Cam Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr. on Why the Nuggets Will Be a Perfect Fit

Cam Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr. on Why the Nuggets Will Be a Perfect Fit

And with the team, I mean, last year they took the defending I not the defending, the the champs, you know, to to game seven. I really don’t feel like we’re that far away, that far off. Um, but a little things here and there that could propel us over the hump. Uh, I think we can get the job done. What are you all most excited about playing with Joker? Look at that smile. Honestly, a big part of it is not having them no more. [Music] [Music] Welcome back to the young man in the three as always presented by 342 productions and wondering media. We had a big one, Cam. Here today with my my my new current teammate Tim Hardway Jr. of the Denver Nuggets. Great signing, great vet, great shooter, great player. Should add a lot of dimensions to the team. Thank you guys. Thank you all for having me. Honor and a privilege. What was your what was your thought process uh behind your decision? Um well I didn’t well this didn’t come about at all just at the start of things you know just a lot of seeking a lot of uh visualizing a lot of just uh figuring things out with my agent and thankfully you know uh a couple teams reached out and I was very excited that one of them were were the Denver Nuggets and uh really didn’t hesitate I would say uh once I got the call kind of understood. Uh and me playing in the west coast I mean Cam you understand this as well like it’s a great conference you know uh so just happy to know go back over there and be a part of it. Cam we’ve talked a lot about um what it’s like to be traded. You had the experience a couple years ago from from Phoenix coming to Brooklyn. uh when you heard this happened, you know, we talked right afterwards. What was your what was your immediate thought before you got to the Denver process about just the sort of shock of everybody hitting you? It just happens quick, man. Um you know, I’ve been on the trade block for a trade candidate for over a year now, going back to before last year’s draft. So, it’s always, you know, it’s always a reality. You know, it could happen all the way through the season, through the trade deadline, and then this year through the draft. It’s always a possibility. But still, when you get the call, it still happens fast. Like, I’m, you know, I just finished a workout. I’m going to shower and then my agent calls me and I can tell by the tone of his voice that, you know, it’s a little serious. And then I get a call from Sean, the GM of Brooklyn, and it’s just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And just like that, you know, switching teams, switching cities. Obviously, the process is way different, way different um in the offseason than in season, but still uh still a lot to do in in in switching over. Tim, I was Cam and I were talking about this uh earlier today. I’m curious your perspective. You know, there’s so much that goes into moving, like literally moving and you’ve been through this a bunch in your career. What do you what’s your sort of like what are your cheats now? Like what’s your advice even to like the younger guys about this process of like you’re like you mentioned you’re going to Denver tomorrow. Um but the actual process of like physically, you know, like you guys got to go and now figure it out. Yeah. I mean, thankfully, you know, the organizations have people that, you know, help you out with that along the way. Uh, for me personally, I thankfully I’ve only gotten, you know, either traded or picked up in free agency in the summer. Uh, so it was I had a, you know, a good amount of time just to pack up everything, have time to look at places in the new cities, wherever I’m playing, and uh, uh, kind of a smooth, easy transition. But during the season, uh, I don’t wish that upon anybody, man, at all. So, uh, really got to pick up and go, pack light, and get to your city as quick as possible. What are you guys both most excited about about this current roster? I feel like the Denver fans are really really hyped over the last week. Um, with this group, what are you sort of most excited about? I think we all know what what the group is capable of. U, they’re fresh off the championship just a couple seasons ago. They have tremendous players, tremendous pieces. Um, and from everything I’ve been told, a high level coaching staff. Uh, Tommy, you mentioned before that they were 30th in three-point attempts last season. Uh, we can fact check that. But if that’s true, um, it’s not for a lack of opportunity. It’s not for a lack of spacing on the court because Tim, we’ve both played against Denver plenty of times. Like the guys they have, Jamal, AG, Jokic, they’re able to pull guys around the court and and create double teams, create kickouts, create sprays, create one mors. And um you know for us there’s going to be a lot of opportunity to thrive in said environment and and thrive alongside veteran players that really understand um how to play and really kind of understand that the goal at the end of the day is to to bring another championship back to Denver. Um so the opportunity is is really exciting for us probably in particular Tim and then we add back that team. Um it just, you know, that Denver’s starting unit last year was in incredibly um efficient and and and really good. And so I just think the depth that we have on this team now is uh puts us in a position where where we’re we’re pretty serious contenders. Yeah. And just the way that they move the ball, the way like Cam said, uh you mean basically lasting three-point attempts. Uh, I mean that’s golden for us coming in, you know. Uh, that’s what we like to do. That’s what we want to do. Get up and down, run the floor, create offense for others, um, for ourselves as well. But just with the cutting and the continuous ball movement and and player movement out there on the floor, I think it it sets everybody up for success. And for us personally, you know, the the environment, like Cam said, with the the coaching staff and the front office, I’m pretty sure everybody’s going to put us in situations where we can be successful. And with the team, I mean, last year they took the defending, I mean, not the defending, the the champs, you know, to to game seven. Um, so, uh, I really don’t feel like we’re that far away, that far off. Um, but a little things here and there that could propel us over the hump. Uh, I think we get the job done. What are you most excited about playing with Joker? Look at that smile. Honestly, a big part of it is not having him no more cuz he’s a problem. He’s just a problem. That’s it. Period. You know, and he can pass, he can rebound, he can score, he can come, you know what I mean? You don’t know what you’re going to get on any given day. like kind of what mode he’s in. But, uh, man, just it’s it’s it’s an uncanny ability. He has spatial awareness, just how he feels the game, how he understands the game. Like, he does it in a way different than anybody else in the league. It’s when, you know, one of the best players in the league and one of the best players in league history. From a pure numbers perspective, you’re not really touching his um output over the past couple years. and it’s not accidental. Like he’s just that good. Um so to be able to play off of that, to be able to re make those reads, like I me and Tim both um will really enjoy playing off these highle players where we’re able to cut, find open spots, get up and down the court, make the right play, make the right play. Uh and it can just be simple, you know, and not force the issue as much. Exactly. Just be simple knowing that everybody who’s on the court, they’re going to make the right play, they’re going to make the right read. And I think that’s the kind of basketball that the front office is striving for and that’s really how they’ve played uh for the most part since I’ve been in the league and they’ve been really good at it. So just being able to be a part of that and it’s not even just Yoke. Like you’ve seen Christian Brown step up and and and have a a heck of a season last year. Jamal Murray is is a super talented dude and and so is AG. Like there it’s it’s not an easy team to guard. It hasn’t been an easy team to guard over the past couple years. Oh, just being able to to fit in that environment is going to be a lot of fun for us. Yeah. I I feel I feel like with you two with you two in particular, I mean, you guys have been two of the best in the league, you know, over the last as long as you’ve been in the league really at at uh re like relocating and you know, figuring out you talk about spatial awareness, just like figuring out how to get yourself open from three with the way that these guys play in particular, yoke, but then all of them really obviously, you know, chemistry is it’s going to take some time to figure this out, but I do you feel like that is a particular thing that you’re just sort of excited about, you know, heading into this particular group. Yeah. I mean, I think for the for the most part for both of us, uh, feel like we strive off of, you know, just running up and down, getting easy looks, uh, making it hard on the defense, putting pressure on the defense, not only for ourselves, but for our teammates, uh, and opening the floor for everyone, um, with our with our shooting abilities. So, for for us, I I I I really do think that just walking into this situation is we’re going to strive. It’s going to be great. Um, but a lot of that’s going to come to just like getting stops and getting easy buckets and and going out there having a good time. So, uh, yeah, that’s what I I mean, that’s how I see. Tim, I had a question. Cam on this show has called has said in the past that Joic has a supercomputer in his brain. um who said Jokic has had a has a supercomput in his brain. It’s the way that he just sort of operates. Has have there been moments that you’ve just watched as an opponent, as a fan that you’ve seen him do that you’ve just been kind of like we all have the guys in the league that we’re blown away by, but have there been particular things that he’s done that you just have uh almost been sort of at a loss of words for? Yeah, I would say so. Uh, but I for me personally, I really do think I’ve seen that in Luca a little bit, just being his teammate. Um, and those guys are buddies, you know, on and off the floor. So, it’s like some of the things I see in Joker, I see in Luca, uh, with their passing abilities, with their IQ and vision of the game. So, um I mean I’m I I I would really like to see how it is in practice, but during the games, like I I see what I see in when I was in Dallas with with Luca a ton. So, I would like to see what I’m going to see in uh during practice time with them. So, we’re all we’re all going to be in Vegas uh this weekend. Can you walk sort of the you know the fans, the audience through what the rest of the summer is going to look like for both of you? Well, one, it’s the it’s the the obvious. It’s, you know, um packing up out of Brooklyn, getting everything up to Denver and getting settled out there, right? That’s that’s kind of just step one. Um from that point, it’s like you want to get kind of settled. I think I’ll be in Denver probably periodically throughout the rest of the summer getting in. You know, it’s like the time, like we talked about this, Tommy. We talked about uh the benefit of being traded in the offseason is that you have time to actually kind of set up and get everything ready, get yourself ready for season, try to get a little comfy. So, that’s what I’m going to try to do. We’ll probably get in the gym uh this this weekend at summer league as a group, play a little bit. We’ll probably get the guys together at some point in the summer again, play a little bit, get to know each other a little better, and then kind of lock in in that September period uh going into training camp. Um, and I think that’s going to be big for us in terms of just um kind of setting the the the building blocks, the foundation and kind of getting everybody up to speed on on how we’re going to play and how what’s going to make it work for us. Okay. And I think uh just to add on to that, yeah, everything what Cam said, going back to Detroit, getting things moved out, getting settled in Denver comfortably, and uh just getting used to that altitude, man. That’s all looking forward to to be honest with you. Just getting used to that and working out out there, get a feel for it, get an idea of how my body operates around that. Um, so hopefully it’s a lot different living there than just going there for a couple of days. That’s a thing, Cam. You’ve talked about uh we’ve talked about you’ve talked about on the show, you know, even your ability to adjust to the altitude. Um in particular, it does feel like a a unique situation in terms of, you know, player movement, team movement in terms of being like you want to spend more time there just to make sure that your body is acclimated by the time you get to October. Yeah. I mean honestly I feel like a lot of the times I’ve played in Denver in the regular season have come on back to backs and that’s a game where you know on the schedule when you’re playing in Denver on a backtoback you know we’re just being honest here it’s that’s a tough game. Yeah, it is traveling. You land in Denver. You played the B day before you going. And that first quarter, man, them first 10 possessions, five possessions, you feel it. You feel it. You know what I mean? Watering. Give me a quick breathing. You might take a little slower on defense. Might, you know what I mean? Tim, we might stay in the corner an extra second. Yeah, stay in the corner. You might stay in the corner. Y’all got it. I’m get ready to get back on defense and guard a little bit. Um, so just I’m really interested to see how how we adjust them and and how our whole team adjusts and like how much of an advantage is it, you know, if we adapt to it and that’s our home environment and we’re used to it. I’ll be willing to see like I’m really excited to see what it’s like on the other side. Like we look at team like, oh man, they struggling with this. You could tell like they’re they’re moving slower and um yeah, I’m I’m I’m looking forward to that that aspect of it. Tim, I wanted to give you a chance to reflect a little bit on the Detroit experience. Um, yeah, you guys accomplished a lot. You know, you personally, the team accomplished a lot. Uh, future’s really bright for them obviously still as well. Your thoughts now going to a great situation, but also coming off of that year. Um, just what the last year sort of like been like for you there. Yeah, I mean, you know, first and foremost, like Tan, JB, Coach JB, you know, uh Tom, you know, they uh I was very happy and very excited for my time there. It was it was an honor. It was a privilege, you know, to play in the city of Detroit, um, down the street from Ann Arbor where I went to college, uh, over a decade ago. Being able to play in front of family and friends, former teammates, um, it was a blessing. It was a blessing in disguise. And uh a lot of like a lot of guys, you know, bash the city of Detroit as far as like going to play there and and and the fans, but people don’t know Detroit unless you actually play in Detroit. you know, those those fans and and those people there, they they have that grit. They have that tenacity. They have that fire inside them that instills in all their, you know, their sports. and being able to feed off of them and go out there and embrace that energy and put it out there on the floor. I really do feel like that’s what propelled us and helped us, you know, overcome, you know, what those guys experienced before myself, Tobias, uh, Malik, uh, Paul Reed, before us veterans got there. So, it was, uh, awesome just to just to be a part of that. culture, a part of of of that organization, and just being able to turn things around over there. I mean, I wish I was able to keep it going, but, you know, for the most part, they uh they’re they got it figured out and I’m happy that I was able to be a part of that. I just want you to walk us through that a little bit because like we we played you guys early last season, like really early. Maybe it might have even been in October. like our fifth game like November, right? Yeah. And um we played Detroit four times the year before and the team we came out against five games of the season was completely different. Completely different from an energy standpoint. Uh y’all physicality was way up and it was surprising because you know at the time it was still Detroit. It still stayed the previous season there. Yeah. So what was that process like? I mean I know it’s JB’s first year there. I know you had the influx of vets. you, Tobias, um, Paul, what how did that process go? Like what was the energy like in the building when y’all first showed up? What did you tell those guys? How did you guys get them to believe that they could be who y’all ended up being at the end of the season? Well, I think for the most part it started out with guys, you know, taking accountability, you know, and understanding that, hey, we effed up like like we are not a sub 20 win team, you know, we know we’re not like that. and us playing against those guys that year that they only had 14 wins. Uh you can see that they had that fire and that and that tenacity inside them, but they just didn’t know how to overcome and win ball games. They’ll be up five, six, seven points with five minutes to go in the fourth, they’ll lose. So it was just um the young guys, the first, second, third year guys taking accountability for, you know, knowing that they can be better and knowing that what what they were doing wasn’t working. And then I thening the vets, us coming in was just a little piece of the pie, but the main guys, Cade, uh Jaylen Durren, Isaiah Stewart, uh Assar Thompson, Jayen Ivy, like those core guys, you know, they took it upon themselves to to really lock in and get better uh that summer going into last season. And uh for us vets, it was easy for us just to go out there and tell them and instill that confidence and have it in their mindset that, you know, the first couple of weeks, couple couple first 10 15 games is going to be rough. You know, it’s new. Everything is new here. But I think once December hit and we started rallying off games and beating the high caliber teams like the Lakers and and going into Sacramento, beating Sacramento uh uh just games like that. Um oh, we were one game away from the NC tournament. I’ll tell you this, that inseason tournament, I think like really got our confidence up because those guys were almost close to actually like winning something and they knew that they were really good. So, uh I think that NC tournament I think really really truly helped the group out knowing that we could go into buildings and go here and go there and win ball games. So, uh it was it was it was fun, man. It was fun. Tim, you you mentioned you’ve played with a bunch of special guys over the years. You mentioned Luca just as an example of this. When you look at Cade, um unbelievable year. Oh, yeah. He’s going to have an unbelievable career. What about him? What about his game? What about him as a person did you pick up that you feel like sort of, you know, contributes to that specialness? I think he’s way more mature than his age. Uh he he has his mindset, the way he takes care of his body, the way he goes out there and works on his craft. Uh feels like he’s probably been in the league for over a decade. You know, he’s uh he does an incredible job of just playing at his pace. Really doesn’t have any weaknesses. Three level score would dunk on you if he has to. Can def play both ends of the floor. Um, so which is somewhat rare in the league. You know, you don’t have a lot of you have some Stars players that will play defense, but like it’s like very rare that star players actually like take the challenge of guarding the other team’s best player throughout the whole entire night. It was it was cool just to see him take the challenge and see coach and the staff, you know, give him a challenge to go out there and compete at the highest level on both ends of the floor and he flourish. Cam, did you feel like it it felt like objectively speaking to your point about the the grit, Tim, especially by the end of the year, it was like everybody knew everyone knew you guys were good, but they also knew you guys were going to come in and just like not take any [ __ ] and if you know stuff went down, stuff went down. Did you guys feel like there was a shift in that as an opponent in terms of like this team is going to come in here and if we are like not ready, not only are they going to beat us, but we, you know, they might just like rough us up a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, like I said, the first time we played him, they’re top lock and everything physical and and I think that’s like um like a JB thing where where he kind of in you can tell fight against the teams over the years. They’re going to get into you. They’re going to top block. They’re going to fight through screens. They’re going to make it hard. They’re going to talk a little bit. And so it was a different energy. It was definitely a different energy. We played them a couple times throughout the year and um they consistently played that way. And not only did they play that way defensively with energy, but they played their offense had energy. They had pace. They were moving the ball around, generating open shots, and it was like a a sense where the team kind of had joy for each other, you know, like they they they love what they’re doing. Like they embrace their group. And so from an outside perspective, like that’s exactly what you want to see in a team that that just got punched in the mouth pretty good the season before where you get guys in and you know basically completely change overnight. So yeah, there was definitely a change in in in energy when playing the Pistons. It it became, you know, you’re getting into a fight and sometimes literally a fight. I was going to say, Tiff, could you can you fill us in on being on being I was say can you fill us in on being his teammate because we’ve had a bunch of people come on the show who not his teammate. Everyone respects him, but he definitely gets into it with people. So, being his teammate, what that’s like, man, Isaiah Stewart is probably one of the best teammates I’ve ever had, man. He is he has a a heart of gold. wouldn’t hurt a fly, but when he steps in between them lines, I don’t know what triggers him or what happens, but he becomes something that, uh, you can’t really teach. So, uh, but that right there, that type of attitude and that type of energy that he brought, it it kind of molded what the Pistons were about back in the day and it gave us like that that energy to go out there and try to do whatever we could to win. So, uh, yeah, but Steu, man, he’s he’s a good dude. He’s a really good dude, man. I feel like I feel like every every month every month to six weeks, we would just get a moment. There would just be something something would happen and it would be like, “Oh [ __ ] some shit’s going down in Detroit right now.” Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was always like that like and and and coach and and everybody kind of already knew like, hey, like if [ __ ] hits the fan, just have each other’s back, like no matter what. And then it got to a point where all right, we probably got to tone it down a little bit. The league is calling us like we got to make sure everything is good. But for the most part, it was it was u it was fun to be around and experience that. I definitely feel like it’s it’s better to have to turn it down than have to turn it up. Like you do not want the reputation of a soft team. You do not want the reputation of like a you know just front runners weak, you know what I mean? So to to to build that reputation where you’re a tough team and you know that you know what I mean, you’re not going to take nothing. And I think Shro was a big addition for you guys. Oh yeah. I mean, he he was with us early during the season and it really hurt us when like really hurt us when we lost him. Like he’s a he was a fiery competitive every situation always got everybody’s back and so um you know I was glad to see him find success with you guys and I think he fit into what you were doing last season. Oh yeah, he got a bag off you too. So good job Dennis. Good job Diaz. I have a I have a kind of broad question for both of you. Um, you know, this is a Denver is a good example of this. Uh, in terms of just like if you when you’re a vet, when you’ve when you’ve lived a lot of lives in the NBA and you’re coming into a new locker room, how you’re juggling the, you know, I need to instill toughness. I need to instill culture. I need to basically instill kind of a, you know, a standard versus also like you don’t want to be like a dick right away. You know what I mean? Like you want to make sure that like so in ter like what’s the what is the best is it just leading by example? like what’s the way to do it without just kind of because no one wants to, you know, have the new guy come in and start yelling at them nine seconds in. So like what do you what do you feel like the best way to do that is? I mean I mean I think we said before I mean we’re going into a great situation where everything is established. Yeah. I mean they their vets been there for multiple multiple years. they kind of somewhat still have the whole core there from when they won, you know, their their the championship a couple years ago. So, I think us going in and not doing too much, not overdoing it, but going in there and just playing our style brand of basketball and and going in the situation with confidence and knowing our roles, I think we will fit in tremendously. Uh, but I think just us not overdoing it and not trying to impress anyone. Um, I think that it it it’ll make our our jobs and our lives a lot easier in that transition. Yeah. I think like just being ourselves, Tommy. Yeah. Like Tim said, like the formula is there. We just have to adapt to it, figure it out, um, add whatever we can add, and keep it rolling. Um, obviously we have to go in there and establish relationships with these guys because we’re going to win together, we’re going to lose together and everything in between. So, um, you know, just trying to establish that team camaraderie as quick as possible and, uh, be ourselves and compete. Like, I think that’s what it comes down to. It’s not necessarily about barking. It’s not necessarily about what the words you say, but it’s just how you compete, how you carry yourself, um, how far you’re willing to go for your teammates and and letting them know that you have their back. Yeah. Cam to to uh the reflection point, you know, the Brooklyn experience. Just wanted to get your thoughts. We’ve talked about it a ton here. Obviously, we’re going to miss you in this Richie and I are going to miss you in this studio. Um but the the experience overall, um post trade, great season last year, bunch of great guys, bunch of sort of like lifelong friendships, but your experience overall? Yeah, first of all, man, just I love the people in that building, my teammates, coaching staff, front office, training staff, strength staff. Like the best part about playing in Brooklyn for me was just showing up to work every day and seeing those guys. Um, and ladies that we had in the building. Um, and I enjoyed it because of that and I had faith in what we were building because of that. Um, I really think Jord’s a fantastic coach. like playing, you know, that one season under him. Personnel constantly shifting. We had trades, we had injuries. You know, he always maintained such a good approach to the team and he was always able to motivate us to play hard. I mean, you know, our record wasn’t great last year, but I think throughout the season, we consistently gave effort and I credit our coaching staff a lot for that. and um two years there, playoffs when we first got there. Obviously, we wish we could have been better and I was willing to do everything I could in my power to to to get us back on a winning track and I think they’ll get there eventually. Um, you know, I have faith in those guys in that building and obviously, you know, I’ll miss them and I appreciate them. I appreciate everything they did for myself and my career. And um you know, I wish Mike best of luck too going there and and figuring the situation out and and helping contribute to winning basketball. Um it’s never to be taken lightly when you add championship pedigree to a team. Um so yeah, I’ll definitely miss hanging in the in the studio with you guys, Tommy, Richie. Uh and I and I’ll miss my golf sim over there for sure. Shout out JJ for the golf sim. Um, what other what other that was my getaway. That was my getaway. The the studio that Tommy’s in right now and couple minutes away from my apartment. Any any day, any night, I I had a little key fob. I go in there and and he has a golf simulator in there. Oh, that’s amazing. I’d be in there just trying to get away from the city life. Here’s my I’m playing in Arizona. I’m playing in California. Everywhere. The context of this Tim. So, we built this like last January or something like that and JJ put the simulator in. So, JJ put the simulator in and it’s like the one of the nicest simulators I’ve ever seen. Probably one of the simulators in the world. And he put it in and he was playing it every day and people would sort of come and play or whatever it is. And then he goes and takes the Laker job and it’s just kind of sitting here just chilling. It’s like I’ll use it a little bit but it’s basically just chilling. And Cam comes in one day and he’s like, “What is this and I explained it to him and then literally here every day it just became like the hang it just is the s everyone was rolling through just coming and and oh my god now it’s now you now we’ll see what happens with it JJ might want it back Cam he might be down you might be you guys might be able to work something out we’ll ship it off to you guys are going to have your own compound in in in Denver to put this thing up yeah and maybe you know we might get some sunny days where we can head out to the range get on the Of course, you’re a little nine or 18. I’m down with that. Just, you know, they say Denver has that random 65 degrees sunny day every now and then in order to find out. We’re going to check it out for sure. What else does some What else uh last couple weeks have you guys around the league have you guys um are you impressed by? If you like seeing you think has worked terms of uh moves? I mean, should we just talk about Houston? I mean, that’s probably the easiest one so far. I mean, acquiring KD, you know, getting Dorian Finny Smith, I thought the Lakers had an opportunity to sign him back, but I don’t know what happened there. Um, but yeah, I mean, Houston had a had an amazing uh um off season, I would say. What you think? Yeah, I I agree with that. um to go from a two seed and make those kind of and make you know they look like on paper they’re very very good and adding dough like you said was huge. Yeah. And happy for dough back in Texas. Um I think that’s a situation where he can thrive. Um but yeah, that’s that’s a big one. Uh the DA to the Lakers could be high upside. That’s he’s one of the most talented players I’ve been around. Foot 260 can move, defend, shoot, post up. Uh you know what I mean? Lob threat. That the if if if that situation works out well, the upside of that one is is is huge. How do you all see about the um the Orlando Magic one? I think it’s big. Baines and it’s an allin to going for the East. you know, they found an opportunity. Bane is a huge pickup for them. Kind of exactly what they needed. They didn’t shoot the ball that well down the stretch of the season. They didn’t score the ball that well. They’re they’re a heck of a defensive team. I know that. Yeah, they are. Oh, they are. There’s going to be no drop off. Add in Dez. KCP was a huge part of that, but you know, Dez Dez competes on the defensive end, too. Adds that offensive um ability to take away from a little bit of the the stress off of Paulo and Fron. You get you get Jaylen Suggs back. Back. Yeah. For the top of the East for sure. The uh the West is pretty good. The West is very good. The West is Yeah. I mean, we’ve been over here for quite some time already. So, the West is really I was going to say, what’s your perspective now? A couple a couple years removed from it. And Dallas is another one. Dallas is going to be awesome next year, too. Yeah, I mean it does. But like just the in terms of a you know, it’s the NBA. Everyone’s really good, but like even even as we’re talking about these teams, it’s like New Orleans made some great moves. Like Portland’s going to be tougher. Utah is probably going to be tougher. Like the West is just We’re not We’re not even talking about the top six. Like the West is just [ __ ] brutal. Clippers. What do you think of the Clippers? I mean I mean Norman Pal was a big I mean he he was playing very very well. He was but very well. If something happens with Brad Beal, do they go and get him? You know, it’s CP. They might. But is that in the same situation as it was in Phoenix? Who knows? They’re they’re gearing up for something over there for sure. Yeah. I think Norm’s going to do I think Norm’s going to do great in Miami, though. Oh, he is for sure. Yeah. He had a he had a great season last year. Yeah. And that’ll be that’s that’ll the other thing other other team in the in the East sort of smaller moves, but I thought the Knicks uh did a lot of stuff with the bench. That’s going to put Yeah. and Nyabu, too. I think they they like Oh, yeah. They just they filled they filled the sort of holes that they had. I think Mike is going to do great there, too. And just the East is like I mean, honestly, your boys like they like this is the thing. It’s like the the the the East is wide open, you know? So, it’s wide open. Um I think to to sort of close it for for both of you guys, I’m sort of curious. This is sort of like the the question about just, you know, the the veteran leadership in general. your guys, your advice in general, not even in, you know, this specific situation, in general for younger shooters to follow you. And Tim, we’ll sort of start with you in terms of like what you’ve been able to accomplish in your career is a tribute to your, you know, your work ethic and your and your habits and your routines, but just like for the younger guys, not even guys in the league, guys just watching this show as they’re trying to sort of emulate what you’ve accomplished. Do you have anything in particular that you feel like has helped, you know, push you on this journey? Yeah, my dad getting on my damn nerve. No, I’m just kidding. I know that. No, but no, all serious all seriousness, but uh yeah, I mean it’s obviously it’s the work ethic, the hours and hours and hours you put in the gym from when you’re in middle school, high school, college, all the way to the pros. And when you get to the pro pro level, it doesn’t stop. Taking care of your body, making sure you’re in shape to run, stop on a dime. Cam knows this. I know this. Every shooter knows this. spring your ass all the way down to that corner. It’s the easiest three in the game. Getting your confidence up with that. Uh and and just following in the footsteps of the guys that come before you. For me, I mean, I was a big fan of Ray Allen, but I had a also a privilege and honor to play alongside Kyle Corbert. So anytime I and I was in Atlanta, so anytime I was shooting or I had struggle shooting, I would literally sit there and watch him shoot, watch his whole routine. Um, look at his hand placement, look at his feet, look at where he generates all his energy uh to get the ball up in the air as quickly and as efficiently as possible. So, um, for me it was just making sure I just studied the game. Not just go out there and shoot, but studied the game. Study the shooters that came before me. And, um, don’t be don’t be an [ __ ] Like, if you need help, ask for help. You know, everybody was top dogs where they were before, but everyone needs help in this society. Not even in basketball, but in life in general. So, don’t be scared to ask for it. Yeah, I completely agree with everything you said there, Tim. And like just be willing to be a sponge, you know. Um, a big part of a big part of what we do is a lot of it is what we established when we were young, the fundamentals of it, rep and form shooting over and over and over again. And establishing that base, it it you work on that still like we I’m sure you have it. I have it. There’s days where you break it down. Go back to the fundamentals. Go back to the basics. work on work on your follow through, work on your release point, work on your base, work on your elevation, all those things. And then as you get older, as you get better, as you start to um graduate in level that you’re playing, you find different ways to kind of simulate game shooting because as much as you you you have to be able to be able to stand on the ark, shoot 20 three-pointers, and make a high clip of them, right? Five spots. you shoot 100 three-pointers, you should make a a hide clip of them as an NBA player, you know, but a lot of guys do. There’s a difference between taking that and then making game makes because the best, you know, the best shooters in the NBA out of 100 spot up uncontested shots will make high 80s around that, mid high 80s. But the best shooters in the NBA when you’re playing against live competition are shooting in the 40s, low 40s at that. You know what I mean? So understanding the difference, understanding how to make that game percentage, that ability to make shots in the game increase towards that number of when you’re shooting uncontested comes in a variety of ways. For me personally, I like to kind of simulate the pressures of the game because that’s something that that people don’t necessarily talk about. How do you feel when you’re 0 for four and from three in the first quarter? You feel you feel horrible like like [ __ ] Especially when you’re open three of those four. Boom. But it’s gonna happen, Tim. Right. It’s gonna happen. Exactly. So like how in practice can I simulate stress, disappointment? Am I shooting with closeouts? Am I shooting off of live reads? Am I shooting? So for me personally, some days I’ll go 50 shots from three, 10 shots, five spots, whatever. If I, you know, no start on the make, no nothing. I shoot it. I have to live with the result. Say I want 40 plus, 42 plus. But if I get 34, I if I if I got 24 makes going into the fifth spot, it’s like, okay, I got to I got to reenter, get everything, you know, heading in the right direction. So, finding ways to simulate game like reps or game like the the mental side of it is is a big step in becoming a better shooter and and making it as a shooter in the NBA. Thought that was very well said. Uh Tim Hardaway Jr., Cam Johnson, Denver, you are going to enjoy these guys. Um we will see you this weekend. No doubt. I appreciate you guys. [Music]

This week we welcome the two newest members of the Denver Nuggets: Cam Johnson and Tim Hardaway Jr.! They begin the episode with Cam sharing his trade story and Tim sharing what went into his decision to join the Nuggets. They then share their thoughts on the Nuggets’ roster and organization, and what they are looking forward to most about playing with Nikola Jokic. Tim then reflects on this last season with the Detroit Pistons, including what went into the team’s turnaround, the first season of head coach JB Bickerstaff, and what makes Cade Cunningham so special. Cam also says thank you to the Brooklyn Nets organization. Let’s go!

0:00 Intro
0:50 Cam and Tim on the Nuggets
7:00 On Playing with Jokic
11:20 What their summers will look like
14:36 THJ on the Detroit Pistons
20:14 What makes Cade Cunningham special
21:41 Cam and THJ on the Pistons toughness
25:56 Entering a new locker room
28:21 Cam says thank you to the Brooklyn Nets
31:55 NBA offseason thoughts
35:45 Advice to young shooters

Subscribe to The Young Man and The Three podcast aka YM3 YouTube channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.

Previously The Old Man and the Three w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter