There’s a bright side to the Denver Nuggets loss in Summer League | Denver Sports Daily
the Avalanche Inc. another extension. There’s a pipe dream potential trade that we may have to finally put to bed. And believe it or not, there was a bright spot to the Nuggets heartbreaking buzzerbeating loss in their summer league opener. This is your Denver Sports Daily for July 11th. The biggest stories, the latest news. It’s Denver Sports Daily. Chris McFarland’s plan on the Blue Line is coming together slowly but surely. And that’s kind of been the theme for the Colorado Avalanche in terms of their offseason plan. Not a lot of big splashy moves coming in, more so the moves going out in Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood heading to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a pretty transparent salary dump. They incense Brent Burns to a one-year $1 million dealer. Parker Kelly gets a $1.7 million average annual value extension. And now Josh Manson, who’s still under contract, do about $4.5 million in the upcoming season, inks a two-year extension with Colorado. And Chris McFarland clearly sees Manson, despite injury issues and some up and down play as the near future for the Colorado Avalanche in their blue line depth behind Kale Mar and Devon Taves. McFarland spoke very highly of Josh Manson who came over to the team during the 2022 stretch run to the Stanley Cup. Only played in a handful of games the year after before rebounding to play about 71 out of 82 games and then 48 games last season. So injury is clearly a factor in Manson’s pro productivity and participation on the ice. But when healthy, he’s been a bit of a veteran presence. Somebody that brings a nice leadership role, some uh size and skill on the blue line that they have been lacking at times and something we saw exposed during the Dallas Stars uh playoff series last season. And somebody that clearly along with Molinsky, Kale Mar, Devonte’s etc., Chris McFarland feels is important to maintain this next two to three-year window for the ABS as they continue to hunt for another Stanley Cup. We will see what remains of Chris McFarland’s offseason plans as the ABS still have a little bit of cap space left to fill and still have some holes particularly on their wingers slots on their third line. Could a big move be coming? Maybe. I don’t know. It would probably require a trade of Martin Ness, who is due $6.5 million on the one-year remaining on the contract that the ABS inherited from the Carolina Hurricanes. One big move we can probably put to bed, however, is the trade for NHL superstar Sydney Crosby. The Penguins legend has off been linked in trade rumors considering the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins are on a little bit of a downs sloping trajectory. They haven’t made it out of the first round of the playoffs since 2018. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2022. And obviously, they won the Stanley Cup all the way back in 2017. So, coming up on a decade be since the Penguins were legitimate true Stanley Cup and postseason contenders, which makes a lot of reasonable minds wonder, could Sid the Kid be on his way out of Pittsburgh? Could he finish his career, his legendary career as one of the greatest to ever lace up skates in another city outside of Pittsburgh where he is kind of Mr. Penguin? And the obvious, clear, and transparent connection between Sydney Crosby and close personal friend, Avalanche superstar Nathan McKinnon has a lot of people here locally and even nationally wondering if whether or not the Avalanche could consider reuniting or not reuniting, I should say, uniting Nathan McKinnon and Sydney Crosby in the burgundy and blue here in Colorado. We get tastes every so often via the Olympics and most recently the Foreign Nations face off as to what that might look like to have Sid the Kid and Nate Dog playing alongside each other. And it’s pretty tantalizing as you might imagine. However, it seems clear based on ESPN senior NHL reporter Greg Washinsk’s eyes that if Sydney Crosby does finish his career somewhere other than Pittsburgh, it likely would not be in Colorado where he called it a pipe dream, quote unquote. Could it be Montreal? Perhaps a Canadian team tied to his Canadian roots as he and Nathan McKinnon come from the same region would make sense. Or he may just continue to finish his career in Pittsburgh as Mr. Penguin, Mr. Pittsburgh, and be a legendary figure who plays for that city until the end of his career. A move like this for Chris McFarland would definitely probably bring back some life that was and some goodwill that was maybe lost on some members of the fan base after the Miko Rantin trade, but it seems like a short-term play that may or may not pay off and would cost a pretty penny considering Sydney Crosby’s making north of $9 million per year and the ABS would have to clear a pretty significant amount of cap space in order to accompany that. So, for now, it looks like we will put the Nate Dog Sid the Kid dream to bed. In the NBA, the Denver Nuggets kicked off summer league action last night and it didn’t end the way that most people would like. They end up losing on a buzzerbeating three-pointer to the Milwaukee Bucks. But there was a bright side in my opinion to this loss and that was the emergence or reemergence considering he’s a secondyear player of the most recent draft pick of the Denver Nuggets, Don Holmes II, the player that Calvin Booth negotiated with himself against himself essentially to add a third second round pick to trade up with the Phoenix Suns to draft Don Holmes. And then we didn’t even get to see any of that payoff because he injured his Achilles right at the beginning of summer league and has yet to play a minute of NBA action. Well, he got his chance to return to the court in summer league last night. And he looked pretty good. Came away with 15 points, four boards, and a nice block. Was mixing in a good amount of perimeter shooting and attacking the basket. He looked good with the ball in his hands. maybe a little bit slower than we may have seen him in college or or at his early summer league production last season as he was ramping up toward that, but this is a guy in Don Holmes who could, if the cards fall the right way, find himself into some form of contribution during the regular season and potentially spell as a big man himself a depth role as the third center or forward depth behind behind Nicole Joic, maybe Jonas Valenunis, etc. So, I think it is a bright spot considering the Denver Nuggets by offering Calvin Booth an extension, which he declined for financial reasons before firing him. The Nuggets clearly felt strongly or believed more in Calvin Booth’s play the pup strategy than Michael Malone’s we’ve got to go out and find veterans. Now, the new front office seems to be maybe correcting or course correcting some of that as they’ve gone out and given David Adelman uh a Cam Johnson in a Michael Porter Jr. trade. They signed Tim Hardaway Jr., which is a sneaky, savvy veteran signing for the Nuggets. Somebody who’s going to provide leadership, ball handling, guard depth, and three-point shooting. Also bringing back Bruce Brown. And then in theory, as it’s still un unsigned and un uh uh not official, the Yonas Valenunis trade dumping Daario Sarich in his terrible contract. I’m going to say it that way every time because it scars me still that that was allowed to happen under this organization’s watch. But Don Holmes as the, you know, most unproven commodity on this Nuggets roster, considering we haven’t been able to see anything that he can contribute outside of two games essentially of summer league, is going to be an interesting piece that unfolds over the course of this season alongside the continued development of a Julian Strawther and a Jaylen Picket and a Payton Watson and Christian Brown further cementing himself into that starting lineup. a nice young piece blossoming in a more quickly than maybe expected fashion after an injury in his rookie season could be a huge benefit for the Denver Nuggets. So, I know they lost their first game of summer league and it came in heartbreaking fashion with a buzzer beater, but Don Holmes showing flashes of playmaking ability both at the rim from beyond the ark and looking good in transition is a positive sign for the Nuggets. And I think it could start to maybe creep in to the regular season in a way that will be nothing but beneficial for this squad as they continue to try to compete for another Larry O’Brien trophy. Thank you so much for joining me. This has been your Denver Sports Daily for July 11th.
There’s a bright side to the Denver Nuggets loss in Summer League | Denver Sports Daily with @RichieCarni
