bruce wants tocome back to Denver and the
Nuggets fans I think kind ofhave put him up on a pedestal
just because he was such a funplayer and did so well for us
during the championship run.
But I think he could providesome much-needed depth and ball
handling.
So I would welcome Bruce backwith open arms.
As much as I want them to do it, I think that they will keep
(25:28):
the core together.
I'm guessing we will have thesame starting five going into
next year, and then I thinkthey're going to sign some
minimum guys.
So, while it's not my topchoice, I think the most likely
scenario could provide someoptimism going into next year.
All I know is it's going to beinteresting.
There's so many possibilitiesand the rumors are fun.
(25:51):
Draft night is so much fun,even if the Nuggets don't have a
pick, and I just love it all.
I think it's going to be so funto break down, and obviously we
will break it down wheneverything happens, and so I
appreciate you guys listeningtoday for this offseason preview
and we will be back soon.
Al right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar
.
It is the offseason and I lovethe offseason.
It's fun to think of all thepossibilities for your team to
either sign a big free agent ormake a big trade.
There's draft picks.
It's kind of fun to think ofall the possibilities, just of
(00:24):
how your team can improve andgive you that hope for the
upcoming season.
So I think it's going to be fun.
We're going to do an off-seasonpreview for the Nuggets today
and there's a lot ofpossibilities.
Some may be more realistic thanothers, but I thought we'd kind
of dive in and review some ofthe off-season previews that
(00:47):
I've seen from actualjournalists and see what ideas
they have and kind of what mypreferences are of what the
Nuggets do.
So I think, before we dive intoall that, the Nuggets still
need a general manager.
So any of these possibilities,if they were to happen usually
it happens because a team has ageneral manager to accomplish
(01:10):
those.
So hopefully the Nuggets getone soon.
From all the reporting it seemslike they're going to promote
Ben Tenzer, who's been with theorganization for a little while.
He was the acting generalmanager once they fired Calvin
Booth and apparently he's areally smart kind of cap guy,
(01:30):
but he's never been like anofficial general manager before,
so it will be interesting tosee how he handles trades and
free agent signings and all thatstuff.
And it may be more so that he'sgetting hired because Josh
Kroenke is the one that'sactually involved or sorry, not
(01:54):
involved but in charge and we'llgo over that a little bit more
later.
But I think the holdup, fromwhat I've heard, uh, both on
DNVR and, um, just otherreporters is that it's not so
much.
The decision is whether they'regoing to hire Ben Tenzer or
somebody else.
It seems like maybe they'regoing to decide whether Ben
(02:16):
Tenzer, as the general manager,will be kind of like the top of
the organization, right underJosh Kroenke, or if they're
going to hire someone else to belike a president of basketball
operations, um, to be rightabove Ben Tenzer and in between
him and Josh Kroenke.
So I hope they do it soon.
(02:37):
Um, I want them to start kindof formulating a plan and be
ready for this off season.
But yeah, we can only wait.
So, speaking of Josh Kroenke,he's had a couple press
conferences so far this offseason and he seems optimistic,
which obviously I love, and hehas mentioned internal
(03:01):
development quite a bit, whichcould be good or bad depending
on how they approach it.
And what does that mean exactly?
Well, we've seen the beginningalready.
They've internally hired DavidAdaman to be the next head coach
, which, as I spoke about lasttime, I actually love.
(03:21):
He showed promise just in theshort time that he was the head
coach last season and,truthfully, the fact that he got
rid of quite a few of theassistant coaches that were also
on Michael Malone's staff I wasencouraged by.
I think a change is needed, andeven though David Adelman was
(03:45):
on the staff, I think herealizes that a change within
the coaching staff is needed aswell, and so I'm kind of excited
to see how he shapes up hisstaff, and we'll have to see if
he gets kind of like the younggeniuses or if he gets former
players or if he gets old,veteran coaches that have been
(04:06):
around and seen everything.
I'm actually pretty fascinatedto see kind of how he shapes his
staff, and obviously Imentioned the GM.
I think that's going to beinternal development as well,
and then Josh Kroenke hasmentioned internal development
from the players as well.
So obviously that can mean theyoung guys, starting with
(04:28):
Christian Brown, peyton Watson,julian Strother, but also Deron
Holmes and Jalen Pickett, likeguys that either were hurt and
didn't get a lot of playing time, were in Michael Malone's
doghouse.
They didn't get a lot ofplaying time or they really need
to develop to prove that theycan belong in the NBA.
And so the young guys if theyare not involved in trades this
(04:52):
offseason, there's a lot of roomto develop, and if that's the
Nuggets' only plan, then I'mgoing to be pretty disappointed
in that.
There's still some veteransthat could see some development
as well.
Obviously, mpj been around awhile.
We kind of know what he is, buthe's always had Michael Malone,
(05:16):
and so you never know, a newsystem, a new coach could unlock
him and he could level up andbe even more of an asset on
offense and you never know ondefense as well.
And the big one obviously isalways going to be Jamal Murray.
He has talent.
It's whether he wants to put inthe effort, and you never know,
(05:39):
maybe David Adelman will holdhim more accountable than
Michael Malone did, maybe JoshKroenke will hold him more
accountable than in the past andmaybe they will say that Jamal
needs to come into the season inshape and maybe he needs to do
something different to try andavoid some of these nagging
injuries and carry more of theload during the regular season.
(06:02):
So that could definitely beinternal development.
And so pretty much throughoutJosh Kroenke's press conferences
you get the feeling that he isgoing to be more involved and
we're going to have to wait andsee whether that's a good or a
bad thing, and I do like that.
He admits that something's gotto change.
(06:24):
But if, whether that's a goodor a bad thing and I do like
that he admits that theresomething's got to change, but
if we're just hoping that theplayers we already have are
going to get better, I don'tnecessarily think that's the
best plan moving forward.
So, other than way, other thaninternal development, what are
other ways the Nuggets canimprove?
(06:44):
Well, normally there's the draft, but the Nuggets have zero
draft picks.
And not only do we have zerodraft picks this year, we really
don't have any draft picks forthe foreseeable future that we
can trade to get players or moredraft picks or anything like
that.
We have one in 2031 that we'reallowed to trade and that could
(07:09):
have some value, because a lotof teams could look at that and
be like well, jokic will be 35by then.
What will the Nuggets look like?
And so it does have some value.
But, as we discussed in thepast, calvin Booth's really
pattern of obtaining players wasjust to throw a ton of draft
picks at the trade to try andmake it happen, and it really
(07:34):
seems like we just reallydepleted all of our draft pick
war chest to get players thatdidn't turn out to do too much
for us so hindsight's 20-20, butthat did not work out in our
favor.
There's possibilities that wecould make a trade and get a
draft pick this year.
There's always the option ofbuying a second round pick.
(07:56):
A lot of teams will just sellthem for a couple million.
I'm not sure how willing theCronkies would be willing to do
that or if there's a player thatcould help the nuggets, um,
that would even make thatworthwhile.
So the draft may be pretty lowkey for the nuggets this year,
um, and that's okay.
(08:16):
There's obviously other avenuesto improve, including free
agency.
Now, free agency should be alittle bit more active for the
Nuggets, although they are veryclose to that dreaded second
apron which is scaring teams todeath, basically.
And so the Nuggets cannot signbig name free agents or really
(08:40):
add much salary.
So it's going to be a lot ofminimum guys.
And they also have the taxpayerexception, which, if you want
to kind of get an idea of whatlevel player that is, our last
two exceptions that we've usedwould be guys like Reggie
Jackson or Dario Saric, and soobviously Reggie had his moments
(09:04):
, but we eventually had to tradehim away and throw in three
second round picks just to getthe Hornets to take him.
And then Dario really was juststuck on the bench because he
had such a disastrous five gamesat the beginning of the season
and just kind of showed thathe's no longer an NBA player.
(09:24):
So minimum guys, it is for thefree agents.
Now there are some interestingnames that we'll go over later.
I think that could really helpthe Nuggets and I don't know if
that's necessarily a good thing.
It just kind of shows you howhow much a lack of depth on our
bench is a problem.
So we'll go over somepossibilities later.
(09:47):
But the third way the Nuggetscan improve is by trades, and
trades are obviously really funto think about.
They've built tools out therewhere you can build the trades
and see if they work as far assalaries go, most of the time
when you see a fake trade on theinternet it is totally
unrealistic.
It's usually like hey, myfavorite team will give you a
(10:09):
bunch of garbage and you give usa superstar.
But I think there are someresources out there that they've
made up some realistic faketrades and I'm going to go over
some of my favorites.
But trades are going to betough.
(10:44):
Like I said, the Nuggets theyhaveal Murray, michael Porter,
jr.
They probably should be on muchlesser contracts and so it's
going to be hard to get any sortof value when trying to trade
those guys to another team aswell, most likely we would be
having to take back some otherteam's bad salary, and so that's
(11:06):
going to be interesting.
The young guys with lowersalaries don't really have value
because they have not beendeveloped, so it's really kind
of tough.
And then to add injury, toinsult injuries.
A lot of our guys, either highpaid or our young guys, have had
injuries, which decreases theirvalue as well.
(11:27):
So if it's Ben Tenzer orwhoever the new GM is, they are
in for a difficult time tryingto make a trade happen.
So my hopes for the offseason.
I'm going to kind of go oversome scenarios I mentioned,
there are some great resourcesout there.
Scenarios I mentioned there aresome great resources out there.
I'm going to try and includethese in the show notes for this
(11:47):
episode just because I reallydo think they're valuable to see
what's realistic from someonethat really spent time and kind
of dug into what a realisticpossibility is.
And so those resources that I'mkind of basing these scenarios
on are from Jake Coyne.
He's known as Statsquatch.
(12:07):
On Twitter he puts out one of myfavorite documents of the year.
He really spends a lot of timecreating just an amazing
document.
If you really want to get nerdyabout the Nuggets offseason,
this is the go-to document, andI'll try and include a link, but
it's it's just every detail youcould ever look for about the
(12:28):
nuggets and what's possible forthe off season.
So Jake Coyne is the man.
This document is amazing.
Uh, another link I'm going toput in is a really cool off
season preview that Sam Vecinidid on his podcast called game
theory.
They are not Nuggets fans,they're not associated with the
Nuggets in any way, and so Ithink it's great to get an
(12:49):
outside perspective on maybewhat the value is for some of
the players and what other teamsmight be looking for as far as
trades or anything like that.
And so it's a short 30-minuteepisode and I thought they did a
great job of kind of breakingdown where the nuggets are at
and then even threw in a tradethat will go over here in a
(13:10):
little bit.
That I think could help thenuggets.
So obviously, dmvr always hasgreat coverage as well, but I
really wanted to highlight thosetwo resources as just an idea
of where these scenarios arecoming from.
I did not want to take creditfor them.
These guys spent a lot of workcreating those documents and
(13:31):
those episodes so I wanted tomake sure to give them credit.
So, as we look at the Nuggetsoffseason, there's different
groups of fans that kind of havedifferent hopes and dreams for
what's going to happen.
There's the group that wants tojust trade everyone.
We need to just trade anyonenot named Nikola Jokic and
almost do a just restart,refresh everything, because they
(13:56):
viewed last year as such adisaster.
There's another group that justsays we just need to trade MPJ
or Jamal and just kind of give asoft reset.
We just need to use resourceslike one of our two best players
to give us a little bit moredepth and break their big
(14:16):
contracts up into little ones.
And then there is the thirdgroup that thinks the Nuggets
are close.
We took the Thunder to sevengames is the third group that
thinks the Nuggets are close.
We took the Thunder to sevengames and all we need to do is
just sign a few veteran guys toreally fill out the bench, to
take the place of the guys thatreally couldn't play this past
year for us and that will justgive us that little extra depth.
(14:37):
I have to say I lean towardeither the second or the third
group.
I love MPJ and I love Jamalbecause they brought us a
championship, but I don't thinkI would be heartbroken if we
were able to trade one of themfor multiple players.
And if the Nuggets decide to gowith the third option and just
(15:00):
sign some veterans to fill outthe bench, I don't think I would
be upset about that either.
I think it really was a disasterbench last year.
Deandre Jordan had moments, buthe's probably passed where we
need him to be to really providebackup center minutes, as we
(15:22):
mentioned.
Sarich didn't provide anything.
Vlatko was hurt or just stuckon the bench all season.
Unfortunately.
Deron Holmes, our first roundpick, was hurt all year Tyson
Hunter or Hunter Tyson.
He doesn't seem to be quitegood enough to get minutes in
(15:43):
the NBA, and so we just had somany players that just didn't
provide anything.
And if you just fill those inwith some veterans that could
provide just nights off duringthe regular season or a key
moment in the playoffs, it couldgo a long way, and so I'm kind
of in between options two andthree.
(16:03):
I'd be very interested to seewhat we could get for MPJ or for
Jamal, but most likely it'sgoing to be just signing some
veterans.
So what are some scenarios fromthose resources that I really
like and I think are realistic?
Obviously, in a dream world, Iwould love to get Kevin Durant,
(16:24):
I would love to get Giannis, butthat's never going to happen.
So let's look at some tradesthat I think could possibly
happen and really help theNuggets.
So the first one is from JakeCoyne's document, and it is
trade Julian Strother, zeke Nagyand a swap of our 2030 first
(16:48):
round pick to Orlando for GogaBatase.
Now, goga Batase is not a hugename, but he is a solid, solid,
big man and I think would be aperfect backup center for the
Nuggets.
Not only could he play backupcenter to give Jokic a rest, but
I also think it could work inbig lineups where we need him
(17:09):
just to play a little bit ofpower forward to give Aaron
Gordon a rest, and so I reallylike this trade.
It would not be my first choiceto give up on Julian Strother,
but you have to give upsomething to get something, and
so with Julian Strother andPeyton Watson, my thought is
(17:29):
there is a chance that theydevelop into really good players
, but there's also a chance thatthey don't.
And so if we need to use Julianto get off of Zeke's contract
and get a valuable backup bigman, I like that, and so Jake
(17:50):
also included that we could signLuke Kennard for that exception
and then signed DeLon Wrightfor a minimum, and so this would
give us a great backup big man.
Luke Kennard would provide someshooting and DeLon Wright would
provide a nice veteran guardwho can handle the ball.
When we play those veteranteams with all the athletes like
(18:12):
Minnesota OKC, we need ballhandling, and Jamal Murray has
proven that sometimes he needssomeone to take the load off of
him when he's under thatpressure.
So that first trade I reallylike giving up Strother but
getting rid of Zeke and gettinga valuable backup big man, that
(18:33):
would check a lot of boxes forme.
The second trade that was alsoon Jake's document is a big one.
This would be trading MPJ Zekeand that 2031 first round pick
to the Chicago Bulls for PatrickWilliams, kevin Herter and Io
(18:56):
DeSumo.
Now obviously giving up MPJ isgoing to hurt.
He's been awesome for theNuggets.
He has not complained abouttaking a backseat to Jokic and
Jamal.
He's one of the best shootersin the league.
But he's overpaid.
He's had injury issues and ifwe need to include him and that
(19:19):
first round pick to get off ofZeke's contract and to break up
MPJ into multiple contracts, I'mwilling to do that.
Now this trade also is what Imentioned earlier.
We are taking back Chicago'sworst contract and what is
considered one of the worstcontracts in the entire NBA in
(19:40):
Patrick Williams.
Patrick Williams was a highdraft pick.
He was supposed to be one ofthose prototypical 3 and D guys
just the 6'8", 6'9" longdefender that can shoot and he
never turned into that and hegot paid a hefty contract that
goes on for another four years.
(20:01):
So the Nuggets would be takingon that In any situation where
we're taking on someone'sproblem.
There's always the hope thatjust a change of scenery or
playing with Jokic can turnthings around and it ends up
looking like a great deal.
Exhibit A Aaron Gordon.
I know a lot of Magic fans thatwere so frustrated with Aaron
(20:22):
Gordon and were ready to get ridof him, and the Nuggets did not
have to give up a lot to gethim and he turned into one of
the all-time Nuggets.
That led us to a championshipand I just love Aaron Gordon so
much and so not saying thiswould happen again.
But I think playing with Jokiccould really help a guy like
Patrick Williams and the factthat we're getting Kevin Herter
(20:43):
for shooting and Io DeSumo forsome much needed point of attack
defense.
He can guard point guard,shooting guard, small forwards.
He's a great defender and thedocument also says that we would
still have room to sign BruceBrown to that exception.
And then Mason Plumlee is ourbackup center, so I kind of love
(21:07):
this one.
This is, I think, reallyinteresting.
One of our best players and ouronly draft pick to trade.
We're taking on bad money, butI think there's a lot of
positives in this type of tradethat would allow the Nuggets to
really go into the season with adeeper bench, with more
(21:28):
shooting, with more defense, andI don't know.
I kind of love this trade onceI saw it.
I think it's something thatit's going to take some guts to
do, but I think it's somethingthat it's going to take some
guts to do, but I think it'ssomething that the Nuggets
should look into.
(21:50):
And then the third trade that Ireally like is from that Sam
Vecini podcast.
Again, he's an outsider justlooking at it from a national
perspective and he agrees thatthe Nuggets need to break up one
of the big contracts into more,more players, get a deeper
bench and just give, giveyourself a little bit more
options to either fight againstinjuries, fight against fatigue.
(22:12):
You may even be able to tradesome of these players in the
future for more assets.
And so his idea was trade MPJto the Hornets for Grant
Williams, josh Green and JoshAkogi.
Now, this may not be the bigname players that we would hope
(22:32):
to get for MPJ, but I think itsimilar to the last deal in PJ,
but I think it similar to thelast deal.
It adds depth and it'ssomething that the nuggets
really need.
So Grant Williams is a kind ofgrind, grinded out every night,
hardcore guy that is full ofenergy.
Now I will say it seems likehis teammates always really get
(22:52):
annoyed with him and don'treally like him.
So that may not be somethingthat we're interested in.
But Josh Green, kind of aslasher wing that could provide
some defense and shooting.
And Josh Akogi, same thing.
He'll play hard, he'll providesome defense, but he's a
professional basketball playerand so turning MPJ into three
useful players I think would begood.
(23:13):
And then in this scenario theythey could also sign Luke
Kennard to the exception andkind of get some shooting to
come off the bench as well.
So really, like those threeexample trades, I think they
each provide something different, but I think it's kind of the
right train of thought where theNuggets need to think about
(23:34):
some either small changes or bigchanges, but add that depth,
add more useful players.
There's been other rumoredtrades like Utah has a lot of
guys that we could be interestedin, like John Collins and Colin
Sexton.
Toronto has a bunch of guysthat we could really use and
then, of course, orlando.
One of my dream scenarios wouldbe some sort of Jamal Murray
(24:00):
trade where we get Jalen Suggsand then a couple of their wings
, slash big men and and I thinkit could really help out both
teams I would be happy for mymagic fans to get a point guard
that can score for the magic,and then I would love the depth
that Orlando could give to theNuggets.
I seriously doubt we're tradingJamal, but that's just kind of
(24:22):
a dream scenario.
And then there's even beenrumors where we would figure out
something to trade to thePelicans to get Zion Williamson.
So there's all sorts ofpossibilities out there.
Obviously, most of it is justfor fun, most likely not going
to happen, but it is fun tothink about, and so I think what
(24:43):
is most likely is we will signBruce Brown to that exception.
Bruce has been pretty openabout how much he loved his time
in Denver and he retweeted whenDavid Adelman got the head
coaching job.
He attended Nuggets playoffgames when he was already
eliminated and they were playingstill.
(25:05):
I really think Bruce wants tocome back to Denver and the
Nuggets fans I think kind ofhave put him up on a pedestal
just because he was such a funplayer and did so well for us
during the championship run.
But I think he could providesome much-needed depth and ball
handling.
So I would welcome Bruce backwith open arms.
As much as I want them to do it, I think that they will keep
(25:28):
the core together.
I'm guessing we will have thesame starting five going into
next year, and then I thinkthey're going to sign some
minimum guys.
So, while it's not my topchoice, I think the most likely
scenario could provide someoptimism going into next year.
All I know is it's going to beinteresting.
There's so many possibilitiesand the rumors are fun.
(25:51):
Draft night is so much fun,even if the Nuggets don't have a
pick, and I just love it all.
I think it's going to be so funto break down, and obviously we
will break it down wheneverything happens, and so I
appreciate you guys listeningtoday for this offseason preview
and we will be back soon.
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