Fandom from Afar
Join me as I discuss my journey as a Colorado sports fan living in Florida and my interviews with sports fans that are forced to enjoy their favorite teams from a distance.
Fandom from Afar
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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All right, everyone. Welcome back to Fandom from Afar. The Nuggets have landed in San Diego and have started their training camp. And that means basketball is here. And I love it. So I figured today we'll do a quick off-season recap and then go over what they have shown us so far from the first couple days of training camp. Spoiler alert, it is all amazing. And we'll just kind of start building up the excitement for what looks like it could be a really cool year. So quick off-season recap in case you haven't been following along. The Nuggets started by hiring two new general managers. One is Ben Tenzer, who is kind of like the cap guru. And the other is John Wallace, who, from everything I've heard, has amazing relationships not only with players, but also with agents all around the league. And I think that's going to be a huge advantage from the previous general manager. Next, we did hire David Adelman as our full-time coach. I thought he did awesome last year, kind of getting thrown into the fire, and I can't wait to see what he does this year. With Adleman, he also brought along some new assistants, Jared Dudley and JJ Berea. They both were previously with Dallas. And I'm excited about them too. Jared Dudley, even when he was a player, was kind of known just for being one of those guys that everybody likes and respects his opinion. And so I think coaching was just kind of natural for him. And apparently he's kind of one of those guys that's rising up the ranks pretty quick. And I'm excited that the Nuggets have him. And then JJ Berea, apparently, he's kind of like a little offensive uh guru, and I'm excited to see kind of what new ideas he can bring to the Nuggets as well. So new coaching staff, new front office. Then those new general managers blew us all away by trading MPJ for Cam Johnson. Not only do I think Cam Johnson's a better player, but it also opened up some money so we could sign some other players. And those other players ended up being Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., and of course Big Jonas Falanchunis. So overall, I just think three home runs for the Nuggets. Each one fits a need of what I wish the Nuggets had last year. And I can't wait to see what they do this year, not only just to give us depth, but also to push some of our younger guys, hopefully help our younger guys get better. And I think the veterans that have been on the team are really excited about those new additions. Now there was a bit of drama for a while there. It seemed like Jonas Valentunas was not going to come to the Nuggets and possibly go play over in Europe. I don't think the whole story has come out on that yet. I think there was some family issues where he wanted to be closer to home, which is totally understandable, but it does appear that he's all in now, and I think he's excited to win a championship. And then finally, as the sea as the offseason was kind of winding down, more and more videos kept coming out about the Nuggets kind of gathering as a team. There's a famous, they call it the Rico Heinz run, which basically just means a bunch of the players get together during the offseason at a specific gym and just play some pretty intense pickup games. And almost every nugget except for Jokic was there. And just from the sound of it, it sounds like they all bonded, they all played really well together, and I think it got them even more excited for the season. So that's our quick review of the offseason. I'm not even going to sugarcoat it. I am just thrilled with what happened this offseason. I think it set the nuggets up for success. I liked all the moves. I will say I was hesitant about those two new general managers, but apparently all they do is hit home runs. So right now, I love them. Alright, so here we are today. Training camp has started. As at the time of this recording, we are two days into training camp. So really all that's happened is media day and then one day of practice. And really, overall, the vibes are immaculate. We haven't had the chance to say that in years, but it really seems like this team likes being around each other. I think the guys that were on the team last year are looking at it like a fresh start. The the new players that are coming in are excited to be on a championship contender. Everyone's excited to play with Jokic. Jokic seems to be excited for this team. And I just think that everyone needed the fresh start. And so we have from the top down new front office, new coaching staff, new players, and everyone seems to be excited about that. And so I love how everyone is acting right now. Obviously, it's a long season. We'll see how it goes. But just right now, you can tell they're just they're almost giddy to get started because I think they know they have a chance to actually contend for the championship this year. So some key takeaways from what I've seen 3,000 miles away from our boys out in San Diego. The team just seems to like each other both personally and on the court, just from all the comments that everyone's saying, it just seems like whether they're they're new or a returning player, everyone just seems to be best friends already. And that was definitely not the case last couple years. They are joking around with each other. We'll get to it later, but Jokic, all his answers are pretty much jokes making fun of the guys. And there just seems to be kind of a levity amongst the team right now. I think they're quietly confident, but they're having fun as well. And I'm hoping that leads to the season not feeling like such a slog, and they're they're gonna be excited to see each other every day. Everyone's focused on the championship. Like I said, Jonas Falanchunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., and then obviously Bruce Brown won the championship with us in 2023, but then he played on some pretty bad teams over the last couple years. So I think even he's excited to be back on a contender. And almost every comment they mention, even Cam Johnson, he played in the finals for Phoenix many years ago, but he's been stuck out in Brooklyn on some pretty terrible teams. And so there's just they're bringing that energy, and I think that's revitalized some of the veterans who the Nuggets have been contenders for years. With with Jokic, you are a contender, but I think the veterans are now seeing the energy from these guys and realizing what an opportunity they have, and hopefully they can take advantage of it. I think a big one is Jokic is happy. Jokic has never come into training 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 the media ever, but the past couple days he has been just all smiles and jokes. And just to give you a couple examples, in his opening press conference, one of the reporters asked about Bruce Brown coming back, and Jokic just kind of casually said, Yeah, I guess we're just gonna have to save his career again. And I I love his dry sense of humor, and I don't think it sounds like only one of the reporters caught it and laughed, but I thought it was hilarious. And then yesterday they asked him about possibly playing on the court at the same time as uh Jonas Found Chunis. So that would be interesting. They're both giant human beings, and hopefully he can gobble up every single rebound. But his his only response was, Oh, I'm gonna play with Jonas. Good. I'm I'm just so tired of playing with Aaron Gordon. Like every answer is just a joke to him now, and we haven't seen that before. Usually Jokic is just he's there to not get fined, as Marshawn Lynch would say, and he puts up with the media, but this year he seems to be in quite a good mood. And like I said, it's just the whole vibe around the team. Everyone's everyone's happy. But the big takeaway, at least to me, from the first couple days of training camp, is Jamal Murray. I don't know how many hours I spent on this podcast last season talking about how Jamal Murray was such an X factor. If only he would focus and get in shape, if only Jamal Murray would take the regular season seriously. Well, Jamal Murray showed up in San Diego in what I think might be the best shape he's ever been in. He looks ripped for Jamal Murray. He looks in great shape. Like sometimes Jamal can be a little puffy. He kind of works him himself into shape, but I was very happy to see Jamal's been putting in some work this offseason. And then not only that, but just his comments. Jamal usually blows off comments about the regular season or his early season struggles or really his struggles in general. He his answers are normally I'll be there when the playoffs start. I'll I'll be there when it when it counts. And this year, really one of his first answers talked about him wanting to have a great start to the season. He wants to be an all-star. None of this can happen if you don't take the regular season seriously, and it seems like he is this year, which could be just huge for the Nuggets. They have gotten off to some slow starts, mainly because of Jamal, and it just weighs the season down. It puts extra pressure on all the other players, which leads to injuries, which leads to the guys not being able to rest later in the season, which leads to us having to fight our way up the standings later in the season. So if Jamal is going to take the early season seriously, I think that is just it can't be overstated how big that is because that has just not been the case in the past. And I'm excited to see it. And they don't show videos of the practices they've been having, but apparently Jamal's been killing it on the court as well. And so Jokic is obviously the biggest reason why the Nuggets are going to succeed, but if Jamal Murray takes the regular season seriously, there's really no cap on what the Nuggets can accomplish if they have a focused, intense Jamal Murray. So that's my big takeaway. I just can't believe all the good things that have happened, but Jokic being happy and Jamal being serious, you gotta love it. So I'm gonna be posting episodes every other week, and we'll just kind of update the uh Nuggets news. Obviously, they'll have games coming up pretty soon. We'll we'll highlight some of the games, and really we're just gonna have fun covering this season because it is shaping up to be special. And uh 2023 may be the only championship we get to cover, but the way this season is looking, I think we have a shot to add ring number two. Thanks for listening, everyone.
