Denver Nuggets 2025 Offseason Recap

Denver Nuggets 2025 Offseason Recap

Yo, what’s going on, guys? And today, of course, we’ll be talking about the Denver Nuggets in their off season. The Denver Nuggets, the Clippers, and the Hawks were arguably my three best off seasons if I had to put a number on there in Denver, having one of the best ones, bringing back Bruce Brown, getting themselves an actual backup center in Yonas Valenunis, but of course doing the move that I have said since they won that championship. And nothing to say against Michael Porter Jr. It’s not like I lament the guy, but I’m enthralled by this move for Cam Johnson. The reason was since they won that championship, I had always said you can go to that 2023 offseason recap or preview and I said it felt like during that championship run, you know, swing what never swing the rock quarter could have been flipped for Cam Johnson. I had literally said that and you would have had similar if not better production in that playoff championship run than Michael Porter Jr. for a fraction of the cost. So, the fact that they went out and did that, I love. I’d like to hear what you guys have to say in the comments section before we start. What do you guys think of this addition? Do you guys agree with this off seasonason being one that puts Denver back into contention? It’s something that I think everybody who’s a Nuggets fan is absolutely going to enjoy this year because this is the best roster Nikolai Joic has had in a while. So, what were the departures? Who left? Aro Sarich was traded to the Kings for Yonas Valenunis while Michael Porter Jr. was part of that Cam Johnson swap. They did send an unprotected pick in 2032. So, was it worth it? Well, I think it was because if you look at everybody that they brought in, Bruce Brown on a one-year deal, basically going to rebuild his value after being overpaid, which rightfully so, and then having played the past few seasons for the Pelicans, Raptors, and the Pacers, which hey, he was part of the deal that got Pascakam to Indiana. So, snaps for them. Cam Johnson comes over for MPJ in that 2032 Denver unprotected first round pick. Kim Orway Jr., six-man type guy comes in, it’s going to be a score for them that they need. And Yonas Valenunis being a behemoth of a human who’s going to be able to come in and be able to run the offense similar to how Jokic does out of the elbow running DHO’s, grab rebounds, actually shoot occasionally the three and just be someone who can be a really efficient scoreer at the basket and alleviate Joic for like 15 to 20 minutes a night. So Joic doesn’t have to be playing like 40 minutes a game and doesn’t have to be gassed all the time. So what else has happened this off season that people might be saying, “Oh, these were kind of like big picture things.” Well, before we get to that, because there was some changes in the front office, I do want to talk about the depth chart that I think this year, look at this, baby. And I think if they actually play their young guys from Jaylen Picket and Hunter Tyson being two guys that I really like. I like Curtis Jones and Tamar Bates who as you guys know I’ve gone the last couple years to Portsmith Invitational Tournament PIT pit in Portsouth Virginia. Tamar Bates and Curtis Jones were two guys who baldled out. Tamar Bates guy who’s a combo guard swingmanish undersized swingman in a similar frame to Kemp Bazmore. Can literally dribble pass dribble shoot defend. going to be a steal in this. Just an uncut gem. All right, a diamond in the rough. Then you got Curtis Jones, a 6’4 combo guard with a little bit of point guard skills out of Iowa State who can just bomb it with flurries. And then they bring back Spencer Jones and Don Holmes coming off that Achilles injury all round out the back of the bench. Maybe Zeke Nani’s career could be revived. Jaylen pick it 100 time and the only reason Zeke Nanji is negatively looked at is just because he got gener generational wealth in terms of that eight million average annual value contract. So with that being all said I do want to hear you guys’ thoughts. What do you think of the rest? Payeyton Watson and Christian Brown are both going to be extension eligible. Wonder if Payne Watson has the skill sets to become the eventual success for Aaron Gordon people suggest. And Christian Brown obviously is someone that they have to keep in my opinion. All right, so let’s get right into the rest of what we were just discussing. I also didn’t check if I was on screen, but I think I was. Either way, let’s go ahead and discuss the rest of the moves that have been current this year. But before we do that, let’s look at the salary cap. Do a little apron check. Their payroll currently $188.3 million, just 0.4 over the tax line. That’s about 2.9 below the first apron and just $15 million below the second apron, which puts them in a great position, which they needed this. It gives him a little bit of some breathing room around the collar. And to me, the reason why these moves matter, there’s a whole reason. First off, Ham Johnson gives you a player on a better contract, cheaper contract. He’s someone who’s a better shooter, a better defender, can playmake. Basically, everything that Michael Border Jr. can do, Cam Johnson’s better. I will say Michael Porter Jr. could theoretically be the better isolation scorer and rebounder, but outside of that, Cam Johnson is better at everything else. Tim Orway Jr. gives you instant offense and it’s on a veteran flyer, so it’s not like it’s a contract that’s going to like screw you over. So, sorry about that, guys. I my my light went off, so I wanted to fix it. Now, as we said, Valenunis, all the offensive things that he’s going to be able to contribute to this team is going to be huge, but also he’s a great screener, which is huge for this team that loves running dribble handoffs. And then Bruce Brown being that great, you know, offball cutter scorer on offense. It’s like this trickery guy who can also give you a little treacherary playmaking and treacherary ball handling. But being a transition offensive defensive player, can also be a point of attack defender that they’ve lacked is huge. Now, if we move to the the rest of the moves that this front office has done, to me, I think they’ve done a really good job of putting themselves in position to be able to grow. Either way, there are new moves. First off, Ryan Bowen, my fiance, went to high school with his daughter. not going to say his daughter’s name because of like privacy, but you know, cool seeing Ryan become the head coach. He was a assistant coach. I I don’t know whenever you go from assistant, if you’re not a front of this bench assistant, I assume it is a upgrade to become the the G-League head coach, but I do always wonder about that. Ben Tenzer was the interimm GM, then he got elevated to executive vice president of basketball operations. And then David Adelman, right? Adelman. Alman. Adelman. Right. Adelman. Alman. Now I’m like I’m going to have to read this. The YouTube pronunciation that I saw when they use it said Adelman. Coach Adelman who’s the son of legendary Coach Adelman. Rick Adelman. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I like it. And you know, maybe we get a different look at this team. So, moving forward, what is the rest of the information that we’re going to discuss about this Denver Nugget squad? What are the big picture takeaways from this year? Well, to me, I think they did a great job putting together a squad that looks like it has the ability to be a contender to be one of the best teams in the NBA and in my opinion just really take advantage of Nikolai Joic’s ability to be the best player in the world over the last four to five seasons. And that is they’ve added shooting, they’ve added size, they’ve added playoff tested veterans, and they are under the first apron. Cam Johnson, Tim Jr., Bruce Brown. Okay, all those guys have a lot of playoff experience. Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown have championship experience. Valenunis gives them for the first time in Jokic’s career since becoming an MVP caliber player, an actual backup who can alleviate him. I the only player that we’ve been this stoked and been able to emulate Jokic when he’s off the floor and alleviate him correctly was Demarcus Cousins and since then no offense to DeAndre Jordan it’s just and it seems like DeAndre might be coming back either way Adelman or Aldman now I keep blanking Adelman is going to be able to run a different offense give us a different looks and I think as we saw the end of the season we started to see a different approach more better defense defense, a more offensive approach, a team that played harder, and that is some of the most important things when it does come to basketball. So, to me, I think they put themselves in a big or great situation to take the jumps back into contention and expect another Jokic season of great. Now, obviously, if Jamal Murray can be efficient and not play like slow to start the season, this could be an even for sure guaranteed contender. There’s still some internal growth that depends on, you know, Christian Brown. Obviously, Aaron Goran’s fantastic, but him continuing to play at the level he is, Jamal Murray, Jaylen Picket, Julian Strawther, Payton Watson, as we mentioned earlier, if he does get an extension, that’s something that they’ll have to discuss. But that’s everything here. This team’s geared up for another serious run. I want to hear your thoughts down below if you made it to the end. If you did, seems like you enjoy this type of content. So, hit that subscribe button. to help out the channel a ton.

The Denver Nuggets’ 2025 offseason focused on adding depth, shooting, and size — all while staying under the first apron. Key moves include acquiring Cam Johnson from Brooklyn for Michael Porter Jr., signing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown, and trading for Jonas Valančiūnas to back up Nikola Jokić. Denver also locked in two-way players Tamar Bates, Curtis Jones, and Spencer Jones.

With David Adelman stepping in as full-time head coach and a reloaded rotation, the Nuggets are primed for another title push in 2025-26.

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