EMERGENCY PODCAST: Nuggets trade for Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings

EMERGENCY PODCAST: Nuggets trade for Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings

Hey. Hey. Hey. Oh my goodness. We’re cooking everybody. Get in the kitchen, everybody. Let’s go. Get in the kitchen. We’re cooking. What is everybody? Welcome to the emergency bag.
Emergency pod edition. We’re in studio. The studio.
The studio.
The studio over here at DNVR HQ because the nuggets just traded for Yonas Valentunis aka Big Val. We’re going to break it all down. We got the squad. Harrison went to I feel like I’ve been in a fever dream the last 24 hours, man. I mean, could this be going any better? Maybe. But it’s going pretty damn well. It’s going pretty pretty good. A lot better than I ever remember. We said par was Luke Canard and nothing else. That was par. That That was par.
We just we just albatrossed on uh the first 24 hours of free agency. We got an albatross.
Uh Dline codes in the building,
bro. You know who I hate?
What?
Old US.
Did I hate old US?
We were like We were like, “Well, you know, maybe maybe maybe we can convince Carmelo Anthony to come out of retirement potentially.” The old us said that.
No, but I mean like we we had no we had no vision. We had no hope. We had no dreams. And then look at us 24 hours later. Look at us. Beautiful man.
Denver Nuggets have made an incredible trade. So obviously coming on the hills, you saw our show yesterday. We actually had two of them. our live reaction which you can watch timestamped if you want to see the exact moment we saw Cam Johnson was getting traded
and non- timestamped if you want to watch us eating jelly beans.
That’s true. That is true. The beginning part of it a little weird. Uh we also had a recap show where we shared uh more detailed thoughts. We I actually have more updated thoughts by the way because we do need to talk about some of the decisions Denver made from salary cap standpoint that I think are interesting. I was unpopular person on the timeline last night. We’re going to talk about that a little bit. But the Nuggets made a second move today or third move I guess if you will bringing in Valenunis. Before we get into anything else, Big Val, you’ve liked this guy here. Here’s this is reminds me of the KCP move and that this deal was on the table last year and the Nuggets did not pull the trigger or were not able to get it across and the exact same deal now all of a sudden happened. So, this is kind of an interesting one. It reminds me of the KCP deal and it was like this was lined up. Well, I mean, I think the first part that you have to start with is how they made this deal.
Yeah.
They got Yonas Valenunis, a very functional player at a position of need,
a true center
for Daario Sarich for D like for a guy that we were pleading with them to just simply buy out
just yesterday. Old us, the one I hate.
I didn’t I mean, I didn’t look at that as even an asset of any kind. It just seemed like a a full uh shackle that they were stuck with. And now for them to not only get off of that contract, but to convert it into something again into a position of need. Like I do like Big Val. He’s great, man. I mean, obviously he’s not the player he’s been, but
you only need 15 minutes a night.
You only need 15 minutes a night. He’s a lot younger than DeAndre Jordan and he’s been super functional in this league. And again, he’s a center with the beard, right?
Well, he’s a true center. I think more than anything, you look at this and say, great news for the Nuggets now. They have a true center because there’s teams that have a bunch of centers in the West. Great news for Deron Holmes and Zeke Naji because now they’re looking at they’re like, “Oh, thank god I don’t have to play that position.” I think this is a super win. This is an another awesome trade. And another guy who’s winning from this trade is Nicole Joic.
Yes. Oh, the maybe the biggest winner
because I think that’s what this trade is about at its core. I I think this trade is about we can’t run Nicole Joic as hard as we have these last two seasons now.
Yeah. We need to conserve him more during the regular season. We need somebody to soak up those minutes at center in the regular season over the course of 82 games. And Big Val can do that for 15 minutes a night every single game. And offensively, like that’s where you can get most excited about what he can bring because he can score. We we’ve seen him score against the Nuggets as recently as last season. and Joic, he can do work in the paint on that end of the floor. So, that’s kind of the first thing I look at. I think Joic’s minutes can drop now. Like Nicole Joic’s minutes over the course of this next regular season. I think you can slot them in lower, you know, than they’ve been the last couple years because this is a guy who can eat up minutes during the regular season and just really take some of the pressure off yolk.
Yeah. And you look at the centers in the west. I mean, I even look at Houston Rockets now, who you’re going to have to match up against in the playoffs at some point. They just look to be one of the premier teams. They have three centers. If you were going to try to roll out Don Holmes, who’s like 210 lbs, or Zeke Naji, who doesn’t play the center position well against Clinton Capella, Steven Adams, they’re they’re just too small. Yep. That’s those guys are bully rebound offensive rebounders. Big Val’s too big for that. I mean, it’s still going to be a challenge, but his old teammate Steven Adams
literally named Big Val.
Named Big Val. He’s not little Val. No,
he’s not stretch Val. Stretch Val.
He’s big Val. And by the way, another thing to consider here, and we all fell victim to this cuz I think the Dario Sar signing was bad. Like he didn’t end up working out. Although it should be noted, very short runway before we never saw again.
He got no opportunity.
He got no opportunity. But also, I don’t think it was good. But this deal doesn’t happen unless he has the second year on it, which is another funny thing to think. I’m not trying again to excuse it or say this or that. This deal does not happen except for when everybody freaked out about player option and rightfully so. It seems crazy. $5.5 million on an expiring. There’s always a team that needs that. And this is exactly like from Sacramento standpoint. They’re not excited about Dario Sarich. They’re excited about saving $4.5 million by getting rid of Big Val for for this move.
And so in a weird way kind of came in handy that they had Zarich on an expiry.
Here’s the thing, man. Here’s the thing. like I am finding myself in a position where um Ben Wallace, our current uh GM um conglomerate is doing such an incredible job with where we are currently in the need with the need of getting uh you know vet players, guys you can count on in the playoffs, this that or the other. But I find myself in a position where I actually kind of want to defend Calvin Booth because it’s like he made mistakes though. I mean to be Calvin Booth absolutely made mistakes but like I you know the the contrast feels so great at the moment but it’s like I feel like Calvin Booth is being demonized to a degree that is unfair because um he just had a different kind of plan like and it actually he could end up looking good throughout this too if the players he drafted also develop and then we’re also filling around. I mean, listen, I I I perhaps I’m a a bit of a wuss. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age, but I just
What it is is you like nuance and everything is like a terrible dumb guy doesn’t know anything. Yes.
And there’s like you’re trying to bridge the gap to like he might have known some things, didn’t execute some things well. I mean, there unquestionably he made some really bad moves, some really bad asset management, fractures among the front office and coaching. Oh, there was a no shortage of sins that that got him where he is. But there was also some like, oh, that makes a little bit more sense now. And Sar, you know, being able to use Sarich as this positive value trade asset is just kind of man. Dario Sarich, we assumed he would be rotting away on the Nuggets bench next season doing the exact same thing he did last year.
I honestly thought they were going to buy him out and stretch because it was the thing that made the most sense. So, it was going to cost I mean, the Cronies, who cares? But, it was going to cost the Nuggets buying that contract out.
It was either going to be that or it was going to be a repeat of last year. the fact that they could get a legit backup center. Clearly the best backup center, you know, they’ve had since I don’t even know, Demarcus Cousins or something like that. It’s it’s an amazing trade. Like it’s just a great trade from that perspective. Valenunis is going to help. Sar probably wasn’t going to help. If you just frame it that way, this is just another great piece of work from this Nuggets front office who they’re cooking.
Yeah,
absolutely cooking.
I think so. The big thing here now you look at the roster they how many positions of need do they have? Backup center was a huge one. This gives Jokic a spell. It gives you a backup center that hopefully can provide some some synergy with a you know they’re trying to build now an identity with their second unit. But if I look at it, you’ve got two options with your backups. You’ve got Picket and Bruce Brown could play together or only one of them. You’ve got Julian and Payton. Same thing can play together or only one of them. Then you have one of Don Holmes and Zeke Naji with Spencer Jones as this like third depth piece there. And now you have a true center in Valenunis. So whether or not the Nuggets are done making moves, Valenunis to me uh completes where they have two of every position.
Yes.
Which we haven’t said that in a while. We had like guys that are kind of this or kind of that, but now they actually have two of every position.
Dude, the it’s the uh it’s the arc, right? We’re good. Two. We’re building. We’re building in the
AR. We’re Yes, we’re we’re we’re getting through the flood of the nightmare of the last two years. Um it’s the word I uh they’re very deaf. I I learned that about myself. I know seven words. They every move deaf. A deaf word. They are adept. They are de making deaf moves. They I mean the what I love more than anything is that these moves are not just financial moves. They’re not just basketball moves. They are moves that make sense in every sense. And like that’s where you look at, okay, that this actually makes sense. Like the combination of the two personality types, the the the business uh the guy with the business acumen in um in Ben Tensor and John Wallace, the basketball mind, like coming together like actually
the way that we hypothesized it might actually work. You know, we were just sort of wishing or speaking hopefully and wishing that it would be that way, but it this is what it this looks like. You these are great moves and they make sense financially also.
These are also just they’re smart moves too, man.
They’re thoughtful. Thoughtful. I think that’s the better word for it.
Death. A lot of people have been saying that as well. Yeah. Damn, that’s good. I haven’t thought of that. But it’s like, yeah, they could have traded for, you know, MPJ and tried to get, you know, another score, another like Cam Johnson is the perfect fit. Yeah.
You know, onetoone plugandplay. I know you hate that, but that’s what he is.
True.
Big Val off the bench. Yeah. They they tried to, you know, they tried to get Yabasel. He would have been cool. Like Valentunis is is a great fit and just a a thoughtful move. He’s probably close with Yoke. I feel like that maybe went into it as well. I I’m sure Yol is very happy Valentunis is here. That probably factored into it, too. So, the the these are thoughtful, you know, wellplanned out transactions that that just makes sense. Everything the Nuggets have done makes so much sense and that that’s really comforting.
Yeah.
Makes dollars and cents, baby. And you know, I am curious and maybe my uh our Serbian followers can and maybe we have some new Lithuanian followers joining us here because there’s a little going to Lithuania. Hey, first of all, Euro basket is in Lafia, right? This year a little visit Lithuanian. Um, the Nuggets, you know, by the way, Tommy Balchettis, Lithuanian, you know, on the team last year. I think this is part of how
a pencil right now.
Yeah, but they still have Marty Pochius, who’s one of their international scouts, who I think actually knows Valenunis pretty well. I think they both do, but uh Marty Poschius was a very, very good Lithuanian player. Mhm.
So they know there’s some familiarity there. I think uh I’m curious though the I think Yic and Beg Val they do seem to always enjoy each other.
They they do get along but there is a little Serbia Lithuania rivalry. So I’m kind of curious. Yeah. So I’m kind of curious like
Bosniaakia. Well I think that one’s a little different.
That’s that’s a little bit of a different kind of rivalry.
But also what this move probably means is DeAndre Jordan I don’t think is coming back now. I agreed. Vlaco Choncha. I wonder what his future is. I would guess he’s not back. Um, so kind of a changing of the guard at the end of the Nuggets bench, which overall is a good thing in my opinion. They definitely needed that. Yeah. Like here’s the thing that you have to look at now as the landscape of the Nuggets is now taking full form uh with, as I saw it phrased perfectly, Tenzer’s arc. We’ve got two of each kind. But you look at, okay, so we’ve backfilled now the end of the bench, the part where, you know, we couldn’t really rely on that. So, we burned both Joic and Murray down to the to the nub and ended up costing us both games four and five against the Oklahoma the ultimate champion, OK City Thunder. Um, these are guys that could have eaten up time and at least like kept you afloat. And then you also do now have to factor in the idea of internal development. We were using that as a dirty word. Old us the ones I hated. Yeah.
Um but it’s true. Like you have to assume or at least it’s at least reasonable to assume that Strather will be a better player next year. Peewatt will be a better play player next year. Y
to what degree? You never know. But Christian Brown took a huge leap uh last year from the year prior. And he was playing well before. And Peewatt played well last year. He didn’t play in a way where you’re like uh that’s our future of the franchise. But it’s not at all unthinkable that he could go to LA this off seasonason, bulk up, become a lot more stout in the paint, and then become a lot more of a versatile defender along with his length. There’s just so many things that you can look at. And obviously Don Holmes is a massive factor in that as well. Like that’s you can think of that again if uh if you so choose as I do. That’s the Nuggets draft pick. But he’s not only a draft pick, he’s a draft pick that was with the team for a year. So, you won’t have that shock of what it is to be on the road as a rookie and and and having to structure your life around that. Um, you know, it it’s really not homerish to be excited and bullish on the future of this Nugget squad. I mean, I think that it’s that’s kind of a universal thought now. Like, they’re, you know, if if you wanted to be shrewd or or just like cold and calculated about it, look at the gambling odds. Like, they’re the they have the second best odds.
Oh, they’ve gone up. Yeah, they’ve gone up quite a bit. By the way, I made a bet yesterday on Bet 365. I made a bet yesterday for a Nuggets championship at plus 1,600.
I think it just paid out. They went up by 20 just now. Let’s go.
All right, let’s take a break. On the other side, what is it the Nuggets have left to do? What are some of the financial implications uh of all of this? Where are the Nuggets weak or strong now at the roster? We’re going to There’s so much to get to on on this hour of podcasting. Guys, if you have any flooring needs, check out Empire today. They are your home court advantage, your home floor advantage that a lot of people would say. Uh, Empire today, they have flooring experts, dedicated flooring professionals who focus on flooring every single day. It’s all they do. Flooring, flooring, flooring. Don’t go to the big box stores. Don’t even think about it. Go to Empire today. If you’re putting in new floors, if you’re thinking about putting in new floors, they are your best bet for a new floor. They live and breathe flooring and they will be with you every step of the way. Doing your floors is a big financial commitment. It costs a lot of money. It’s a big project. So, you need to go with the experts who are going to walk you through that process. Make sure everything is upfront so that there are no surprises, nothing that catches you off guard. Get precise measurements taken. Have all your questions answered so there are no surprises. With Empire today, you’re always going to get clear, upfront, and all-inclusive pricing. Plus, you can schedule installation as soon as the next day. Schedule a free in-home estimate today. Some things are just better at home. DMVr listeners can receive a $350 discount when using the promo code DNVR. A $350 discount with the code DNVR. Restrictions apply. Visit empire today/dnvr for full details. You me I got it. All right. Listen guys, listen man. First Bank. You know what timeouts are for? They’re for sports. They’re not for banking. They’re not for our front office. I’ll tell you that. They’re not taking a timeout. They’re going full bore. They’re not effing around right now. Um, that’s why First Bank offers you the tools and services to control your money wherever you are. With their secure, easy to use mobile banking app, you can check your balance, pay friends, acquire free agents, and stay on top of your money anytime, anywhere. It’s a banking app that moves with you. And here’s something extra. Open a First Bank checking account and you could earn $300. And you can put that towards, I don’t know, a vet minimum. It’s a simple way to kickstart better banking and enjoy a little reward for making a smart money move. So, if you’re ready to take your banking to the next level, check out efirstbank.com/bonus. That’s efirstbank.com/bonus to learn more and get started. Better banking is just a few taps away with FirstBank. Certain restrictions and requirements apply member FDIC.
So, can can we talk about something real quick that you mentioned briefly in segment one? This is a trade or a target in Yonas Valentunas that we had heard about in the past.
Yes.
Like we had heard that the Nuggets have been interested in this guy. And by the way, I think some of the dysfunction in the organization last night is what killed that deal.
Well, makes sense.
I mean, we had heard that I it seemed like Josh Kroni was hesitant to greenlight any deals.
Correct.
Last year with the dysfunction that was going on.
That’s what I understand. Yeah, but this is a deal that we had heard could be on the table or they were targeting Jonas Valentunis last year at the trade deadline. It was something that that we had heard and it felt close to happening, right? Like like this felt somewhat close to happening last trade deadline, but it didn’t. Now they revisited and they get big.
Yeah. Um, so let’s now take a look at what I’m I’m curious what everybody thinks the Nuggets need now because they do have two roster spots available. They only have to use one. And I’ve been telling people this, do not be surprised if the Denver Nuggets leave one open roster spot. You can leave an open roster spot. A lot of teams do that. A lot of teams do it because then you can add a guy without having to make a trade or anything. But also, let’s be honest, saves money
and you could convert a two-way to a full roster.
Convert 2A. You can I mean having an open roster spot has several uh bonuses to it, but I think the big bonus for Denver would be the flexibility of like we’re not going to spend extra money, especially if we don’t feel that player is going to contribute to winning.
We’ve already got roster spots and they’re dead, so let’s not do it. But the flexibility is is also really important. So I look at it and I go starting five we love. I think it’s on lock.
Then you go to the second group and you say you have a center in Val. You’ve got two power forwards in Zeke and Don Holmes. Although are either one of them
proven,
Zeke is a good four. He is a terrible five next to Jokic.
Yeah, I was going to say I still think there’s more cav caveats there,
but I I agree with your general here’s what here’s what I mean. Here’s how we’ll get to the bottom of it. Do you feel confident that he’s going to have a good year this year if he plays exclusively with the bench?
I feel like given the opportunity to play the position that he’s actually able to play, I feel comfortable with him as the backup. I to me I feel optimistic.
Sure. I mean listen,
but that’s different. I don’t I do think that it’s still a mystery box and I love Don Holmes. That’s a mystery box. So that’s to me the power forward spot is a little bit of a mystery box. You can slide Payton Watson into that spot. I think Spencer Jones on a 2A when Denver said and I’ I’ve brought this point up a lot that they that they have
got to find value in weird places. I do expect their two-way signings this year to be very meaningful for them to indicate like, no, these are guys that we have, not that we’re counting on them in the playoffs, but we need them to play
and Spencer Jones fits that category.
Correct. He could be a power forward when needed if you need more stretchy, versatile type of guy. So, you got three guys who are all question marks, but but I think what you just said in the Valentuna signing, we can cross big man off the future targets for Denver this offseason. I think they’re done in the front court. Maybe there’s a two-way guy that they signed because you just need
say regular roster spots, they’re probably done in the front court.
Correct. And then so then you go to the the power forward spot and I agree there’s two question marks which I feel you should feel a little shaky on but given that you have Spencer Jones or you can slide one of Pwatt or even Cam Johnson to power forward in some lineups. Yep.
I think that okay, you’re covered there. Small forward backup, you’re looking at Payton Watson, maybe Spencer Jones again in some configurations. Julian Strawther can play there if you’re playing small. I think that spot is probably checked off too.
Yeah. And if you’re talking defensively, Bruce Brown can also cover that.
Bruce Brown can play there as well. Yep. Are you saying you point guard? No, no, no. Small forward. We’re going forward. I’m going to end on point guard for crescendoing.
Yeah, we’re crescendoing. So, you have small forward. I think that’s checked. If you go shooting guard, you have Julian Strawther, Bruce Brown as shooting guards. I think that box is checked as well. Although they have signed up to their summer league roster a bunch of shooters and I kind of think one of them will get the two-way for shooting purposes only.
Like hey we might need a shooter out there. Let’s play this guy in some minutes. So then he gets to point guard and they have Jaylen Picket and nobody else at the moment. Now I love Jaylen Picket. I hope he is part of the plan. Denver basically has the flexibility to spend one more salary about 5 and a half to 5.2 million of their MLE remaining. Okay.
You can get So that’s above a minimum. So that’s above a minimum and it’s a little bit decent. Like it’s not the worst, but I don’t know that there’s really targets out there. I don’t know that there’s a bunch of names that are still kind of lingering out there.
Well, we rattled off the backup big man list yesterday and it wasn’t wasn’t that impressive. I can get the guard list up.
Smith had a good one that had Yeah, he had. So see if you can find that. But here’s the question is does Denver try to go and go above Picket alongside him or below him? Keep in mind that I think also you can play Bruce Brown at point guard.
Yep. You absolutely can.
Especially when he’s on the court with
Yach the best backup point guard, but he can certainly play it.
Well, here’s what’s interesting. In a playoffs, if you unless you get a true point guard where you’re like, “Oh, no. This is a playoff point guard.” You might not play another point guard in the playoffs. Your lineups might be Murray lineups. And when Murray’s not out there, Joic is with Bruce and Brown and Brown. You know, ball and then, you know, guys that can handle the ball a little bit more. And I actually think that’s a really good lineup. It’s defensively it’s really good. Brown and Brown would be a great defensive lineup to put around Joic. And then can Joic carry no point guard when you’re just playing through him in a playoffs? I think so.
Yeah, I think so, too. It’s a it’s a question, man, because I feel okay actually about Picket Bruce Brown splitting the backup point guard duties. But even though I feel okay about that, that still seems like the biggest position of need.
Yeah, I I this is where I’m pretty bummed that they let go of Trey Alexander. It it seemed like this was a guy that could maybe step into that role a little bit too,
but they might not have wanted a better player than that, though.
It’s true. But I mean, I think he’s a pretty good player. But uh my point, I think that we do I would describe our backup one as serviceable. Um, you know, it’s listen, let’s not discount the idea that Jaylen Picket could be a lot better last year. He showed he had flashes. He absolutely he had a triple double. He did he had some uh really good moments. Um, it’s not at all unthinkable. He’s a very very smart player. Mhm.
Um, you know,
I think we’re going to see what Adelman’s rotation style is, like how much stagger we have versus, you know, because if you put Jaylen Picket with a guy like Cam Johnson, knock down shooters, I have every confidence in the world that he can get them the ball where they need and they could you could be really effective that way. So, it really to me Jaylen Picket is an interesting player, but I think he has to be paired with the right players to be ultimately effective. That’s true of most everybody in the NBA,
especially the second unit. especially the second unit. But
I like him with Bruce Brown.
I do too. But I I would feel most comfortable if they still signed another point guard.
So I’ve got some of the top point guards left here.
Um here’s a list. This is not just point guards, but maybe some of the top Fredent available. Yabaselli signed this morning.
God damn it. I know
there’s a couple big men on here which we probably don’t have to talk about. Malcolm Brogden is available.
Yeah,
Dante. He’s just old pick. Dante XM is available as well and injured pick and I love Dante XM.
I thought Dante XM they the Dallas just made a maneuver to be able to retain him.
There was talk that’s going to happen but now they got D’Angel Russell. I don’t know.
Interesting.
I love Dante XM. I’ll also look up some other names here.
I like him too. I I will say this for me. I think how this shakes out is the Nuggets end up either using a two-way spot on another point guard that gives them the insurance, keeps a roster spot open, and goes into the regular season with Pickicket as the main guy. You might be able to add an Ish Smith type, not Smith, but like a guy that you’re like, he’s third. But if things don’t work out with Picket, we’re not going to feel terrible about elevating that person till we find Huh. Westbrook is a clearly ahead of of Pickicket, though. I mean, look, anything is possible to me. I just don’t fear going in. First of all, I’m a huge believer in Picket and I think he played really well this year. I think it’s an underrated thing that he actually was really good this year uh when he was in the regular rotation. I like his fit next to Bruce Brown cuz I think the one thing he can’t I think you need another creator like slasher next to him, a secondary creator. I think that will work. And then if it doesn’t work out, that’s where you have the extra roster spot and some flexibility to be able to move on if you need to at the deadline. So to me, I’m less concerned about it. I’m curious how the Nuggets approach it. But me personally, I kind of look at this and I go, I’m excited for Picket. I’m excited to give him Bruce Brown’s pacing, Julian Strawther’s pacing. Maybe you either play Pwatt alongside him, Cam Johnson alongside him, or maybe Daron Holmes, Zeke Naji, who can stretch the court, and then you give him a true big man in val. I’m like, “Yeah, that makes sense now. That gives That’s a smart group for a smart point guard.”
It does, but they have two open roster spots to work with right now.
But I’m guessing they only get one. That’s my hunch.
So, they sign a guy and then leave that 15th roster. That’s my hunch.
My
I I’m with you.
My feeling is that that second unit is very slow.
That’s a very slow unit.
Bruce Brown.
Bruce Brown. Bruce Brown is fast though. I mean, but he’s I mean, he can maybe streak out, but it’s just like in general, that’s that’s a plotting unit like which, you know, I mean, I listen, you can play there’s different ways to play in the NBA. That would not be a break it out uh run kind of unit.
So, I would that’s I would I want Westbrook back. I can’t believe I really do. You want Westbrook back. You think Westbrook works with Big Val now? I don’t want Westbrook back.
Yeah. I don’t know if that makes sense with with Big Val. He’s not exactly like your rim rolling.
I know. You know, I don’t know. I I don’t know what I’m saying anymore. Dude, I’m so tied to knots. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.
I hated him play and I also loved it. But I He pushed the pace so much.
What about Yeah, I see a Vasamichi. To me, that would be the
They traded him. Tra, he just went to uh somewhere.
He can be traded again though. That’s true. And And my point is more he’s the caliber of guy to me that you look at and say, is he above or below? Pick it. We’ll find out. Play it. See what works. But I kind of think that’s how Denver you’re comfortable with the wing.
I mean, so where this is where it gets us to if you’re not
Cam Johnson, Payton Watson. That’s kind of it.
This gets to where I think everybody’s looking at the point guard saying you need point guard, point guard, point guard. Okay.
But you also need shooting and on the wing in particular. So yes, that’s where I would say if you’re not going point guard, I think you need another shooter on this roster. Like if you’re just going to sign a picket level guy like I an Aaron Holiday I think he’s going back to the Rockets but you know one of the caliber guy
I might straight up rather a wing shooter instead
because Bruce can play a lot of point guard. He can handle the ball a lot.
I would just rather you know your Justin Holiday type
than a picket level point guard.
Yeah, that’s me. I’m Dude, is it weird to look at Tamar Bates as maybe a guy that might be looking
but I think that’s why they got these types of guys. I think that I think it could be a two one of the two-way guys, but it’s probably too soon for that.
It’s also entirely possible those guys play over whatever guy wins talking about that they bring in again a Justin Holiday type and then a Bates is like no he’s better play him play him over him. But nonetheless, you need to have a stable of shooters. I just think Denver has addressed a lot of their issues. Shooting is still one that’s a question mark. I love pick it. So point guards less of a question, but I do think it’s fair to say that is a question is is point guard. So those are to me are the two questions that are remaining for the Nuggets and they have effective
Beasley is a free agent. I don’t know if he’ll be I was going to say I don’t know if he’s going to I think he might be an incarcerated agent at a certain point. Let’s take another break. We’re going to continue this conversation on the other side. Plus the Nuggets hired some new coaches. I don’t know if you guys saw that. They did.
Dude, we can’t there’s too many things to talk about. Oh man, I need one of these right now. a Miller Light. I don’t
It’s 11:30 a.m. I don’t care. It’s the 50th anniversary of Miller Lightite. That’s another reason to get one. Um, some of your favorite memories probably involve Miller Lightite,
dude.
If you really think about it, I know a lot of mine
or my parents. My parents had a great time with it. Um, the perfect beer for every occasion, every experience. If you’re just hanging out with some buddies, if you’re watching the game at the bar,
barbecue season is here.
The number one barbecue holiday of of the year is coming up in 3 days. Dude, my best holiday of the year. It is your favorite holiday of the year. The best holiday, man.
I’m with you on this.
It’s before summer starts to suck cuz it gets so hot.
It kind of already sucks today. What?
No, no, we got another week and then
I mean, imagine imagine you’re just at the grill manning the grill. You got a Miller Light in one hand, spatula in the other hand. Hey. Hey. Who wants well done? Who wants well done? Just FYI, they’re all well done.
They’re all the exact same.
Who wants well done? Who wants burnt? Uh, the taste you can depend on. Miller Lightite is brewed for taste. Miller Lightite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerlight.com/dvr to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Millerite pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 Two carbs per 12 oz.
Dude, you know what? You know who’s having an even better day than the Nuggets front office Ben Wallace? Project Dopamine is firing. Are you back on project,
bro? I’m so I’m so back. I my the I can just feel it flowing like this smile not forced.
Uh anyway, uh Toyota vehicle BMBR. Trucks have always been a part of Toyota’s DNA for generations. Toyota has built durable legends destined for greatness and perfect for Colorado. Everyone knows this is the official unofficial car of Colorado. Whether you’re conquering off-road trails or hauling the weight of the world, not us anymore, baby. There’s a Toyota truck. We’re just uh we’re taking our ark down to the down to the lake. Take it around. Um there’s a Toyota truck that’s just right for you. Like the all-new Tacoma and the return of the iconic Land Cruiser. Toyota offers 17 models with available all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive like the epic 4Runner. and they currently offer more low and zero emission vehicles combined than any other automaker to give customers numerous choices to reduce their carbon footprint. There are 16 different hybrid vehicles to choose from. And that’s not just 16 different like they have 16 cars. There’s 16 cars that there’s hundreds of like they made a bunch. They didn’t just make 16, dude. Um, like the Tundra I Force Max hybrid truck, Toyota SUVs take command of the road and the trail, so you can explore the road less travel without sacrificing smooth city rides in an SUV like the Rav 4 and the Grand Highlander. Visit your Front Range Toyota stores at a location near you. Auto Nation Toyota, Arapjo and Centennial, Corwin Toyota in Boulder, Groove Toyota in Littleton, Mountain States Toyota in Medford, Stevenson Toyota in East Aurora, and Stevenson Toyota in West Lakewood. And the official vehicle of D&VR let’s go places. All righty. We are back here. Um, by the way, this is the wildest part of this entire arc is just this is the first week of the front office. They were introduced one week ago today and it really was a mystery box. There’s I think plenty of reason for concern. You talk about hating old us. Look, man, it wasn’t exactly the most promising way that this all came about, but in one week’s time, they’ve managed to make enough moves that were not really telegraphed and really seem thoughtful and smart that it’s exciting. I mean, it does feel like the Nuggets have a smart front office,
brother. Listen, like
it’s early, but it Okay, so we we were, you know, we were left up to our own devices, never good.
Uh the you know, the idle hands of the devil’s play things and idle minds even worse. And we were just left to sort of be like, “What is happening? Are they figuring this out?” Like,
and to be fair, the prior administration collapsed. So, it was like we It wasn’t like everything was fine. It was a horrible disasterful end to one thing. So, the confidence going to the next one should not have been high.
No. But listen, man, I applaud the Cronies. I applaud Josh. They keep they clearly did their due diligence. They really I mean, it it seemed like it just falling back the easiest thing, the cheapest option, blah blah blah. all the things we said and the worst said, but like this is a thinking group. They are making, wait for it, deaf decisions one after the one after the next. And um it just makes me so excited for what’s to come. Like you you there’s nothing better than feeling like the people that are in charge have the same kind of vision that you as a fan hope that they do.
I will say this in my conversations over the last 24 hours that I think they feel very good about themselves as well. And what I mean by that is, you know, there was a bad synergy with everybody. It was well publicized. I think that in the first week of everybody coming together, including the coaching staff, I think that there is this like positive momentum of, hey, this feels like how this whole thing is supposed to work. Everybody kind of has some input, everybody working together, and all the talents being value ads as opposed to value conflicts.
Yeah.
Um,
they’re feeling themselves. I think
I’ve got They should. They’re feeling good. If they’re interested, I will feel them. Yeah. I have a name for you.
Okay, let’s hear it.
Ben Wallace. I I And this is not a point guard, but this is the type of player I feel like the Nuggets should target. Tim Hardaway Jr.
Really?
Interesting. Interesting.
Not my favorite type of guy.
No,
I’m I’m I’m I That is the type of
Anthony shooters floor spacer. He’s entering the marketplace. Uh He’s the type of shooter for spacer I think they should maybe look to get. If they look to get a point guard, this would never happen and I don’t think it should happen. It won’t. But the type of guy they need is Bones Island. Like that’s the type of point guard I I would look to get.
Yeah. Can’t be Bones. But you are right that they need like
Yeah. downhill creator like that I think would be very interesting.
Who can also shoot? Yeah. Uh, and I I have to say like a very noticeable difference between the previous regime and this is that this regime really values that real G’s move in silence like lasagna. Calvin Booth definitely a weakness of Calvin.
Calvin Booth sort of I mean he just kind of liked to talk about what was going on. Uh, and which we appreciated but it it you know like it’s pretty refreshing to just know that no news doesn’t mean no news. It means that there could be a flurry of activity going on.
I do want to make one thing clear though that you said here because I do think people think this.
Calvin’s problem was not talking to like local media or this or that. It was other teams knowing what the moves are. Those are different things
but it you know one can lead to the other. It’s just
they can, but the high-profile ones that he had were
the Kevin Oconor interview, which obviously was then published because it was on record, and then number two, Geron Holmes being telegraphed, everybody kind of knowing what is coming. But those things are separate from those are two separate things.
I mean, but the
to me they they are all symptoms of the same sort of disease that you know that that Yeah. Who could have seen uh Val coming today? Who could have seen that?
Right. I mean that that happened on the day. Whatever at the point that we didn’t know that six months in advance. Uh you got to tie up the point or is that it?
Uh I don’t I feel like I did a good job.
All right. Uh Nuggets also hired some coaches today. Uh with possibly more on the way. Rodney Bilips, of course, the younger brother of Chanty Bilips, who’s been a scout both for the Trailblazers, his brother, as well as for the Brooklyn Nets. Stationed in Denver, though, so he was at like every Nuggets game.
Yeah. Scouting.
Scouting. scouting the Nugget or scouting basically the Nuggets and whoever was here is now on the Denver Nuggets coach. He’s lost a lot of Nuggets basketball over the last couple years.
And you guys want to have some fun here? Nuggets also hired JJ Berea.
H JJ Berea who’s been coaching in uh uh Puerto Rico for a while now.
They’re rumored to be inter interviewing uh Jared Dudley later in this week.
Yeah. Very interesting hires especially those last
also because JJ Reic
JJ Ba
JJ Berea was just on the Mav staff as an assistant with Luca Donuch there.
Oh interesting.
Well, not on their staff but a teammate. He was a teammate.
He was a teammate and
kind of player coach type of guy
and and a Luca favorite as was Jared Dudley. Just kind of interesting.
So just you know something to take note of. You know put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Just kind of I mean weird
cuz they got both of them. Chew on just chew on that for a little bit. Not even sure what you guys are hinting at.
Just chew on it. Oh, I’m not hinting at anything. No, we’re just stating the facts of the two hirings. I just thought it was interesting that that’s who they went after.
Also of note, um it was reported I forget by who. Um don’t hate on this big. Don’t I don’t forget I forget who it was. But uh JJ Breer is going to be on the front of David Adelman’s bench. So he’s going to be one of the lead assistants.
Berea. Berea. Yeah. Do you think he did that so that David Adelman looks big?
You know what? I I be honest. I’ll be honest. I made that joke. I made that joke in the group chat. I was like, “Oh my god, he’s like, he’s the last assistant, but we’re going to put him first next to me.” Well, you know who makes people look really small? Papey Jones.
Yeah, dude. He’s out of here. He’s out of here. Stephven Graham, like six or seven, you know,
like we were adding our coaches Mugsy B Isaiah Thomas. Uh, but I do think this is a very interesting ad for for the Nuggets front office. You know, you’re getting an ex player, possibly two ex players. You’re getting a guy in Rodney Bips who, you know, knows people around the league. So, the Nuggets are bolstering sort of their like player familiarity. I guess that’s what it Jared Dudley is interviewing this week that seems like it might still be on the table.
No, I’m talking about him. Yeah, him and JJ Beret. I’m almost operating as if that one is, you know, very possible to happen. But you’re getting two guys.
And I think Rodney Bilips kind of falls into that category, too. So, they’re bolstering the sort of like bridge between players and coaches in a way, I guess. I mean, every roster has this type of guy, but those are the guys, you know, that you’re bringing in. Yeah, I really like it. Um, David Adelman, great ex’s mind. I think he, you know, talks and communicates with players really well. Has a good relationship with obviously most of the guys on this team and this core. He’s been here forever. But, you know, X’s and O’s, schemes, uh, play call, like that is his forte. So, I love that he’s filling out the staff with, you know, guys that have more of a direct line to the players. And I imagine that the front office is going to be talking to the players a lot more. It like and not in like a weird clandestine more than never
more than never, but like I imagine, you know, John Wallace will be in the locker room. You know, it’s like there’s I, you know, should this work the way that it feels like it’s going, it just seems like a very healthy environment is being fostered. And
which brings me back to that point, we can’t sign Russ. What am I talking about? It’s like a
I love that you had the full arc of that one segment.
I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, dude. I’m out of my mind. We just But I love the idea that like
for all for all of Malone’s strengths, you know, that I was probably his biggest supporter and I still I remain that like I I’m so uh I don’t know, thankful for what he did around Pier. But there’s something nice about the idea that uh the team like we mentioned has grown to the point where they don’t need that mentor vibe anymore. And like Malone, the head coach, David Adelman, is not a guy that seems threatened by other people talking to the players and like right
altering sort of the vision and making it like, you know, this is a sacred space. You stay out blah blah blah. It just seems like a very collaborative in the best way, not the worst, not the like marketing way, like not not group think, but just sort of like we have um a holistic um culture that’s being put in place, it seems. And to me, that’s like exactly what you want for a player like Nicole Yokic, who is so tuned into the idea of there being like a purity and an ethical way to approach basketball. So, in the end, I feel good.
Let me give one last thing. I’m going to bring Nuggets fans down here cuz Nuggets fans were all upset at me yesterday. Well, not really. I don’t think it should bring Nuggets fans down, personally. I don’t think
Why were they upset at you?
Because last night I said I actually used a bad word. I said it might be wise of them to duck below the T or to stay below the T, which is what they did. Are you sir Marie?
I said I might be wise but I was operating under an assumption that I kind of like realized was in my head like that I was privy to that most people are not and that is that under the previous regime they were under the belief that the cronies would avoid the tax one of the next two years either this year or the following year and the reason was to delay the repeater tax an extra year. So they would get out of it, go back into it following that and it would just save them money on one year so that then they could end up paying a bunch for the remainder of Yokic’s prime. It’s almost like this midway lull that they were either directly instructed to or it was strongly hinted at that that’s what they would do. So when they made this move, and I actually think this is more impressive when you think about Ben Tenzer and John Wallace and what they pulled was I think they were operating under this assumption that not only do you need to improve the roster with limited resources, but you also have to get below the tax. And the fact that they were able to do it, it actually adds another layer of impressiveness that they were able to do this. But then that comes to well, the Nuggets can still sign guys. There there was at that time players like Horford out and I know everybody wants to go go for those guys and I said don’t be surprised if the Nuggets finish under the tax this year under the tax this off season.
Not the second apron, not the first apron. The tax bottom tax
the tax. And as they sit right now, they are 2.9 million over the tax. Assuming they hit all of the incentives on Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson’s contracts, they are 2.4 million under if none of it hits. So, are we really against those guys?
So, some of them will likely will, some of them likely won’t. So, now this is why I think the Nuggets are likely to keep one roster spot open and likely to make some kind of low-level signing that gives them the flexibility to get off of money if they feel they need to cuz they’re close enough that they unless they can really improve their roster. Again, I’m not saying I know for certain. I’m just piecing together what I’ve known in the past to be true and what I’m looking at now at the spreadsheet as you as out all these things up. I would not be surprised if the Nuggets look at it and say, “Are we actually better if we spend our 5.2 million MLE left? Are we actually better with whatever player we get?” Or does it make no meaningful difference? So, let’s go to the deadline and we can either go down or up based on what happens.
Like, if they were in this position last year and they signed Dario Sharage to $5 million and it put them in the tax, which is something that will ultimately hamper them down the line, um, that it makes no sense to do. like they should not make it simply to make movies.
The only thing is the and the only push back I’d have is the only penalties of being in the luxury tax are monetary.
Correct. There’s no other
you don’t have any restrictions nothing. Well, that’s what I’m saying. When you go into the first apron, you you have the correct the the trade restrictions. When you go into the second apron, you lose the draft and all that. When you’re just in the old luxury tax, it’s just it’s just costing ownership more money. 100%. So,
and that to me is a tough pill to swallow if that’s something that’s in their calculus right now,
as it should be because I think everybody looks at that and says, “Crunkies, you just saw the Lakers sell for $10 billion.” You made just based on the valuation.
What they make with the Lakers sale?
They made a billion dollars.
The valuation of the Nuggets went up a billion.
Can we build the practice facility?
Also, like if you’re looking for cash, you could just sell the Rapids. It’s fine. So, I don’t think people should care about about billionaires as money, but I am a realist. I also know how the world works.
This is how not just the cronies are, but many owners are, but especially the cronies. And I also know what I had just heard in the past that this was something they were looking to do. Not because they weren’t going to be in the tax for many, many years, but they felt like the compounding uh being in the tax for seven straight years was tough. And if they could dip below one, it allows them to go back over it next year, which they certainly will because they have Christian Brown’s extension, lightly, Payton Watson, Nicola Jokic, Jamal Murray. They have a bunch of extensions kicking in next year. Next year is a tax year. So, do they start the repeater this year or do they start it next year as a consideration? And my hunch is the Nuggets will try to avoid it this year. And my only thing to soo people’s thoughts on that is one, we don’t know if it’s going to happen. So, let’s wait till it happens.
And all the moves they’ve made.
And two, and two, oh, actually three things. all the moves they made. They are a better roster now than they were last year. And three, I’m not actually sure signing a player is meaningfully better. So, it might be a thing where they get their cake and eat it, too.
Yeah.
And I know people don’t love that, but that’s just the reality. I’m trying to be the realist. No, but hold on. Like, there’s a difference between making that statement yesterday and making that statement right now. Like right now it’s like the Nuggets have
sufficiently covered their bases and are still like there’s a difference between just being cheap just to be cheap
and they kind of suck and we don’t really love it.
Yeah. And they’re like, “Oh, well, hey, listen, man. Like, sorry, she was cheap. Like we or whatever.” But you get play like if you just removed any knowledge of the money that these players were making and you just looked at this team holistically, you’re like, “Yeah.” And like from that point on, none of it that we shouldn’t bother ourselves with anything else. It’s like
did they do a good job constructing a team? I say absolutely yes. And if there is a move out there that can make them appreciably better that they avoid for the tax, that’s where you can start to be like, all right, like what are we doing? But if it’s just, you know, people there’s just an idea that owners should spend regardless. And you can all you can the funny thing is is that you can just immediately look to Phoenix and be like, “No.” Like you could you can spend like an idiot and it actually makes you worse. like um so yeah, to me this is not like that notion is no longer bitter. It’s actually
and Nuggets and and Nuggets fans were very upset at me for pointing this out. And like I said, I did say it’d be wise. But I was operating under the assumption that this was ordered. And if it’s ordered and you have to pick next year or this year, you’re close enough this year that it’s like, might as well do it this year. That being said, I do think the crankies should just always be in the tax until Yogic retires cuz they never have another one.
They absolutely should be. But but to Eric’s point, it might not matter. It might not make you better.
It might not matter. And it probably doesn’t matter who your 15th guy is. But but here’s here’s the scenario. Say you roll into the season with 14 guys. You’re under the tax. Everything’s good. You have a great team. You have the guys that we think they have now. You’re all set.
What if you add a 15th guy and that guy is, you know, a Justin Holiday type of guy and you’re all of a sudden in the tax because of that,
right? that I do think makes you a better team. Doesn’t make you that much better, but does make you a slightly better team. But the Nuggets might be able to add that caliber player at the deadline.
But why wouldn’t you add him at the beginning of the season?
Because then you have to buy him out. They might wait to get there and say, “Do we need this or not?”
But I’m saying him at the beginning of the season, that would help.
Maybe him at the deadline would also help, but beginning of the season would help, too.
It does feel like you’re pinching pennies a little bit. Yeah. But, and here’s the big thing. I think the point and and again I just think the cronies should have enough money that they shouldn’t worry about this but that’s not how this works right and so I do think the whole idea is you if they dip below it this year it allows them to spend heavy next year whether you believe that or not I wouldn’t blame you for not
and I thought process
I think that is is how owners think that’s the reality how owners think
but you but you there’s nothing to be mad about
you can be mad at it though
but there’s nothing to be mad about right now if you if you’re mad about anything you’re just addicted to being mad
well there’s a lot of people that are addicted I know. I’ve done everything,
including me. Stop being mad at me. I’m just trying to tell you how this is playing out.
Stop putting up crummy tweets to talk about being wise, you idiot.
Well, I’m just trying to sh Hey, maybe billionaires, dude.
Maybe I should have said deaf. Maybe I should have said it would have been deaf.
Dude, I was a mouthpiece for the billionaire class. How’s that feel? Well, I was a mouthpiece for uh uh Cal and was tortured cuz now I don’t have any I don’t have anyone else to tell me what’s going to happen. But now I’m carrying water for the ownership. I just I keep carrying water.
Lots of water basically everywhere. Lot of water weight over here.
Help carry some water, sir.
Describing somebody as a mouthpiece is just wild if you think about it. Yeah, dude.
You’re a mouthpiece.
You’re like a kazoo. Um, all right. Let’s just talk real quickly about some of these other moves that have happened around the league cuz they’re interesting.
Okay,
the Bucks talk about buying out. The Crockis uh need to look at what’s happening in Milwaukee and say maybe we should buy out Zeke Naji. Maybe that would actually give us some relief because the Bucks just bought out Damen Lillard’s $113 million deal and sign Miles Turner. Use that to then sign Miles Turner.
Buyouts are the uh bell of the ball this off season.
Big buyouts going on.
Aton and now Dame. Like that is insane that teams are now willing. This is why they had to put this new CBA in place. By the way, this is why because these owners were like, “Oh, we get taxed.” Some owners, not all. The crunkies are like, “Oh, we better not get taxed $2 million.” And then some owners are like, “We’ll pay $113 million to get rid of this guy.”
I Okay, I think this is obvious to everybody. Like, I officially do not understand how the NBA finances work. I I was in like with Daario Charge, I was like, “Well, we’re that we can’t do anything ever again. We we signed that contract. We’re stuck forever.” I don’t understand you can just dump these contracts. I thought like the the very concept of the amnesty clause being uh going away meant that if you made a bad signing like you were just shackled with that forever more and that it was would count against your cap because it was guaranteed money and blah blah blah. I don’t know what the hell’s going on. I cannot believe you can just be like get the hell out of here. Take this huge check with you and move forward. Um, it makes like, you know, it makes it so that when we just are sitting around ringing our hands about a bad deal that MPJ has or if you think Jamal Murray has a bad deal and it’s like you can get out of that. Like I didn’t I don’t get it. But like it’s nice to know that that exists although that could foster even more anger. Um, but it’s crazy. I mean I literally cannot believe and it may but I mean obviously what are the what are the Bucks supposed to do? like that’s a, you know, that’s that they actually were living in the scenario that Josh Kroni accidentally uttered uh where it’s like somebody gets injured and they have to theoretically have to think about trading a big player.
Great point. I hadn’t thought about that.
So, but they ended up having to, you know, just eat unbelievable amounts of cash. So,
uh it’s a wild it’s a wild world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um I’ll tell you one other thing real quick. Got to go back to nuggets. I know we’re around the association, but I just remembered a little detail. There was an interesting rumor yesterday about Cam Whitmore, wasn’t there?
Yep.
Yeah.
And then you try to think like, well, whoever would the trade be the clear trade would be Payton Watson for Cam Whitmore. Is that enough? Are the Rockets interested in that? I think the Rockets I think
the Rock I think Cam Whitmore is Houston’s Payton Watson and they like him, but they’re also like looking around and trying to decide.
They like him, but they don’t love him.
They like him and and and they’re just trying to say like which way is going to go. girlfriend. You know,
the thing though here is that Cam Whitmore makes significantly less than Payton Watson, like $900,000, I think almost a million dollar less and has an extra year before he’s due to be paid. So, not only for Denver’s perspective, what forget the player from a salary standpoint, it might save you just enough money to end up being below the tax again we’re talking about. While also getting a player that’s just different, like, okay, is he better or worse than Payton Watson? I don’t know, but it’s different. So, that’s another reason when I see that rumor, I don’t discount it. But I look at it and I go, that might actually be something.
Yeah. Yeah. I I would not like that deal. I would like uh because I think that I I think that that Payton Watson possesses uh like a build that is just it’s very rare. And I think that he has to
Are you Calvin Boot’s mouthpiece right now? Are you being Calvin? Jeez.
I was like he’s one of my favorite guys. God. Uh, but the idea is that I just think that he has a very rare I mean you could say you counter that by saying Cam Whitmore has a a very rare set of you want the the three or the defense the length
the extreme uh wingspan and tough his issue currently is that he’s not big enough but I think that there’s a really good chance he comes back like having put on a you know sizable amount like a Well, what about this part of it? Cuz I agree with you. I mean, again, everybody knows I like Pton Watson’s upside, but the other part of it is you kind of have to decide the summer. He’s extension eligible. He needs an extension. The Nuggets might look at that and just say, could this hurt us? If we extend him and he doesn’t work out, are we now spending all of next summer trying to figure out what assets to get rid of?
And if you do that straight up swap, Whitmore is one year behind Watson. So, his extension isn’t
this off season, it’s the next off season potentially.
Like, what’s the worst that happens? Like, you don’t like him and then you don’t extend him. And it’s like, all right,
no, no, you have to extend him now.
Oh, before the season starts.
Payton Watson is extension eligible right now.
He’s same with Christian Brown.
But how long is he under contract?
Uh, if you don’t extend next, then he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.
But they I mean, listen, I or restricted. Restricted. That’s what I mean. Like I I don’t think that you have to feel the pressure. Like I think that you can see how it goes. And
you can’t you can’t see.
And if he you know, like you don’t have to,
but if you don’t I I’ll say this. I don’t think so.
If you don’t have if you don’t extend him, it’s probably done.
I was going to say I think I think they have to either extend him this year or consider him an expiring walking out the door contract. And the Nuggets just have to maybe they don’t want to do that. Maybe they’re like, “Hey, we just can’t do that. Let’s get Cam Whitmore. It’s kind of a lateral move
because like you could go through half the season and then extend him. You could like just kind of see what what the kid looks like before you make
I think you can only do that until there’s a deadline.” Yeah, there’s a deadline. So
this offse is when you off season when you can do it. I’m just telling you that and and let’s say it’s not Cam Whitmore. My point is there are guys that make just a little bit less than Payton Watson and if you were to trade them, it might actually have a meaningful impact on this whole thing you’re saying
and Denver has to decide. So that’s why I see those those rumors and I’m like, hey, it’s not nothing. There’s something there. And I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re poking around at Cam Whitmore types. Yeah. And I mean second draft intriguing guys that are other teams Pton Watson’s as well and thinking should we do one of these deals?
I just I think it’s foolish to look at a player like Pton Watson and make a declarative statement of who he is as a player at this stage in his career. He’s like he played no time in college.
Yeah. But this is what sucks about the NBA is you have to decide. Like I you’re not wrong. It just sucks that the NBA is structured this way that you have to kind of decide before you know
he can at least like see if he comes back and he looks like he’s in better shape. He looks like he’s like made a made some kind of leap. I mean there are they they don’t have to just be like completely blind. Like there are and it’s not like Pton Watson’s a guy that the the league is clamoring for, you know, like I I think that you can make a deaf uh assessment when looking at him. Like I don’t think you have to be, you know, be so reactionary in that way. But um I I I just I think overall my feeling is that like the front office has is now doing is now playing both sides of this coin. Like they’re doing what Calvin Booth had that the vision that Calvin Booth laid forth could prove to be complete folly. Obviously he got fired. So there’s part of a lot of what he did that wasn’t necessarily part of his vision, but just how he conducted himself. Two different things. But his vision could doesn’t necessarily have to be completely laid bare. Like the last two years don’t have to be for not and for absolutely nothing if these players that he put his faith in actually do develop. And so like if you can not only get vets that are playable but also get more meaningful production out of the guy. This is how you get the Oklahoma City Thunder. This is how you like get teams that are not only competing now, but like are filling out a a ground swell core to compete for years to come, which is something that I agreed with with Calvin Booth’s philosophy. It’s just like in order for that to pay out, like you have to have the right guys, but in order to have the right guys that are young, you have to give them enough time to metriculate before you can make that declarative decision on them.
Um, but the flip side of this Dline is the deals are happening now. So, a deal might not be available in October, right before the season begins. It might be available to extend him or not extend him, but it might not be available to trade him for a Cam Whitmore type. That’s why I think
I don’t want Cam Whitmore. Like there’s always a Cam Whitmore type. Like that’s like the last couple days have shown me that
but here’s your point is that you’re trying the Calvin Booth plan was having these young guys so that you have a pipeline. Payton Watson after this year is no longer a young guy. Cam Whitmore has two more years of being a young guy. So if you feel that those guys are of equal value,
do you feel do you have a strong sense that Cam Whitmire is on a more uh a path that you feel more comfortable with than Pton Watson? To me,
I think they’re kind of equal. I mean,
that’s what I mean. Right. So it’s like why you’re I guess you’re just hopping from one foot to the other.
But you’re getting two years of a young of I respect that. I I am more intrigued by the skill set of Pton Watson than I am of Kim Whitmore.
Yeah. And I am too.
And I probably am too.
Yeah.
But I think it’s close enough to at least consider and that’s what I think this is all about. And that’s why I think that deal is out there and I don’t just brush it off. But to your point, there are other guys that might be same thing, slightly cheaper than Payton Watson. And if you saw a move like that, that’s what it would tell me is the Nuggets feel that was lateral but gave them more of a runway because you’re not, this is what’s hard about the NBA. You’re not just planning for this year. You’re also It’s going to overtime.
You’re also planning for the future.
Oh, overtime. [ __ ] yeah. Let’s do this.
You’re also planning for the future. And I think that’s part of the consideration that the Nuggets are trying to like thread the needle. And by the way, I think doing a pretty good job of so far.
Dang, this
if you can trust NBA.com, they have to have those extensions done by midnight on October 20th or they or they become restricted free agents at the end of the year.
Restricted means like they get to counter if somebody like you don’t just completely control.
You don’t want to deal with restricted free agents because it also screws up your flexibility during the open market. happening with Philly right now. That’s why they lost Yabiselli because they have Quinton Grimes and restricted free agency right now. And so how that works is they’re like, “All right, we’re going to give you this offer.” But now you have like the whole summer to garner up an offer from another team. So it kind of ties up your cap room,
but you could flip Payton Watson for another guy and then with the understanding that this new team is going to not only get trade him and then sign him.
Yeah. But it is limiting. That’s the only point is there’s less there’s less flexibility if you go forward with it. You’re saying it’s worth the risk to do that.
I I just I I just think
it’s you don’t have enough information to make that decision right now. You just don’t like because there’s the concept of internal development that they were resting that was seemingly the only thing that we were resting on.
Which by the way kind of funny that they have we’re going to go into free a or not free agency not trades and now they’ve acquired two players via trade, one via free agency. We’re not internal developing much here. That’s what I’m saying. I love that the front office was like, “Yeah, we’re not doing anything.”
Psych. We were like, we were like, “Man, we’re not have nothing to talk about.” Turns out we have everything to talk about.
I know. And it all It’s all come so quick. Anyway, long story short, I’m very excited about the Nuggets and what they’re doing. Um, don’t be surprised if they end up below the tax though. I do think it’s a possibility. Don’t worry about it, though. But don’t worry about it so long as the Nuggets are good. And again, I think the Crunky should always spend. If they go under the tax this year, expect them to spend big next year. We’ll see what happens. All right, what do we got? Kale
super chats. Wilson EMTT.
A week ago, we didn’t even have a GM. I was spooked for our off season, but now we are cooking.
Oh my god, dude.
I’ve never been so excited to watch B. I’m so happy.
Dude, I think that every time you know how uh every show on the Food Network, like when you see Ben Wallace, you’re just going to be like, “Uh, chef.” Hello, chef. Yes, chef. I think they should refer to that because this is their new outfits. They’re cooking.
Yes, chef.
Yes, chef. Yes, chef.
Hot behind. Behind plating. I need hands.
Sorry, I just watched the whole season of the bear in the last two days. Also,
yes, Joe. Uh, Ryan B. 12 nonicage minutes plus four Eastern European Hefty Boys bully your front court minutes. This just uses their trade exception too. So, one more bullet.
Yeah, I think they’ll sign one more guy probably for a minimum or very close to it.
That’s That’s my hunch as well.
They might do another maneuver though.
Or maybe there’s a Payton Watson type of trade.
A Payton Watson type of trade that opens something else up. And you know what? They’ve surprised us already. What if there’s a Zeke Naji trade?
Don’t.
Oh,
what if there’s a Zagi buyout constitute another emergency podcast? Oh,
probably honestly cuz it means that they opened up a lot of other you would only do that as a prerequisite to another deal.
Think about that. The piano man that would be some beautiful music. Although listen, I think it’s going to go over here. I think it’s going to be good. I I like Naji playing the four has looked good. I’m like it’s going to be good this year. Zeke’s going to be good this year.
What a terrible agenda.
We all need to What’s yours? Who What guy is going to be good this year? That
Yeah. What terrible agenda are you going to latch on to that’s going to sink?
Julian Strawther. You want to take Strawther? yesterday.
What about um Rapid Man?
Spencer Jones is going to be good.
I’ll be Spencer Jones.
Spencer Jones is going to be good. Diz, I feel like all these moves are moves they already tried to make last year and now are actually able to because the GMs are more charismatic. I’m telling you, I don’t think I the charismatic part is true, but I don’t think that’s why the moves didn’t happen.
Never know. Never know.
I I will say I do know on the Valentunist thing it was not about that. I’ll tell you that I’ve gone out uh to bars with a more charismatic friend and it worked out better for him than it did for me. We have the same agenda. Bobby Gonzalez emergency pod. Thanks to the best front office. All the homie all my homies hate Calvin Booth. We’re back, baby. All the nuggets are now good. Telling you, I don’t feel that way. We’re not homies then. We’re not homies. Sun Valley Drive. Going to get fired for watching you all the past two days instead of doing my job. Worth it.
Let’s go. We got to make an an excuse slip or something for a box.
Nico Perez very impressed with the quality of these trades. What a start for our unorthodox front office.
Dude, I was thinking about how
not abnormal but orthod unorthodox. How funny it was that they kept mentioning they’re using the word unorthodox. And Mikloic is orthodox.
He actually is orthodox.
He’s literally orthodox.
It even said we have a pretty unorthodox center. It’s like actually very orthodox. be like, they’d be like, “Listen, our uh our front is not Jewish.” Uh, okay. Uh, Teeman, TM, now we don’t need to run Joker into the ground. If Val can play 10 to 15 minutes, that would be huge for Joic going into the postseason. Agreed.
Totally. That’s it. I will say, and I’m not trying to stunt on my guy AG. Pretty hilarious that he said, “You guys have no idea how valuable Dario Sarge will be for us.” Yeah.
It was as a trade chip. He knew he knew he’d be traded. He saw the vision for Big Val.
Super. Do you guys think Rusto has a spot on the team?
I don’t. Don’t ask me. I’ll tell you that.
I don’t. But you know what? Anything’s possible,
dude.
Anything is possible.
I welcome it or hate it.
I see these knees. Anyway, Haime Hakez comes here to get him away from Spo’s ex-wife. Next. Next one. Next one. Kale. Next one. Kale. X1. On a serious note, that’d be a nice faximile to the Cam Whitmore trade. That’d be one of those types of deals. Yeah. I wonder who I wonder what the money is there.
That would be a great deal.
I would love Hawkins.
There’s a fellow Latino. I’m in
Pete. Thank the Lord for a fresh set of eyes. Booth was too married to his vision. Malone was set in his ways. Hope we can keep Yo Smith at 33 now.
I’ll tell you this. I love that.
Cal desperately wanted Veenunis.
He did for whatever it’s worth.
He did. Fasu doier today and yesterday are like Christmas and Christmas Eve. We are back. You guys are amazing. No, you’re amazing.
Fuier Fu, nobody nobody gets it like you. And as Vlada points out, I incorrectly said the letter C is never pronounced S. It is in Serbian. So,
so Dozier is the crazy one.
So, yeah. So, actually George Carl was just thinking about it from the perspective of our friends across
George Carl knew it. Uh, the Rizzler. Y’all are sponsored by Toyota and don’t bring up the Supra or Corolla. Absolutely crazy. What if I don’t want a smooth city ride? I want to go fast. Corolla in Colorado. People buy Cross. Also, Corolla is the Corolla is a great car though. Great car.
We’re freaking wrong. Burgundy, man. They put it in the the re If they want us to talk about the Supra, we’ll do it, but they got to write it down.
Yeah. Um, got the rate real quick and I just, this comes courtesy of Bobby Marks, but I’d actually heard it from our friend Drake Coin as well. If Denver ties the MPJ trade with Jonas Valenunis, they avoid the first apron hard cap. So, there is a chance. I mean, sometimes it’s how all these deals happen is independently, but if they combine, they’re not official yet.
But I’m not sure one if the Nuggets are able to do that or to realize to do that or if there’s another consideration I haven’t thought about. I’m sure they realize.
They definitely realize, man, I swear to God
because typically it’s a benefit for every team to tie all those trades together. Typically, that’s how it works.
I see hot these knees. We need James Johnson off the bench. That dude is always in the finals. Plus, he grew up in Cheyenne for a homecoming and he loves to get in fights. He got ejected from a finals game that he pretty much didn’t play in.
I We just have to get our hockey goon basically.
Yeah. Makoer, I apologize for being negative. Are we back? I think we’re back, man. Hey, this team is better than last year’s team. I believe that. I believe this team is better than last year’s team.
I I want everyone
within the sound of my voice to just repeat after me. Ready?
We’re sorry.
We will remain pious and we will not jump to conclusions till we have all of the information. Thank you, Ben Wallace. We appreciate your vision. getting a little tooish. May you
was getting a little too going too going too far here. Oh boy.
Uh am I a mean get one more shooter? Julian is way too inconsistent. Yeah, I think another shooter would be great.
We don’t know that. He has been inconsistent. He is young. Like guys get better, man. They really do. They really get better. And you don’t know if they will or they won’t. But it’s like this is in a career. This is when this happens. This leap happens when they say in various sports like the game slows down. You stop thinking about things. You just start playing it again. And you got to think like Julian Strawther has been injured for large swaths of time in both of his early seasons. He got almost no time for Michael Malone. The one thing again that I point to which is so encouraging to me is that he showed up when the lights were the biggest in an elimination game. He did.
He absolutely knocked down shots that you can’t just you can’t write off. Like when you see Kase Wallace on the Oklahoma City Thunder do that, you’re like, “Man, that guy’s a player. That’s great.” Or, you know, uh, Nquille Alexander Walker, you’re like, “Man, that guy stepped up.” Like, those guys aren’t consistent game to game to game, but they have big games in the playoff. Like, it’s like that’s a player, man. So, I do not just put a period on what you think Strather is.
Yeah.
Yeah. History Channel 5280 Crockis are going to kiss Ben Wallace on the mouth for getting a center without having to buy out charge. Just praying that Porter passed his physical. I’m sure he will. So funny, man.
That would be such a bro. Wait for this to go.
I’m gonna institute that same I’m gonna institute that same rule here. Like I have, you know, I have employees like
Dwayne I know Dwayne is watching right now. Dwayne, if you do a good design, I’m going to kiss you on the mouth.
Just now Sweden. Ben Wallace rules this roster with Joker. Amazing.
I can’t believe Ben Wallace stuck. It’s officially the name. Ben, I don’t
It’s too late, D.
You’re right. It is too late.
It’s too late. I tried to make John Benet happen. You didn’t like that. I I was not a fan of that one. Yeah. Safe Space Force, the real stars of Free Agency, DNVR, who gets Exec of the Year or Ben Tensor. That’s a great question.
That’s a great question. Yeah.
Did Ben Wallace gets it? Do they share it?
Oh, that would be so funny. That’s amazing. Josh like I that will maybe be the first time we find out who is actually above who on the hierarchy.
Yep. That’s so true, man. Yeah. Yeah. Who gets the award?
We won’t know till that point. THTR new Bruce Springsteen albums Nuggets are cooking. Can’t believe this is my life. Also, happy belated Junth. Di
my man. Thank you. Thank you.
And win. What up? Put me down for Holmes being good this year. Agenda. There is agenda. You can have that one. You got it. You got that one.
He’s easy to root for, man. If he’s good, you guys will love him.
Gavin, the front office has blown me away so far. They’re aggressive. They have a concise vision of maxing out Joic’s prime. Cam Johnson trade was amazing.
Amazing, dude.
So amazing,
dude. They’re going to save 20 million.
$20 million.
They check three boxes in one move. MPJ was going to make $43 million next year and Cam Johnson’s going to make 23.
Yeah.
Uh he’s still going to make 43. He’s just going to be in Brooklyn
for the Nuggets. The Nuggets were going to pay him $43 million. Summer League is next week. Can you guys believe it? We’re 9 days away from summer league game and you guys are going to be out there.
Dude, I was so I I was dead in the water. I like as just a guy I’m so dude I’m so bad. Like I’m over dopamine now. It’s like,
are we have we already like done and finished with project dopamine?
Yes, dude. Now it’s like
we got to break down.
It was a successful project dopamine.
Now it’s like chill the f out, dude.
All right, get that out, Kale.
We’ll see what happens the rest of the day. We might be doing another show if another significant move happens. We’ll see. Good news sometimes comes in threes. We’ve had two of them so far. I guess you can count bris. That’s three. Yeah, we’ve had three. Yeah, we’re done. Hit that like button on the way out. We’ll maybe see you later. We all silly like the mayor.

The Denver Nuggets continue to COOK this offseason and have now traded for Jonas Valanciunas. Denver only had to give up Dario Saric! Adam Mares, Harrison Wind and Eric Wedum react to the trade, give their updated takes on Cam Johnson and Bruce Brown and discuss who else the Nuggets could look to add in free agency.

Start – 0:00
Big Val traded to Denver – 2:30
What do the Nuggets still need? – 18:45
Available point guards? – 25:30
Who Wind thinks they should still go after – 35:30
New coach hires – 38:00
ATA – 51:00
Superchats – 1:02:20

📬 Denver sports in your inbox: https://thednvr.com/newsletter

An ALLCITY Network Production

PARTY WITH US: https://thednvr.com/events

ALL THINGS DNVR: https://linktr.ee/dnvrsports

BALL-KNOWER BONUS/Merch: https://promotion.allcitynetwork.com/promotions/store.allcitynetwork/7d48d294-4260-4bac-aca1-9a18eef8ca78

SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/DNVR_Sports

BUY GOLDEN ERA: https://www.triumphbooks.com/golden-era-products-9781637273692.php?page_id=21

Cake Mortgage: Get started on your Cake Mortgage home loan today at https://start-nonqm-dnvr-sports.cakehome.com/

Toyota: Visit Your Front Range Toyota Stores at a location near you – Toyota is the official vehicle of DNVR. Toyota – Let’s Go Places!

First Bank: So, if you’re ready for better banking and the chance to earn a little extra, head to efirstbank.com/bonus. Certain restrictions and requirements apply. Member FDIC.

Hall of Fame App: Get a 7-Day Free Trial + 50% Off your first month with code DNVR. Just download the HOF app on iOS and Android or visit www.hofbets.com, enter code DNVR, and you’re all set. #ad

Raising Cane’s Rooftop Fridays: https://thednvr.com/event/friday-rooftop-club-at-coors-field-presented-by-raising-canes/

Monarch Money: Use Monarch Money to get control of your overall finances with 50% off your first year at https://www.monarchmoney.com/dnvr

bet365: Go to https://www.bet365.com/hub/en-us/app-hero-banner-1?utm_source=affiliate&utm_campaign=usapp&utm_medium=affiliate&affiliate=365_03485318 or use code DNVR365 when you sign up. Must be 21+ and physically located in CO. Please gamble responsibly. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help call or TEXT 1-800-GAMBLER

Go to https://millerlite.com/dnvr to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Tastes like Miller Time. Celebrate Responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Gametime: Download the app, create an account, and use code DNVR for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.

Shady Rays: Head to https://shadyrays.com and use code: DNVR for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people.

Get 10 FREE meals at https://hellofresh.com/freenuggets. Applied across 7 boxes, new subscribers only, varies by plan.

When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions.

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

#Nuglife