Bobby Marks’ 2025 Denver Nuggets Offseason Guide | NBA on ESPN

Bobby Marks’ 2025 Denver Nuggets Offseason Guide | NBA on ESPN

All right, a happy Sunday evening. Hopefully everyone is doing great out there. We are going to do an offseason video on Denver. This is actually the second video we did. We did one earlier and something happened with the sound. So, we are going to do a take two. It actually works out better because we got some postgame sound from Jokic and uh Gordon and their interim head coach um David Adelman who um hopefully we’ll get the interim tag lifted off and we’ll talk about that in a minute here. I think there’s a there’s a short term and there’s a big ter big outlook approach here. We originally wrote this article uh in the Clippers series uh certainly when Denver was down uh or close to facing elimination here uh 3-2 down or yeah three I think 310 3-2 down in that series um or 33 I’m sorry and then they facing elimination of course they win and we wrote and tweaked some things when they went down 3-2 and we updated a little bit before or during the game here because the intro I just didn’t feel it wasn’t right how it’s sat the original intro was basically deja vu here we go game seven we lose again second round blah blah blah and based on the toughness of this group and I know you got your they got their doors blown off in game seven and toughness of this group Aaron Gordon playing with it basically probably a pulled hamstring and getting off to a 2410 start and basically just getting Um, Oklahoma City comes at you in waves and the wave basically overtook you. Uh, we did tweak this a little bit here. We were a little more positive with the intro and that is the reason why it says, hey, if you want to be the pessimist and you sure you can go out and say, you know, hey, second round. It’s amazing. I try not to read what social media says, but it’s like, hey, the window is closed and this is it. We’re over blah blah blah. Blow up the team. And I always think like, well, there’s only 450 players in the NBA. Like, what are you blowing up here? You’re not trading Jokic. You’re not trading um Gordon and Jamal Murray’s about to enter year one of a $229 million extension. And we’re going to talk about some of these pieces here in a minute. Shortterm, it was a successful season. I know it’s hard to say that when you have a top two player, a generational player, and you have to take advantage of it every year, at least trying to win a championship here. And Jokic was right. He asked him like, “Do you think um that this team can win a championship?” And he said, “Well, no, because we we lost in the second round.” So obviously like change is needed here. And when you look at as far as where where Denver is heading, it’s it is interesting because we are in a little bit of a deja vu because they’re basically in the identical same spot they were a year ago. Of course, it wasn’t in devastating fashion losing at game seven up I don’t even know 20 points to Minnesota at home. But you are still eliminated from the second round and you are looking at a roster that it has 82% of of their payroll is tied up in four players with Jokic, Murray, um, Gordon and Porter Jr., you are in the same basically financial spot without a draft pick and without a second draft a second round pick that you were a year ago based on where you are financially, based on where you are with your younger players. And we’re going to talk about that in a minute here. When you look at the let me just scroll up in here. Um there’s a couple things that are going to hap are going to happen in this off seasonason. The first is uh Denver should lift the interim tag off um David Alderman’s uh from being an interim to head coach. I thought he’s he’s done enough with this group. He’s kept his team together. He got him out of the first round and you got to a game seven against a 68 win team. That’s the first step. The second step is figuring out who’s running basketball operations. That’s a huge step in this process. Do you keep it in house? They promoted Ben Tenzer to the interim a interim GM. He’s been there a long long time. You bring someone from the outside. Gets a little dicey when you do that. Certainly when you have um Okay. Certainly when you have Jokic on your roster. Um, so that’s step one, head coach. Step two, who’s running basketball operations? Those are your two most important things. So here’s where you’re heading into the off seasonason here. You have 13 players under contract. You’re uh true free agents are DeAndre Jordan and Blackco Conar. You have a player option on Russell Westbrook and um Dario Sarich, who I am anticipating will opt in. U just pulling up their article. will opt into his contract. So, that’s where you’re looking at it. You’re roughly 4.7. You’re first apron team. You are 7.1 below the um second apron team. You have the tax midlevel exception 5.7. It’s basically the same resource that you had for SARS that you signed. You will be pressed up against the second apron. If you use the tax midle, you are hardcapped at the second apron. what it means to be in the first apron here. Basically, you um you are not allowed to use more than 100% of the traded player exception. You can’t take back more money in a salary. So, if you traded Porter um Junior in a trade, we’re going to talk about him in a minute, you can’t take back a $40 million player. So, that’s what your um that’s what happens with um the first apron restrictions here. Certainly their depth is going to be out of question again and Yokuch mentioned that that you know the teams that are still live and I know New York we can probably throw to the side. You need eight good players when you get into the playoffs. You need five you know certainly five starters and three guys when you look at when you look at Indiana when you look at Minnesota Alexander Walker Reed Dvenenzo um that gets you your quality depth. What Denver is attempting to do and what they’ve been attempting to do the last two years is extremely extremely difficult. When you try to thread the needle with a veteran laden starting five and I know we put Christian Brown in there and we take KCP out. you are relying heavily on Payton Watson and Julian Strowder and Jaylen Picket, Hunter Tyson, Nazique Naji, and you need three of those guys to play a contributing role. There were moments, but not consistent enough. Um, our stats and information group do a terrific job feeding us with information. Matt Williams, Michael Schwarz, that group there. I asked them, I think after Oklahoma City went up 3-2 in this series, to give me some numbers on their minutes. The Nuggets had the top four players, Joic, Murray, Gordon, and Brown in total minutes played in the postseason. I know it’s a little bit skewed because certainly some teams advance further, but I do think it’s an indication as far as where they are and how many minutes there. The starters averaged 94 points in the regular season and the most by any team since the 1986 87 season. 86 87 I believe that is the Boston Celtics. You you need help. You need help with the depth. It is going to be a challenge because are you willing to parlay the dep the younger players that are on controllable contracts when you’re wearing you’re an apron team and your res resources are limited and you have no first and second round pick this year. It presents a big problem if you miss out on your draft picks here. You can say you hit on Christian Brown. The jury is still out on Watson and Strower. Shouter, um, Picket had some decent moments. Hunter Tyson certainly another player there. So, that is going to be a priority. When you get into, we talked about their finances. If you are a repeater tax team, you’re on path to pay pay the highest tax penalty in franchise history. your front office priority. Um, Jokic extension eligible, three for $212 million. I would expect that would be a no-brainer. You can start negotiating with him once the NBA finals are over. First year of the extension is almost 66 million. That replaces the player option. It starts in 2728 and goes through the 2930 season. Um, I don’t we don’t need to go through his stats. Um, second priority is determining if roster improvement comes via trade rather than internal development. They’ve got one first round pick in 31 or 32. Can’t trade both. Their lone tangible asset is Michael Porter Jr. Career 18 points, 38 and 41 million he’s left on his contract. We’ll see what happens with if he’ll need surgery as far as the uh with his shoulder. uh extension candidate to watch. Christian Brown certainly has helped himself. You can check the boxes off. He should get paid. What does getting paid mean? Jaylen Suggs was five for 150. I would think it would be higher than that based on where the cap is going. Uh but but careerhigh in minutes. Um and started 77 to 79 games. Third year in a row playing 75 plus. Durability played all 82. joined Dyson Daniels as the only player in the past two years increased their scoring average by more than eight points. Christian Brown will get paid. He is a terrific player and he fits what you’re trying to do. I think the number is at least 30 million per year. Other extension candidates Porter Tyson Picket and Watson your to-do list is addressing the nonic minutes of course minus they were minus 24 going into game six. Game seven I’m sure it’s going to be higher. Um, your picks are not great. Uh, you you rank in the bottom in draft assets. You have one second round pick available, and that’s in 2032. As I said, you owe Orlando your pick this year. You have no second. You have a pick in 26, but you owe um Oklahoma City a top five protected first in 27. If it’s conveyed, you will send Oklahoma City another first in 2029, top five protected. And that what that is the reason why the first pick you can trade is in 31 or 32. Uh it’s two years after the second Oklahoma City pick is conveyed. So that is a kind of a nutshell as far as where you are in Denver. Replacing the interim tag finding out clarity at who’s in charge of basketball operations. Depth depth depth. Jokic extension. Brown extension. dancing around the the second apron with limited resources, exploring possibly the trade market if it is Porter Jr. It’s hard to see where Jamal Murray at four for 229 is a big number here. U but you do have to get better. Shortterm it was a successful season. Long-term you have to maximize, as I’ve said with Giannis and all these other great players, you have to maximize the Jokic window to compete for a championship. Want to try to post that what I look [Music] like with the heat. [Applause]

Bobby Marks gives his 2025 offseason guide for the Denver Nuggets after they were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games.

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