A Incomplete Nuggets' Offseason

What if the Denver Nuggets' decision to let KCP sign with the Orlando Magic is a strategic masterstroke rather than a blunder? In this episode of "Fandom From Afar," we dissect the Nuggets' offseason moves, balancing short-term setbacks against long-term gains under the NBA's second apron rules. While KCP's departure may sting, we explore the silver linings with Christian Brown stepping up and the promising addition of undrafted free agent Trey Alexander. We also dive into the ongoing buzz around Russell Westbrook potentially joining the roster and what that could mean for the Nuggets' bench depth and overall season outlook. TEST

The roller coaster of emotions continues as we break down the Nuggets' big man situation, from the excitement of drafting Deron Holmes to the heartbreak of his Achilles injury. We discuss Vlatko Kantar's hopeful return from injury and the versatile skills Dario Saric brings to the table. The episode tackles the tough decisions around retaining Zeke Nagy and the potential transition of DeAndre Jordan to a coaching role. Wrapping up, we share mixed feelings about Jamal Murray and Jokic's Olympic performances and look forward to Todd Helton's Hall of Fame induction in Cooperstown, setting the stage for an exciting season ahead.

Chapters

• 0:02 Nuggets Offseason Analysis
• 11:47 Nuggets Offseason Big Man Analysis
• 20:24 Nuggets Season Outlook and Cooperstown Visit

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar. Since last we spoke, the Nuggets have had quite a few changes, and that's kind of what I want to talk about today. If you'll remember, in our last episode we kind of laid out what my plans and hopes and dreams were for the offseason. So I'd like to kind of go over how the Nuggets have done in meeting those goals and if there's anything that they can still do to kind of help meet those goals. So yeah, let's get into it. So, like I said, in the last podcast I kind of listed three main goals that I really wanted the Nuggets to accomplish this offseason. The first one was to keep KCP he was our big free agent and second one was to find backup big men and backup ball handlers. And then the third was to rest and get healthy. So let's dive into them one by one. We'll kind of go over some of the positives and there's definitely some negatives and we'll just kind of see how I would rate the Nuggets offseason so far. So truthfully, it is incomplete. We are a couple weeks into the offseason and a lot of stuff has happened and sure there is a possibility that more stuff will happen. So I'm going to give it an incomplete but leaning towards a fail if you are grading on what the goals that I just mentioned are. However, anyone that knows me knows that I am always optimistic about the Nuggets and, truthfully, when you have Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, aaron Gordon, michael Porter Jr, these smaller moves can seem like a big deal at the time. But we still have a great team and so it's really hard to judge this offseason without seeing them on the court with the greatest player in the world, nikola Jokic.

Speaker 1: 2:10

So let's start out. The first goal. My first goal was to keep KCP. Now, there was all sorts of stipulations in that and I laid those out in the last episode and, if you haven't seen already, we did lose KCP. He signed a contract with the Orlando Magic. So on one hand, I'm super happy for my Magic fans. They are going to love KCP. He brings leadership, defense, shooting, pretty much anything that you can want out of a fifth starter. Kcp gives it to you in a well above average way, and so I'm happy for all my Magic fans down here. I think he's perfect for what they needed. The contract wasn't even that bad three years for 22 million a year, I know, for us normal humans that's a ridiculous amount of money, but for a fifth starter, especially a fifth starter that's been a champion on two different teams, that's really not bad in today's NBA, and I think the Magic did well to get him at that price.

Speaker 1: 3:20

For the Nuggets, though, I can see why they did not bring him back. It hurts right now, like I would say. We have Christian Brown, who can replace KCP in many different ways, and it's just very I don't know. It's tough because you hate to lose something or someone that is such a positive this year and has been for the last two years. But with the way the rules are set up in the NBA now, I do think overall we had to let him go, because if we did sign him, even to that very reasonable contract, it puts us over what they call the second apron, and then it just really limits the nuggets for what they can do moving forward, and so, as tough as it was to lose him, I think it was for the greater good. One point I heard on a podcast sometime over the last couple of weeks was let's just say, a superstar became available and somehow wanted to come to Denver to play with Jokic. So in this example, let's say it was Giannis, or even Luka, and how devastated would Nuggets fans be if we were over the second apron and could not put together a trade for one of those superstars, because you're not allowed to trade multiple players for one player when you're over the second apron. That was just one example, but I think just stuff like that is good to keep in mind when we think about how limited we would be if we did go over that second apron. And so I don't know, it's tough to lose him. I think Christian's going to do a great job in the starting lineup and it does weaken our bench because obviously that takes Christian off the bench. But overall I think it was the right move. It's just how it is with the rules nowadays, and so my final verdict for losing KCP is it's a short-term negative, but long-term it is a positive.

Speaker 1: 5:32

Now the second goal was to add backup big men and backup ball handling. So we'll start with the ball handling. Now the draft we did not draft any ball handlers. We did get trey alexander after the draft as like an unrestricted or undrafted free agent, and this, I think, was a huge positive. Trey alexander was pretty highly rated, uh, by one of my favorite draft gurus, uh, sam Vecini. He was actually shocked that Trey Alexander did not go early in the second round. Um, he had him as one of his high, highest rated players available and, uh, trey Alexander is just a great guard out of Creighton. If you watched the NCAA tournament this year, you saw him play really well and I think he's kind of exactly what the Nuggets need. He's older, so I know Calvin Booth likes that, but he's a lead ball handler that can shoot, can make plays. I really like that. We got him and we ended up signing him to a two-way contract. So I think that was a definite positive and we ended up signing him to a two-way contract. So I think that was a definite positive.

Speaker 1: 6:43

It is not official yet, but all the rumors out there are that we're going to sign Russell Westbrook. The only problem with that is he is not a free agent, so we are waiting on the Clippers to release him so that we can sign him. I guess there's stories coming out now that the Clippers are not a huge fan of Westbrook going to the Nuggets, so they may just hold onto him out of spite. I guess they did that last year or two years ago there was a story that came out that PJ Tucker was possibly going to sign with us and so they just held on to him for the rest of the season, just so that he wouldn't. I'm not sure where this animosity is coming from, except for the bubble when we came back 3-1 and beat them. But who knows? They're just obviously trying to get something for Russell Westbrook, and the way the Nuggets point guard situation looks, they obviously look a little bit desperate, and so the Clippers might be just holding out to see if we will give them some sort of draft pick or play or something for Westbrook.

Speaker 1: 7:48

But if he does come which it does sound like he is I love the move. I know a lot of people are kind of down on it just because he's obviously well past his prime, but to be kind of like our backup point guard, I think he would bring a lot of positive features to the team. So A he obviously plays with passion and fire and I think the Nuggets were missing that last year. Bruce Brown, two years ago during our championship year, obviously brought that. Bruce was not afraid to mix it up with the other team. Same with Westbrook. Bruce played hard every single minute he was out on the court.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Same with Westbrook, for as great as Westbrook has been throughout his career he's won MVP, he's been to many, many All-Star games. He's never won a championship and so I think having that as a veteran leader on the team would bring a lot. I think people would rally around him and want to win it for him. I think he would be motivating people kind of during those dog days when nobody wants to play. I think he'd be motivating the young guys, the veterans. I think that would be huge just to get through the regular season. He's obviously never going to be afraid of any high-pressure moment because he's been in those moments before and just with the way our bench is structured, westbrook can create his own shot and kind of drive into the lane draw fouls. I think he would bring a kind of drive into the lane draw fouls. Like I think he would bring a lot of positive to the bench and I really think he'd have a huge impact on Peyton Watson. I think they're very similar in mindset, like I think Peyton gets fired up too and I just think together they would work really well off of each other and just kind of create havoc for the bench lineup. So I really hope it happens. I know everyone is saying that it's going to happen, but until he's actually in a Nuggets uniform I'm still going to be a little bit nervous that some other team is going to swoop in and steal them from us. But I really do hope it happens. I think that would be a huge positive as well. So Trey Alexander Russell Westbrook two positives for our ball handling goal. So Trey Alexander Russell Westbrook two positives for our ball handling goal.

Speaker 1: 10:01

Now the other one is Jalen Pickett. He was a draft pick last year. I think Calvin Booth was trying to set it up where he would have a bigger role this year. And this weekend was the first summer league game and I know it's just one game, but Jalen Pickett did not look great. Usually in summer league you hope that the guys that are going to actually play a role on your team come into summer league and kind of dominate and you just kind of are like, okay, yeah, he's a level above these other players. He is a rotation player and Jalen Pickett did not look like that at all. He was out there for quite a bit but he was never creating separation. He was never creating mismatches to find an open guy. He really just wasn't doing anything positive and I know it's just one game but it makes me nervous and I know that he's a young guy and point guard is just the hardest position to learn in basketball. But it's not looking good and it's almost to the point where I wonder if he's using up a roster spot that could be better used in other places. We'll see how the rest of Summer League goes, but right now it's not looking good for Jalen as far as being a big part of the team this year. But overall, I would say the final verdict for adding ball handling is incomplete only because the Russell Westbrook situation is not totally finalized yet. But once that happens I would say that adding ball handling has been a positive for this Nuggets offseason.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Now, as far as adding bigs, draft night was really fun. The Nuggets traded up to draft Deron Holmes. If you'll remember from my last episode, he was my number one target. I went over all the reasons why I think he would fit perfect on the Nuggets and was really excited that we got him. And unfortunately, in the very first summer game Deron tore his Achilles and is out for the year already. So that was a pretty devastating blow, not only for I'm sure Daron Holmes just can't believe that happened in his very first game of being a pro, but it obviously hurts the Nuggets bench as well. Hopefully he's obviously a young guy, he can recover, but the Achilles is still a tough one for guys to come back and have their full athleticism and just the fact that he's going to miss an entire year of development with this team it just hurts. It's just really unfortunate. Hopefully he'll still get to be around the guys and kind of be part of the team. But it's just really crazy that the roller coaster of Deron Holmes already how excited everybody was when we got him on draft night to now he's gone for the year. We won't get to see him until next year and even then guys that are coming back from Achilles usually take about another year to get their athleticism back. So it's possible this could be a two-year injury and who knows what could happen in that time. So definitely hope Holmes can get better and get back to being healthy and part of the team next year.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Now someone who's went through a very similar thing. We lost Vlatko Kantar about this time last year when he pretty much ripped up his knee in the Olympic qualifiers or World Cup or some sort of international play and so we signed him back and he's just coming back from that injury last year and so hopefully he can kind of step into what we were hoping Daron Holmes could be and then Vlatko can be a big part of our bench unit this year. Vlatko plays a really a great style of play for the bench. He's he's a playmaker, he can shoot, he's pretty big. So I'm I'm hoping this is kind of a blessing in disguise and that he can play a bigger role in the bench unit. But again he's coming back from a major injury. So it was. It was probably the Nuggets were probably hoping for him to ease his way back in and not have to play such a big role immediately with this Holmes injury.

Speaker 1: 14:23

And then the most recent news is we did sign Dario Saric. He's a big man out of Croatia and he's had a good career. He's had some injuries and bounced around a little bit, but I think he's kind of the perfect backup for Jokic. He plays somewhat similar way. He's a great passer. He can kind of just be a hub of the offense. If we need him to be, he can shoot the ball a little bit. So he's not just a big man that stands down low and clogs up the paint, and so I think this was a great signing.

Speaker 1: 14:57

I would have loved it to be more of a big man, triumphant with the three guys, but now, with Holmes out, we do just have Vlatko and Saric and unfortunately, I think that means we do have to keep Zeke Nagy on the team. I know the Nuggets have been trying to trade him after he's just been disappointing for about four years now, have been trying to trade him after he's just been disappointing for about four years now, and I think we're going to have to keep Zeke as just kind of like a emergency backup big and I've spoke about Zeke many times on this podcast. I think everybody knows how I feel about Zeke. But who knows, maybe this will be the year. How many times have we said that before the year? How many times have we said that before?

Speaker 1: 15:41

So other options I was thinking about we have not officially signed DeAndre Jordan to a contract and DeAndre is at the end of his career. His main role on the team is veteran leadership and just kind of holding the guys accountable. I wonder if he would be up for just becoming like a assistant coach, where he can still do the same thing, but not as a player, like would he be up for being an unofficial coach that just doesn't play anymore. That way it opened up a roster spot and we could sign someone that could possibly play. I don't blame DeAndre if he doesn't want to do that. I'm sure the pay decrease would be huge for that. But I'm just trying to think of something that we can do after this unexpected drawn homes injury. So really, for the goal of adding a big man, my final verdict is incomplete. We'll have to see how the nuggets adjust. Um, they, there may not be anything that we can do. Uh, it's just really unfortunate, and I do really like the charts ad, and then I'm excited to see what he can do. So, incomplete with the lean towards the positive.

Speaker 1: 16:52

And then the third goal was to rest and get healthy. So obviously, daron Holmes, that was a bad start to stay in healthy. But for the other players that are playing this offseason Jamal Murray is playing for Team Canada and Jokic is playing for Team Serbia in the Olympics. Now it's kind of a tale of two sides here, because Jamal, in his first game he looked like he did at the end of the season. He looked kind of tired and slow, and so I don't know if the Olympics are going to be a good thing for him to help get him in shape, or if they're just going to be more wear and tear on him and he's going to come in and be tired at the beginning of the season already.

Speaker 1: 17:38

Now Jokic, on the other hand, his first game was against France, taking on Wimbinyama and Gobert, and everybody was just talking about how unstoppable that defense is going to be, because those guys pretty much could hold hands and cover the whole court, but Jokic looked like a monster and that was just. It was really nice to see Jokic play basketball again. Obviously, I called him the best player in the world, and I mean that. I think he is just amazing and he was going through those guys pretty much no problem to lead Serbia to win. It was just a friendly game, so didn't really mean much, but it looked like everyone was playing pretty hard and Jokic kind of looked like the best player on the court. So that's always a good thing to see.

Speaker 1: 18:24

Now, obviously, we're hoping for no more injuries, but I'm really looking forward to the Olympics. I think the Olympics are going to be fun. Every there's 12 teams in the Olympics and pretty much every team is pretty loaded. Um, sometimes you'll see the host country automatically gets in and they're not that great. But France is the host country this year and they have a ton of talent on their team. So really everyone that qualified this year is a good, good team. So the basketball should be fun this year. I always like watching Olympic basketball anyway, but this year especially, I think it's going to be just some great matchups.

Speaker 1: 19:01

So I would say the three goals definitely were not met with 100% certainty. There's so many unknowns that are going on right now. We're hoping that these young guys can continue to develop in summer league. We are hoping no one else gets hurt in the Olympics or in off-season workouts. And who knows, there may be more moves coming that we don't know and obviously we're hoping for that Russell Westbrook move that we do know. So I'm forever the optimist.

Speaker 1: 19:34

I think, as long as we keep our main guys together and we'll see how the bench can play, they can't be worse than last year. Last year was a disaster. So if we add Westbrook and Sharich and Vlatko and, just like I said, if one of those young guys can develop. Julian Strother he looked great in summer league. I know again, it was only one game, but it works the other way too. He looked great. He looks like he's ready to take a step forward as just kind of like a scoring guard off the bench.

Speaker 1: 20:05

As I mentioned Trey Alexander, I think he might be kind of a diamond in the rough that we got lucky, signed with us after the draft. Pj Hall is another guy. He was a great player at Clemson and he signed a two-way contract with us. So we actually have a lot of young guys that are unknowns and that could be good or bad, but I'm feeling optimistic.

Speaker 1: 20:24

I do feel like the Nuggets got better this year if they're able to get Westbrook, even though we lost KCP. So I know that's a lot of ifs and stipulations and stuff, but I do think the Nuggets are still going to be right up there in the West, which is just going to be brutal this year. Um, got to keep the hope alive right Now. Next episode I'm really excited, for I am going up to Cooperstown to see Todd Helton, who was my favorite player growing up, get inducted into the Hall of Fame, and so I have never been to the Hall of Fame before. I'm really looking forward to walking around there and just seeing all the really everything in the museum, all the different memorabilia, and just kind of learning more about players that I just hadn't heard of before or want to learn more about. So it's going to be really fun, and my next episode will be kind of talking about my my trip up to Cooperstown. All right, thanks for listening everybody.