The Athletic NBA Daily
What Happened to the Denver Nuggets? with Adam Mares | Slam N' Jam
Sat, 14 Dec 2024
Slam N JamAndrew Schlecht and Alex Speers discuss the week of NBA basketball including the NBA Cup, Trae Young stats, Jimmy Butler fake trades, and more. Then Adam Mares of DNVR joins to discuss the Denver Nuggets, their current trajectory, and if they can become the title contenders we thought they were this season. Then the guys play a fun version of Andrew vs. The Beat!Host: Andrew Schlecht and Alex SpeersWith: Adam MaresExecutive Producer: Andrew SchlechtAudio Producer: Jake Kleinberg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What are the top stories in the NBA this week?
Welcome to the Saturday Slammin' Jam here on the Athletic NBA Daily. I'm your host, Andrew Schleck. Today on the show, we are talking about the NBA Cup, our favorite things, and Adam Maras of DNVR is going to join us to discuss the Denver Nuggets and play a little trivia before we get to any of that. Alex, please tell me, what were the top stories this week?
Chapter 2: How did the NBA Cup elimination round unfold?
Well, Andrew, our top story this week was the NBA Cup elimination round. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the field of eight was whittled down to four. Oklahoma City and Houston in the west, Milwaukee and Atlanta, the Hawks in the east. Houston made it to the Final Four by playing a very entertaining, very disgusting game against the Golden State Warriors, which they won 91-90.
If you like the idea of combining the vibes of a game from 2003 with the three-point attempt rate of a game from 2024... This was the game for you. The two teams combined to go 18 of 65 or 28% from three. Houston, the team that won the game, shot 22% from three. Now, when was the last time the Rockets shot that poorly from three and one? Well, guess what? Not that long ago.
One month ago, the Rockets won both games of a back-to-back while shooting under 22% from three in both games. Now, while most NBA fans seem to enjoy the energy and competitiveness of the cup games, there were some who reacted to the final four teams by expressing concern about the ratings for the upcoming games, given that none of the big markets made it to Vegas.
Imagine spending your time thinking about the television ratings of a company that just signed a $76 billion media deal. We do this every year and every time.
regardless of the ratings they keep playing the games have they ever stopped playing the games because of the ratings no so who gives it as a fan of basketball television ratings have never once affected affected any aspect of my life i look at the numbers i nod to myself as interesting and then i immediately forget them because the game is on a game like grizzly celtics last saturday night just a week ago
I expressed doubt about the Grizzlies' contender status. You did. Given their cake schedule, lack of signature wins. And within 24 hours of uttering those words, the Grizzlies had beaten the defending champs on the road, 127 to 121. Ja Morant had 32, nine and nine in the game, while Triple J put up 27 and nine with four blocks.
The Grizzlies have won three in a row and are third in the West at 17 and eight. And per last week's promise, I said that if the Grizzlies beat the Celtics, I would shut up about them. So I salute them and I will now shut my mouth. And another team I should have shut up about is the Washington Wizards. Because last week...
I was out here daydreaming about the Wizards achieving a 29-game losing streak, beating the Pistons. And again, within 24 hours, the Wizards had broken their 16-game losing streak by beating Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. And not only did they beat the Nuggets, they did it on a night when Jokic scored a career-high 56 points.
Jordan Poole scored 39 in the game, which included going 9 of 20 from 3. He's now shooting a career high 41% from 3 this season, while also averaging a career high in assists. The Wizards' impressive win leads to the obvious question. Are the Wizards dark horses for the second worst record in the NBA? Possibly.
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Chapter 3: What struggles are the Denver Nuggets facing this season?
You think it's more you think it's more likely than Dylan Brooks? I mean, Dylan Brooks will at least shoot it.
Yes, because Dyson Daniels could theoretically have a 10-steal game in the final game, and that would be crazy and maybe would be deserving of an MVP. There's no scenario I could imagine where Dylan Brooks wins the MVP. Could you remind me, is the MVP just for the final game, or is it kind of a retrospective award?
I believe it's just for the final game, yes. Okay, okay, okay.
Chapter 4: Are the Nuggets still championship contenders?
Yeah, I mean, of these odds, Andrew... Honestly, the only ones that seem a little nice are those guys at plus a thousand Dame plus a thousand. I mean, you could see the final game and then Trey Young. Although the scary thing about Trey Young is that Jalen Johnson absolutely could have a crazy game where he puts up, you know, like twenty nine, ten and five.
Yeah, but I still think Trey, that's pretty good value because, you know, Trey is going to bring it.
Yeah, if you wanted to get into a Hawks argument, one of them could be that Jalen Johnson's been their best player this year. You know? Yeah. I don't really want to get into a Hawks argument, but I think it's been... Trae Young has been really good, and he's really taken to this role. I'm going to talk about him a little later. Yeah, well, we'll talk about him later. I love the dice rolling.
I loved all of that. He said that he planned that with his brother, you know, before the game. You know, he's already planning his celebrations before this came into York. That's the way to do it. You have to visualize your successes, Andrew. Hey, it's true. And he does. Pretty amazing. Who do you think will win the cup MVP, by the way?
not just who you bet but who do you think is actually going to win not like who's got the best odds or whose odds do you like but who do you think is going to win it
I made a joke to you a week ago because one of our good friends decided to fly out to Vegas to watch the Thunder, and I joked that he's probably going to be watching a Rockets-Hawks final. And suddenly that's becoming much more likely of a possibility. It's possible.
I don't know if it's likely, but it's possible.
Yeah, it's way more possible than it was a few days ago. So you know what? I'm going to go with Trae Young. I'm going to say Hawks. I mentioned them last week. So I feel like I have to keep going with my gut because I said, why not bet the Hawks at plus 1800? And then I told you, oh, it's probably going to be Hawks and Rockets in the finals. So you know what? I'm going to go with Trae Young.
Plus 1000.
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Chapter 5: Who are the key young players for the Nuggets?
Okay, so Andrew, that brings us to our favorites of the week. Yep. Our favorite things that happened in this week of basketball, which is actually a weird week of basketball. Not too many teams played. It was the NBA teams and then like the Raptors randomly had two games. So we're going to start off with the favorite quote of this week.
All right, Andrew, my favorite quote this week comes from Rockets general manager Rafael Stone. He told ESPN when talking about head coach Emi Odoka. He's not particularly happy when someone scores on Amen. In Ime's world, this should be an impossibility. And if it occurs, it's because Amen did something wrong. Just a great quote. You know, Amen Thompson's obviously a great defender.
I don't know if he's so good that it should break your brain. It should break your worldview when he is scored on. I mean, I think it is a possibility, but, you know, we're going to watch a Thunder Rockets game coming up on Saturday night. And if he's not there already, I do see Amin Thompson as a good candidate for like best SGA defender in the league in the next few years.
because he has that combination of size, athleticism, and strength, which you really need all three of those to guard SGA. And I was looking at some stats about Amin Thompson. So of the 15 two-man lineups that have played at least 300 minutes for the Rockets, Amin Thompson appears in four of their top five, including the best one, which is Amin Thompson and Alperin Shingun.
When those two are on the court together, Houston has a plus 17.5 net rating. For context, that two-man lineup, isn't just the best on the Rockets. That is the best net rating of any two-man lineup in the NBA that has played at least 300 minutes. And they're just such a fun pair because neither of them shoot the ball.
And in this era of three-point prowess, the age of Steph, the fact that those two guys together are the best two-man lineup in the league is pretty funny.
Yeah, that that is really wild. It does. It honestly breaks my brain that that they are that, you know, it should be an impossibility. Andrews should be an impossibility, although they are a ton of fun and they just fly around everywhere. OK, my quote of the week does come from Bernard Lee. OK. Bernie O. Lee on Twitter, who has a profile picture of his baby son as his profile picture.
Who quote tweeted, shout out to his baby, quote tweeted Sham Sharania's tweet. And it's so good. I just have to read it. I just absolutely have to read it and then discuss a little something else.
So here's here's Bernie Lee after Shamshrani tweeted the Phoenix Suns are another team that Jimmy Butler's agent Bernie Lee has indicated in league circles that the six time all star is open to as a destination. While Miami while Miami listens to trade offers sources tell ESPN joining Dallas, Houston, Golden State. He quote tweets it and says, all right, listen.
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Chapter 6: What are the potential trade destinations for Jimmy Butler?
I just don't know if Jimmy would be my first pick for them. It's not a bad option, but I don't know if it would be my first pick.
Yeah, I don't think it would be either. You know, the destination that I love, and our buddy Sam Vecini mentioned this one. What about the Grizzlies? I know that's not on his list. No, there's no way the Grizzlies would do it. I just I just wonder because they they suddenly have some depth with some of the young guys that they have. Yeah. And so I just wonder if you could cobble that.
The problem is like cobbling enough salary together to to get there. But they have enough salary to do it. And Jimmy, wouldn't he be so endearing in Memphis? Isn't he like he's to me, he kind of he's a grizzly. He kind of reads as a grizzly personality wise.
I mean, sure, for a half season, yeah. But is it going to be as endearing and fun when he's making $50 million for the next three seasons or something?
No.
Until his 39th season? No, there's no way that Grizzlies would do that. Well, then it may just be that he doesn't get $50 million. So if I had to guess where this ends up, I actually bet he stays in Miami. He signs an extension. It's for much less than he wanted, but it's just the reality of the situation. Trades are too hard right now to even come up with. Our trade machines are dead.
We don't know how to use them anymore. And so I think it really does end up with him just back in Miami on maybe a two year extension. And he's making like 30 to 35 or something like that. Sounds crazy now, but like.
I don't see what the other option is. Yeah, the alternative is pretty tough. It's pretty tough. And then do you think if he does resign, do you think that Shams is going to say that he let ChatGPT write his tweets? That's a great question.
Yeah, I wish Jimmy Bowler's agent had spent a little bit more time on those tweets because they are kind of difficult to read. I was trying to read through them last night. They are. I just need a little bit more punctuation.
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Chapter 7: What standout performances have occurred this week in the NBA?
Yeah. Yeah. That's I would. Yes. I would have rather seen that. Like if Jalen Green. It's funny because Jalen Green's signature moment for his career is somehow two free throws, you know, but. And I'd rather be Jalen Green hitting a setback jumper or hitting a three or, you know, at least drawing a foul to get to the free throw line, you know, not just like diving on the floor.
And that has to be the fact. I don't know. It was it just annoyed me. And I just felt I felt annoyed. I would get if I was a Warriors fan, I would be losing my mind about that right now. But on the bright side, spin zone, they they get a bunch of they get a bunch of days off and get to kind of have like a mini training camp. So.
We're always looking at the bright side here at Slammin' Jam.
Listen, we're always turning just the things you think are the worst things into the best things. Something else that's the best is our buddy Adam Mares, who we're going to talk to about the Nuggets right after this.
All right, Andrew, it is time for the Wheel of Fandom, the weekly segment where we spin a wheel. It lands on a team, and that team has a real bad time. Three weeks ago, the wheel landed on the Denver Nuggets. Now, Denver went four and five in that span, which may not sound that bad.
But the most recent of those losses was to the Washington Wizards, who came into the game on a 16-game losing streak. And making the game even more bizarre was Nikola Jokic scoring 56 points, a career high for the three. Three-time MVP. Denver has not won two games in a row in over a month. They are 12-10, 7th in the West.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the Nuggets have the 6th-ranked offense and 15th-ranked defense. Andrew, if our team this week is the Nuggets, who is our guest?
It's the guy that everybody thinks about when you think about the Nuggets. It's Adam Morris from DNVR. He's also the co-host of the All-NBA podcast with Tim Legler. Adam, how's it going?
It's going good. I think when people think Denver Nuggets, they think Nikola Jokic, but I'll accept that it's me.
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Chapter 8: How are fans reacting to officiating in recent games?
OK, they're a contender. He's nowhere near that at the moment. I think the team has sort of lost confidence in him, to be honest with you, for the first time. I think they've dealt with his early season malaise all of his career. He's come into October, November, December, and ramped up and then become good in January, February, March. That's kind of been his MO.
But I think the team is finally sick of that. And probably because of how poorly he was in the playoffs last year. Now you can question, will he actually be there in the playoffs? Whereas before he always rose throughout the year. The one time you don't do that. I think your teammates look around, the fan base looks around, your coach looks around and goes, maybe this is just who he is.
So Russell Westbrook, he was the Nuggets' big and controversial acquisition this summer. How has the Russ experience been for you so far? Are you more or less hopeful that this fit can work, assuming other things with the Nuggets improve?
What's funny about Russell Westbrook is he has been exactly who he's been over the last three seasons when playing without Nikoli Okic, a guy who takes the most absurd shots, misses at the rim. It's just pure chaos. And then when he plays with Nikola Jokic, he turns into prime Magic Johnson. And we always joke here in Denver about backup point guards.
They have the easiest job ever when they stagger with Jokic. You don't have to run a nuanced offense. Just find Jokic. Run a little pick and roll. And the first moment you have to get it to him, just get it to him. Russ has taken that to heart. He presses the pass to Jokic button every single dime down court.
And when you look at Jokic right there in the mix for the scoring title this year, I think Russell Westbrook is as big a reason as any in that when he's on the court, Jokic is just getting the ball in the paint consistently. So he's been phenomenal when playing with Jokic, and he's been about what you would expect when not playing with Jokic.
So thinking ahead to the rest of the season, how would you rank these scenarios in terms of likelihood? First is a Nuggets stand path this season. Next is Nuggets make a small trade for a rotation player. The next is the Nuggets make a big trade involving a key rotation piece. Or the last one is Michael Malone is fired.
Oh, man, I have to rank those in order of how they happen, because I actually think it's possible that they the last three all happen. I think Denver is at a point where almost certainly the roster they will enter the playoffs with is not the roster they have now.
Now, whether that is they find a small trade to clear a roster spot and add a Justin Holiday, who's still in Denver, you know, was with the team last year. And you just add him to the roster, an extra shooter, veteran player. I think that one's almost a lock at a bare minimum. I think they're going to do that. And then there's a chance that they do take a swing at a bigger player.
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