Nuggets Training Camp has Started!

We recap a high-impact offseason, a refreshed coaching staff, and a reshaped roster, then shift to training camp vibes where Jokić is loose and Jamal Murray arrives locked in. The mood is light, the roles make sense, and the title window feels wide open.

• new general managers set cap strategy and relationship edge
• David Adelman named head coach with Jared Dudley and JJ Barea assisting
• MPJ traded for Cam Johnson to rebalance shooting and defense
• additions of Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr and Jonas Valančiūnas for depth
• Rico Hines runs build chemistry and early trust
• training camp energy high with veterans and newcomers aligned
• Jokić’s humor signals comfort and leadership tone
• Jamal Murray arrives in shape, targets fast start and All-Star
• depth aims to prevent slow starts and late-season fatigue
• outlook centers on real championship contention

We’ll be posting episodes every other week—games start soon, we’ll highlight the best ones, and we’re going to have fun covering a season that looks special

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Episode Transcript

Brian (00:03):
All right, everyone.
Welcome back to Fandom fromAfar.
The Nuggets have landed in SanDiego and have started their
training camp.
And that means basketball ishere.
And I love it.
So I figured today we'll do aquick off-season recap and then
go over what they have shown usso far from the first couple

(00:27):
days of training camp.
Spoiler alert, it is allamazing.
And we'll just kind of startbuilding up the excitement for
what looks like it could be areally cool year.
So quick off-season recap incase you haven't been following
along.
The Nuggets started by hiringtwo new general managers.
One is Ben Tenzer, who is kindof like the cap guru.

(00:50):
And the other is John Wallace,who, from everything I've heard,
has amazing relationships notonly with players, but also with
agents all around the league.
And I think that's going to bea huge advantage from the
previous general manager.
Next, we did hire David Adelmanas our full-time coach.

(01:11):
I thought he did awesome lastyear, kind of getting thrown
into the fire, and I can't waitto see what he does this year.
With Adleman, he also broughtalong some new assistants, Jared
Dudley and JJ Berea.
They both were previously withDallas.
And I'm excited about them too.
Jared Dudley, even when he wasa player, was kind of known just

(01:33):
for being one of those guysthat everybody likes and
respects his opinion.
And so I think coaching wasjust kind of natural for him.
And apparently he's kind of oneof those guys that's rising up
the ranks pretty quick.
And I'm excited that theNuggets have him.
And then JJ Berea, apparently,he's kind of like a little
offensive uh guru, and I'mexcited to see kind of what new

(01:55):
ideas he can bring to theNuggets as well.
So new coaching staff, newfront office.
Then those new general managersblew us all away by trading MPJ
for Cam Johnson.
Not only do I think CamJohnson's a better player, but
it also opened up some money sowe could sign some other
players.
And those other players endedup being Bruce Brown, Tim

(02:16):
Hardaway Jr., and of course BigJonas Falanchunis.
So overall, I just think threehome runs for the Nuggets.
Each one fits a need of what Iwish the Nuggets had last year.
And I can't wait to see whatthey do this year, not only just
to give us depth, but also topush some of our younger guys,

(02:38):
hopefully help our younger guysget better.
And I think the veterans thathave been on the team are really
excited about those newadditions.
Now there was a bit of dramafor a while there.
It seemed like Jonas Valentunaswas not going to come to the
Nuggets and possibly go playover in Europe.
I don't think the whole storyhas come out on that yet.

(03:00):
I think there was some familyissues where he wanted to be
closer to home, which is totallyunderstandable, but it does
appear that he's all in now, andI think he's excited to win a
championship.
And then finally, as the sea asthe offseason was kind of
winding down, more and morevideos kept coming out about the
Nuggets kind of gathering as ateam.

(03:22):
There's a famous, they call itthe Rico Heinz run, which
basically just means a bunch ofthe players get together during
the offseason at a specific gymand just play some pretty
intense pickup games.
And almost every nugget exceptfor Jokic was there.
And just from the sound of it,it sounds like they all bonded,

(03:42):
they all played really welltogether, and I think it got
them even more excited for theseason.
So that's our quick review ofthe offseason.
I'm not even going to sugarcoatit.
I am just thrilled with whathappened this offseason.
I think it set the nuggets upfor success.
I liked all the moves.
I will say I was hesitant aboutthose two new general managers,

(04:06):
but apparently all they do ishit home runs.
So right now, I love them.
Alright, so here we are today.
Training camp has started.
As at the time of thisrecording, we are two days into
training camp.
So really all that's happenedis media day and then one day of
practice.
And really, overall, the vibesare immaculate.

(04:29):
We haven't had the chance tosay that in years, but it really
seems like this team likesbeing around each other.
I think the guys that were onthe team last year are looking
at it like a fresh start.
The the new players that arecoming in are excited to be on a
championship contender.
Everyone's excited to play withJokic.

(04:50):
Jokic seems to be excited forthis team.
And I just think that everyoneneeded the fresh start.
And so we have from the topdown new front office, new
coaching staff, new players, andeveryone seems to be excited
about that.
And so I love how everyone isacting right now.

(05:13):
Obviously, it's a long season.
We'll see how it goes.
But just right now, you cantell they're just they're almost
giddy to get started because Ithink they know they have a
chance to actually contend forthe championship this year.
So some key takeaways from whatI've seen 3,000 miles away from
our boys out in San Diego.
The team just seems to likeeach other both personally and

(05:38):
on the court, just from all thecomments that everyone's saying,
it just seems like whetherthey're they're new or a
returning player, everyone justseems to be best friends
already.
And that was definitely not thecase last couple years.
They are joking around witheach other.
We'll get to it later, butJokic, all his answers are
pretty much jokes making fun ofthe guys.

(06:00):
And there just seems to be kindof a levity amongst the team
right now.
I think they're quietlyconfident, but they're having
fun as well.
And I'm hoping that leads tothe season not feeling like such
a slog, and they're they'regonna be excited to see each
other every day.
Everyone's focused on thechampionship.
Like I said, Jonas Falanchunas,Tim Hardaway Jr., and then

(06:21):
obviously Bruce Brown won thechampionship with us in 2023,
but then he played on somepretty bad teams over the last
couple years.
So I think even he's excited tobe back on a contender.
And almost every comment theymention, even Cam Johnson, he
played in the finals for Phoenixmany years ago, but he's been
stuck out in Brooklyn on somepretty terrible teams.

(06:43):
And so there's just they'rebringing that energy, and I
think that's revitalized some ofthe veterans who the Nuggets
have been contenders for years.
With with Jokic, you are acontender, but I think the
veterans are now seeing theenergy from these guys and
realizing what an opportunitythey have, and hopefully they

(07:05):
can take advantage of it.
I think a big one is Jokic ishappy.
Jokic has never come intotraining camp and acted like
this before.
He is a reluctant participant,is a nice way to put it, and he
he doesn't enjoy talking to themedia ever, but the past couple

(07:27):
days he has been just all smilesand jokes.
And just to give you a coupleexamples, in his opening press
conference, one of the reportersasked about Bruce Brown coming
back, and Jokic just kind ofcasually said, Yeah, I guess
we're just gonna have to savehis career again.
And I I love his dry sense ofhumor, and I don't think it

(07:48):
sounds like only one of thereporters caught it and laughed,
but I thought it was hilarious.
And then yesterday they askedhim about possibly playing on
the court at the same time as uhJonas Found Chunis.
So that would be interesting.
They're both giant humanbeings, and hopefully he can
gobble up every single rebound.
But his his only response was,Oh, I'm gonna play with Jonas.

(08:11):
Good.
I'm I'm just so tired ofplaying with Aaron Gordon.
Like every answer is just ajoke to him now, and we haven't
seen that before.
Usually Jokic is just he'sthere to not get fined, as
Marshawn Lynch would say, and heputs up with the media, but
this year he seems to be inquite a good mood.
And like I said, it's just thewhole vibe around the team.
Everyone's everyone's happy.

(08:32):
But the big takeaway, at leastto me, from the first couple
days of training camp, is JamalMurray.
I don't know how many hours Ispent on this podcast last
season talking about how JamalMurray was such an X factor.
If only he would focus and getin shape, if only Jamal Murray

(08:54):
would take the regular seasonseriously.
Well, Jamal Murray showed up inSan Diego in what I think might
be the best shape he's everbeen in.
He looks ripped for JamalMurray.
He looks in great shape.
Like sometimes Jamal can be alittle puffy.
He kind of works him himselfinto shape, but I was very happy

(09:17):
to see Jamal's been putting insome work this offseason.
And then not only that, butjust his comments.
Jamal usually blows offcomments about the regular
season or his early seasonstruggles or really his
struggles in general.
He his answers are normallyI'll be there when the playoffs
start.
I'll I'll be there when it whenit counts.

(09:39):
And this year, really one ofhis first answers talked about
him wanting to have a greatstart to the season.
He wants to be an all-star.
None of this can happen if youdon't take the regular season
seriously, and it seems like heis this year, which could be
just huge for the Nuggets.

(10:00):
They have gotten off to someslow starts, mainly because of
Jamal, and it just weighs theseason down.
It puts extra pressure on allthe other players, which leads
to injuries, which leads to theguys not being able to rest
later in the season, which leadsto us having to fight our way
up the standings later in theseason.
So if Jamal is going to takethe early season seriously, I

(10:23):
think that is just it can't beoverstated how big that is
because that has just not beenthe case in the past.
And I'm excited to see it.
And they don't show videos ofthe practices they've been
having, but apparently Jamal'sbeen killing it on the court as
well.
And so Jokic is obviously thebiggest reason why the Nuggets
are going to succeed, but ifJamal Murray takes the regular

(10:45):
season seriously, there's reallyno cap on what the Nuggets can
accomplish if they have afocused, intense Jamal Murray.
So that's my big takeaway.
I just can't believe all thegood things that have happened,
but Jokic being happy and Jamalbeing serious, you gotta love

(11:05):
it.
So I'm gonna be postingepisodes every other week, and
we'll just kind of update the uhNuggets news.
Obviously, they'll have gamescoming up pretty soon.
We'll we'll highlight some ofthe games, and really we're just
gonna have fun covering thisseason because it is shaping up
to be special.
And uh 2023 may be the onlychampionship we get to cover,

(11:31):
but the way this season islooking, I think we have a shot
to add ring number two.
Thanks for listening, everyone.