Thread: The Official Denver Nuggets Thread!

Originally Posted by Ziggy

Looks like a great article, but the Post wants me to pay to read it.

I don't know what that is all about. I did not have to pay, and I just clicked on the link in your post, and it opened up to the article.

Originally Posted by Ziggy

Originally Posted by Denver Native (Carol)

rest - https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/2...surgery-rehab/

Looks like a great article, but the Post wants me to pay to read it.

Read in incognito. It tracks your site visits. Just read 3 or 4 articles...close it...repeat

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Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will have his team option declined for next season to become RFA, and sides plan to reach agreement on a five-year, $146.5M maximum contract, league sources told Yahoo.

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Originally Posted by dogfish

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Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will have his team option declined for next season to become RFA, and sides plan to reach agreement on a five-year, $146.5M maximum contract, league sources told Yahoo.

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/st...%2F%23comments

Boom. Stephen A. Was going off about how good this team should be next year with the young core and a healthy milsap

Originally Posted by Jsteve01

Boom. Stephen A. Was going off about how good this team should be next year with the young core and a healthy milsap

i think millsap would need a monster season this year if they're going to pick up his option. . . you need to get one hell of a lot more than 14/6 per night for thirty million. . . signing him to that deal instead of going all-in to get paul george or jimmy butler was a huge mistake, IMO. . . unless he really goes nuts this year, they need to decline that option, and use the cap space to sign a younger talent. . .

i'm more interested to see if jamal murray can take that next step. . . in year two, he jumped from 9.9 PPG to 16.7 PPG. . . can he take it to 20 this year? that's the type of developmental curve we've seen from some of the league's top scorers in the past. . . if jamal has elite level play in him, this is the year we should really start to see that. . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

Originally Posted by Jsteve01

Boom. Stephen A. Was going off about how good this team should be next year with the young core and a healthy milsap

i think millsap would need a monster season this year if they're going to pick up his option. . . you need to get one hell of a lot more than 14/6 per night for thirty million. . . signing him to that deal instead of going all-in to get paul george or jimmy butler was a huge mistake, IMO. . . unless he really goes nuts this year, they need to decline that option, and use the cap space to sign a younger talent. . .

i'm more interested to see if jamal murray can take that next step. . . in year two, he jumped from 9.9 PPG to 16.7 PPG. . . can he take it to 20 this year? that's the type of developmental curve we've seen from some of the league's top scorers in the past. . . if jamal has elite level play in him, this is the year we should really start to see that. . .

I agre on both counts. Harris we know is an above average 2 but not franchise. Murray strikes me as a guy with Wall potential. So young and athletic

here are some other guys' averages their first few years for comparison. . .

giannis

1 - 6.8
2 - 12.7
3 - 16.9
4 - 22.9
5- 26.9

james harden

1 - 9.9
2 - 12.2
3 - 16.8
4 - 25.9

paul george

1 - 7.8
2 - 12.1
3 - 17.4
4 - 21.7

jimmy butler

1 - 2.6
2 - 8.6
3 - 13.1
4 - 20.0
5 - 20.9
6 - 23.9

klay thompson

1 - 12.5
2 - 16.6
3 - 18.4
4 - 21.7

i'm not posting any bigs, i don't think the comp is as useful. . . but for even some of the best wings, the guys who aren't lebron/KD level freaks typically take 3-4 years to develop into 20+ PPG scorers. . . the great ones tend to add 3-6 points a year to that average until they reach their peak. . . we should find out pretty soon here if murray still has additional gears to hit, or if he's going to max out around that "good but not special" 15-16-17 PPG range. . . personally, i like the odds that he has that kind of game, and that he can, in fact, get into that elite scorers club. . . he has the shooting stroke, and natural scoring touch around the rim-- he still needs to get stronger, and keep refining his shot selection. . . we know how badly the odds are stacked against the non-huge market teams in the NBA-- but honestly, that would just make it SO much sweeter to see the nugs actually pull it off. . . even sweeter still if they can do it organically, with homegrown talent. . .

report: the pacers will target will barton and tyreke evans in free agency. . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

i'm not posting any bigs, i don't think the comp is as useful. . . but for even some of the best wings, the guys who aren't lebron/KD level freaks typically take 3-4 years to develop into 20+ PPG scorers. . . the great ones tend to add 3-6 points a year to that average until they reach their peak. . . we should find out pretty soon here if murray still has additional gears to hit, or if he's going to max out around that "good but not special" 15-16-17 PPG range. . . personally, i like the odds that he has that kind of game, and that he can, in fact, get into that elite scorers club. . . he has the shooting stroke, and natural scoring touch around the rim-- he still needs to get stronger, and keep refining his shot selection. . . we know how badly the odds are stacked against the non-huge market teams in the NBA-- but honestly, that would just make it SO much sweeter to see the nugs actually pull it off. . . even sweeter still if they can do it organically, with homegrown talent. . .

This Nuggets team has some super potential. I don't think I've ever felt this way about a Nuggets team. I think deep down, even as a young fan, I never felt like Todd Lichti, Laphonso Ellis, Rodney Rodgers, Bryant Stith, et al, were really going to be superstar-like players. Mutombo was a little different, but he just never had the offensive game.

They never got Carmelo much help, organically. Tskitishvili was the year prior, they traded Jameer Nelson the next year, Julius Hodge and Jarrett Jack (granted, they were drafted in the mid 20s) was two years later. I know people got sick of my hate for Karl, but as good as those teams were in the regular season, there wasn't that core of talent that could take them further and the bad drafting was part of it.

This feels like something. Jokic is a star, let's hope he can retain that level of play. Murray has the potential to be a top-level guard, although offensively, I think they need to find a more set role for him that isn't a true point guard so he's not handling primary distributing duties. He and Jokic could be a deadly pick and roll duo; but at the same time, I don't think you want to take away Denver's unique advantage which is always the altitude. Run, run, run. Gary Harris is a great role player who'd start on 28 (?) teams. He can play defense and take the load off of Murray ensuring he's not guarding the other team's best guard every night, and he can score if need be. If Porter is healthy, and if he's what people thought he was a year ago, he's your potential second star. That's a team that can at least compete and be a perennial conference semifinals type of team.

Still not gonna lie, though...this has me still super salty:

2017 NBA 1 13 Donovan Mitchell University of Louisville

From last night -

‘I Feel Pretty Good’: Nuggets 1st Round Draft Pick Michael Porter Jr.
Video & Article - https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/06/...ter-nba-draft/

Torrey Craig is about to sign a full NBA contract.

The Nuggets sent a qualifying offer to Craig on Monday night, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post, paving the way for him to become a restricted free agent. That means Denver can match any contract offer from another team.

Craig was one of the Nuggets’ feel-good stories last season. The 6-foot-6 wing carved out a rotation role while playing on a two-way contract, meaning he split time with Denver and with G League affiliate Sioux Falls. He averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds over 39 games with the Nuggets and was a multi-positional defender.

rest - https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/2...lifying-offer/

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

This Nuggets team has some super potential. I don't think I've ever felt this way about a Nuggets team. I think deep down, even as a young fan, I never felt like Todd Lichti, Laphonso Ellis, Rodney Rodgers, Bryant Stith, et al, were really going to be superstar-like players. Mutombo was a little different, but he just never had the offensive game.

They never got Carmelo much help, organically. Tskitishvili was the year prior, they traded Jameer Nelson the next year, Julius Hodge and Jarrett Jack (granted, they were drafted in the mid 20s) was two years later. I know people got sick of my hate for Karl, but as good as those teams were in the regular season, there wasn't that core of talent that could take them further and the bad drafting was part of it.

This feels like something. Jokic is a star, let's hope he can retain that level of play. Murray has the potential to be a top-level guard, although offensively, I think they need to find a more set role for him that isn't a true point guard so he's not handling primary distributing duties. He and Jokic could be a deadly pick and roll duo; but at the same time, I don't think you want to take away Denver's unique advantage which is always the altitude. Run, run, run. Gary Harris is a great role player who'd start on 28 (?) teams. He can play defense and take the load off of Murray ensuring he's not guarding the other team's best guard every night, and he can score if need be. If Porter is healthy, and if he's what people thought he was a year ago, he's your potential second star. That's a team that can at least compete and be a perennial conference semifinals type of team.

yea. . . i agree with pretty much all of this. . . they might not have a guy with carmelo's pedigree, but this team has way more young talent across the board than that one-man show. . . those teams were never much more than four stiffs standing around watching melo jack up jumpers. . . the current group features young guys who move the ball, and can function in a grown-up offensive scheme. . . they will need to learn to play defense if they've ever going to be any kind of threat in the west-- but the talent is there, and it's good talent. . . they have plenty of shooting and athleticism. . . i hear you about murray, but i'm honestly fine with them keeping him at the point full-time. . . he's so young, let him settle there and have some time to fully grow into the role. . . it's what gets our best players on the floor, and long term his size is a better fit at the one. . . in an offense that A) scores effectively in transition, B) can run very effectively through jokic in the half-court, and C) has a ball movement focus, i think they can get by fine with a score-first point guard. . . they certainly did last year, when they were top 6 or 7 in assists and offensive efficiency. . . when your center can drop 10 assists any given night, you don't necessarily need a chris paul level distributor at the point. . . if murray can limit his turnovers, i think both he and the offense will be alright. . . they're already one of the better offenses in the league. . .

last year the nugs finished 6th in total points scored. . . the teams ahead of them were all playoff teams, including golden state, houston, cleveland, and toronto. . . the three best teams in the league, and the one seed from the east. . . they also finished 10th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 5th in APG, 2nd in ORB, and 6th in overall offensive rating. . . they're already a very high-end, productive, efficient offense-- aside from turnovers and freethrow%, which still need work. . . i am hopeful that we'll continue to see improvement there as the kids continue to mature, but the offense is already damn good as it is. . .

we all know what the achilles heel is. . . in total defensive rating, they were 25th out of 30 teams. . . with winners like the suns, kings, and grizzlies below them. . . and also cleveland to be fair, but that's clearly an anomaly. . . if they can just get into the top 20-ish range on that end, this should be a playoff team next year despite an absolutely brutal conference. . . i will get down on my knees and thank god the day it happens, and we can finally stop hearing about clown karl. . .

Originally Posted by dogfish

Originally Posted by MOtorboat

This Nuggets team has some super potential. I don't think I've ever felt this way about a Nuggets team. I think deep down, even as a young fan, I never felt like Todd Lichti, Laphonso Ellis, Rodney Rodgers, Bryant Stith, et al, were really going to be superstar-like players. Mutombo was a little different, but he just never had the offensive game.

They never got Carmelo much help, organically. Tskitishvili was the year prior, they traded Jameer Nelson the next year, Julius Hodge and Jarrett Jack (granted, they were drafted in the mid 20s) was two years later. I know people got sick of my hate for Karl, but as good as those teams were in the regular season, there wasn't that core of talent that could take them further and the bad drafting was part of it.

This feels like something. Jokic is a star, let's hope he can retain that level of play. Murray has the potential to be a top-level guard, although offensively, I think they need to find a more set role for him that isn't a true point guard so he's not handling primary distributing duties. He and Jokic could be a deadly pick and roll duo; but at the same time, I don't think you want to take away Denver's unique advantage which is always the altitude. Run, run, run. Gary Harris is a great role player who'd start on 28 (?) teams. He can play defense and take the load off of Murray ensuring he's not guarding the other team's best guard every night, and he can score if need be. If Porter is healthy, and if he's what people thought he was a year ago, he's your potential second star. That's a team that can at least compete and be a perennial conference semifinals type of team.

yea. . . i agree with pretty much all of this. . . they might not have a guy with carmelo's pedigree, but this team has way more young talent across the board than that one-man show. . . those teams were never much more than four stiffs standing around watching melo jack up jumpers. . . the current group features young guys who move the ball, and can function in a grown-up offensive scheme. . . they will need to learn to play defense if they've ever going to be any kind of threat in the west-- but the talent is there, and it's good talent. . . they have plenty of shooting and athleticism. . . i hear you about murray, but i'm honestly fine with them keeping him at the point full-time. . . he's so young, let him settle there and have some time to fully grow into the role. . . it's what gets our best players on the floor, and long term his size is a better fit at the one. . . in an offense that A) scores effectively in transition, B) can run very effectively through jokic in the half-court, and C) has a ball movement focus, i think they can get by fine with a score-first point guard. . . they certainly did last year, when they were top 6 or 7 in assists and offensive efficiency. . . when your center can drop 10 assists any given night, you don't necessarily need a chris paul level distributor at the point. . . if murray can limit his turnovers, i think both he and the offense will be alright. . . they're already one of the better offenses in the league. . .

last year the nugs finished 6th in total points scored. . . the teams ahead of them were all playoff teams, including golden state, houston, cleveland, and toronto. . . the three best teams in the league, and the one seed from the east. . . they also finished 10th in FG%, 7th in 3P%, 5th in APG, 2nd in ORB, and 6th in overall offensive rating. . . they're already a very high-end, productive, efficient offense-- aside from turnovers and freethrow%, which still need work. . . i am hopeful that we'll continue to see improvement there as the kids continue to mature, but the offense is already damn good as it is. . .

we all know what the achilles heel is. . . in total defensive rating, they were 25th out of 30 teams. . . with winners like the suns, kings, and grizzlies below them. . . and also cleveland to be fair, but that's clearly an anomaly. . . if they can just get into the top 20-ish range on that end, this should be a playoff team next year despite an absolutely brutal conference. . . i will get down on my knees and thank god the day it happens, and we can finally stop hearing about clown karl. . .

I feel exactly the same way as both of you. Especially now with the addition of Porter and honestly potentially Vanderbilt. I can't wait to see what the steam turns into. It really feels like those young teams that make a huge leap over the course of one season. I can honestly see this team if healthy making it to the second round next year

I am underwhelmed. They should have Donovan Mitchell. They should have made the playoffs. The 2nd round feels like the ceiling. As good as Murray and Jokic have been for their draft slots - that's not enough to hang our hats on.