big honey and the nuggets

it's a long season

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thinking-basketball/id1428290303?i=1000591786808

enjoyed this deep dive into jokic, one mind blowing stat is that this year the nuggets have 11 fewer assists per 100 possessions with jokic on the bench, which I guess is the best of all time, other leaders on the list are like peak nash lebron curry etc seasons

I think there’s a reasonable chance that in terms of impact on wins and losses jokic is significantly better than his basic numbers indicate, might be even better than being a 2 time MVP might suggest, just my thoughts

Feel like you could say that for the handful of mvp level dudes in the league but I get your point.

thats why everyone wants the big dogs

theres also a thing where denvers roster just really doesnt work without him in there

Very random but I can't stop thinking about how the other night Nikola Jokic jumped to try to create space between him and Bam Adebayo.

No fake pass from Jamal Murray or anything. Just jumped to try to trick Bam, then ran to the ball.

Gonna call this the "Joker jump." pic.twitter.com/PJ2nttyCHm

— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) January 4, 2023

ha got em

him and kornet should start a cheerleading school

Bruce Brown, last 2 seasons...

31-for-57 (54.4%) from the right corner.
12-for-59 (20.3%) from the left corner.https://t.co/ejDRStYnU9https://t.co/2YxCnuFdcJ

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) January 7, 2023

gonna use this as a nuggets thread

faked me out in slomo while i was expecting something crazy

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS JOKIC pic.twitter.com/aWNRj59h51

— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) January 10, 2023

Love those kinda slow mo 360 dribble moves, luka does does a lot

yeah good for husky boys who can give a lil bump at the end of the spin and get their shoulders by

14-11-16-1-1 tonight. ON 5 SHOTS (5-5 fg, 1-1 3p, 3-3 ft)

what on earth lol

that’s truly silly it is making me laugh thinking about it

I missed 95% of the game due to a flight but it’s a sort of line Ive seen plenty of times from jokic (ok, the perfect shooting triple double is only something he’s done once). it’s a thing he does when he doesn’t respect the opponent in my viewing experience

also does anyone know if anyone keeps stats on opening tips? jokic has to be bottom 10% at that, seems like I never see him win one lol

alright maybe I’m way off base because according to “degendata.com” the nuggets win 70% of their tips?

https://www.degendata.com/games/20230109

Nuggs vibe check

“This is the best locker room I have been a part of.”

-Bruce Brown on the Nuggets roster. He said they spend off nights together, play Call of Duty and other stuff.

— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) January 10, 2023

Nugs vibes seem good but let’s not forget that Bruce Brown’s previous NBA locker room experiences are the Pistons and Nets

haha yes

true lol

wow this locker room is great theres no kyrie or james harden in it

i now realize that was a bad post i apologize

lol it does seem like the vibes are good tho

I think having a chill guy like jokic who is also a world-beater leading the team is a formula for good vibes. his teammates legit revere him

its true saw a bones interview where he seemed legit amazed at jokers humility, like it was something he hadnt even considered possible

yeah I watch a lot of local segments they show on the league pass streams and it’s a borderline cult

you are in a cult kev seek help

I seek help from jokic only he will save me

lmao

joks bruv

two biyombo pick and roll finishes to start out, nice

the torrey craig redemption show part 2

The best 1:42 you will spend today 😂 pic.twitter.com/NcTSjiSin0

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 14, 2023

Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe are such Nikola Jokic fans/supporters/believers.

They can’t help themselves when talking about Nikola, they are like little kids on Christmas morning when they talk Jokic.

Love it. @Adam_Mares @HarrisonWind @DLineCo @BrendanVogt #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/jqZxs5mn5M

— JB Denver Sports (@JB_DenverSports) January 14, 2023

No cap like I am wearing no hat

8-6-5-1 in 10 mins of the first quarter

JOKIC. BANGARANG!https://t.co/UuwxYJmnXx pic.twitter.com/qM43q7xXBd

— Wobkola Jokić (@WorldWideWob) January 16, 2023

big shot big honey

he's somehow so chill

just don’t dunk on him

Nikola said he told Bol after the game: "If you dunk one more time on me, I'm gonna F him (up)."

— Mike Singer (@msinger) January 16, 2023

Great pass, comical shot pic.twitter.com/2jQntQmEVa

— Taco Trey Kerby (@treykerby) January 18, 2023

lowe:

With the Orlando Magic, Gordon was miscast as a wing. Orlando was overstocked with bigs. Gordon had ambitions of LeBron James-style ball dominance. Over several roster mutations, none of it worked. Across the league -- even within Orlando -- insiders wondered: Why couldn't Gordon access his inner Draymond Green? He could be the superstar role player every good team needs!

How wonderful when experience and luck put someone in the right place to fulfill their destiny at the moment they are ready to accept it. Gordon is the perfect support player for Nikola Jokic, and he's enjoying a career season: 16.5 points, 7 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 59% shooting -- 37.6% on 3s, and 65% on 2s.

As a leaper with size and anticipation, Gordon is an ideal target for Jokic -- on cuts, and leaking out in transition. But Gordon is doing so much more than dining on Jokic's passing genius.

He's been vicious as a post-up scorer, and defenses are starting to send help -- even when Gordon doesn't have a size mismatch. Denver's trusting Gordon to make the right plays:

He still gets to run some pick-and-roll, and has great chemistry with Jokic. The Nuggets have averaged 1.33 points when Gordon shoots out of the pick-and-roll or dishes to a teammate who fires -- No. 1 (!) among almost 200 ball handlers who have run at least 75 such plays, per Second Spectrum.

Gordon's supplementary passing has been a big boost. He's heaving accurate outlets, leading fast breaks, and pinging smart extra passes around the perimeter. The Nuggets have sets for Gordon to facilitate from the elbows. What are you supposed to do here -- with Gordon holding the ball at the right elbow, Jokic setting a down screen for Bruce Brown at the left elbow, and ace shooters in each corner?

On defense, Gordon can guard all five positions. His pinpoint rotations and shot-blocking are essential in Denver's demanding scheme.

Gordon has a real All-Star case.

jamal is doing his best jokic impression: has 12-9-9-2 3 mins into the 3rd quarter. would be his first career triple double

*taps the sign*

jesus christ this nuggets game is a religious experience

30 assists for the team through 3 quarters with jokic not playing. 38 point third quarter

season high 15 dunks

nikola jokic is a system player

k3v - any idea who the "full of shit / coach is trippin" guys are on the nuggets?

I still need to go and listen to all the podcasts from yesterday. but from what I had understood over the course of this year, guys like pickett and strawther (booth’s draft picks along with tyson, braun and watson), plus nnaji who booth extended a couple seasons ago, had rocky relationships with malone. but honestly, other than maybe gordon and watson, who’s known to be a good studier, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that applied to anyone on the squad. plenty of poor effort and execution to go around

from law murray on twitter

Final tally for a Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokić 5-man lineup that we might not see again

Nuggets were +34 when that group was together in 142 minutes vs Thunder

Nuggets were -98 in all other lineups vs Thunder in semifinals.

Brutal

I understand why they limited AG’s minutes in game 7 because he was limping up and down the court (despite playing pretty well), but I thought adelman played the bench too much. I get there is a balance you have to strike, but they blew lead after lead

genuinely heroic effort from AG tonight

yeah, fuck michael malone for saying shai “showed why he’s the MVP”. ripping the band-aid off

have to say the reaction on twitter to that malone bit confirms my longstanding view of nuggets fans, the kinds of people who have been pining for years for reconciliation with carmelo, who couldn’t make it more clear he couldn’t care less about the franchise. a really down bad group of people who clearly have daddy issues

like I have defintely had my issues with malone over the years, you can prob just search ILH about that, but the thing I did like about him was his pugnaciousness, the loyalty to his guys. obviously being fired is rough on anyone but to say something like that for a buck, after q everything he’s said all year, tells me all I need to know. george karl reigns supreme

his valanciunas shit is driving me insane

he's got a year left on his deal at $5m, panathinaikos offers €12m, he's like cool i will void my contract to leave america, seems smart

it’s ten million!

sorry, yeah. still worth it.

I don’t see why the nuggets don’t just say they’re happy for him he wants to play somewhere else, but he’s under contract. doesnt the NBA have agreements with these leagues about this kind of thing?

Seems like bad team management to try to force a player to play for you who's clearly decided it's better to jump ship to another country and play for a team in another league. Bad for the team vibes to have someone in the locker room who feels mistreated and unhappy about playing there.

he's just trying to get an extension from them right?

in which case the play isn't to hold him to his contract and say "nuts to you", but give him the extension or else let him walk.

why would they want to do that

shams

Denver has informed Jonas Valanciunas' reps that the franchise fully intends to have him honor his contract as the Nuggets view Valanciunas as a critical center addition to back up Nikola Jokic and play alongside him. Greek team Panathinaikos pursued Valanciunas in recent days.

reading between the lines, I take it that denver wasn’t able to get horford, in which case this is the right play. not enough quality bigs left for the kroenkes to do a 10 million dollar solid to a guy under contract

https://bsky.app/profile/mrbuckbucknba.bsky.social/post/3luxpwpcigs2c

would like to see the nugs adopt jockey helmets en masse as their champagne celebration protective head gear next time they have occasion

happy for my goat and his horse

Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun has agreed to a five-year, $125 million rookie contract extension with the franchise, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball tells ESPN.

right about where most of the whispering about this had been the past few months. was hoping they’d get a little more of a discount but I don’t completely hate it. will be interesting to see if there are any options or major incentives

seems like a pretty good deal really

yeah I’m happy with it. I’m also happy they decided not to extend watson, though that always seemed less likely

I believe in CB and think that number will look really good in his late 20s. especially if the signs of improved shooting and playmaking are real

seems a lil high he could def out perform it but still

Dyson Daniels 4-years/$100M
Jabari Smith Jr. 5-years/$122M
Christian Braun 5-years/$125M
Keegan Murray 5-years/$140M

seems like it's market value, his ceiling is not the highest among these guys but compared to smith or murray you are already getting more of what you're paying for, if he never takes another leap it won't be a disaster. plus he's already got the chemistry with joker. biggest takeaway afaict is that kangz FO is bad. hot take, i know

kings had to give murray that deal their fans have a special chant for his name

i dont think i like the deals for any of those guys, daniels at least has an elite skill but youre kinda hoping these guys grade out as solid starters, whatre you gonna do i guess

braun was already more than a solid starter last year. he had. 67% true shooting, led the league in fast break points, and is a plus defender. if he can continue being a plus three point shooter on a little bit higher volume I think it’ll look great. we’re talking about <15% of the cap

I actually think I like him the most out of those 4. offense is just so much more important than defense. jabari smith jr is young enough that he could surpass him tho

braun had a great year for sure and hes def a really good defender and transition player, the halfcourt offense tho i think is pretty iffy sort of thing where he has to play perfectly within his role cause ultimately hes just not really a baller, which i think goes for the rest of those guys too, id rather invest in ballers

he’s looked good in preseason, shot is looking confident and he’s shown more playmaking chops. I agree it’s an overpay if he just stays the same player he was last year, but I think there’s more to him

funny thing with these deals and the idea of the nba as a market is no one else is giving these guys that much money simply because theyre not capable of doing it under the current salary cap, and on the rare occasion that a team has cap space theyre prob not looking to spend it on these type of guys who have little star potential

that’s generally true but there may be a few more teams with cap space next year. the heat for example were reportedly holding cap space due to the possibility of getting giannis or (lol) jokic, which seems unlikely to happen. CB would actually be a nice fit there I think next to herro

i think i have a bit of a hard time separating braun's value from the fact that he has one of the easiest roles in the league. the nuggets were clearly correct in deciding to move on from KCP to put braun in that role, but idk if denver needs to be paying any 3 and D guy $25 million over 5 years when the 3 part of that equation is almost entirely facilitated by another player

like if christian braun and keegan murray had switched teams after their rookie year i think keegan murray is prob still getting a $100m deal from denver. i'm not sure if christian braun is playing himself into that price range when divorced from the best passer of his generation

yeah he made one three a game last year, in the playoffs teams dared him to shoot and it didnt work out that well, i dont think you can call him a 3 and d guy at all really

there is definitely that, and it’s always one of the hardest things about denver’s roster decisions. almost everyone plays better with jokic, which automatically puts them in a more-valuable-to-us-than-to-them situation.

at the end of the day though this is something like 12% of the cap next year (it’s escalating from what I’ve seen from bobby marks), and as the cap rises that percentage should not change much. I am personally much more worried about murray’s extension, another guy the nuggets found themselves caught in this situation about. if he never ascends to all-star level, that max is going to be damaging. braun has shown enough signs of growth that I am willing to be cautiously optimistic, although as I said I was hoping it would be more in the 22-23 million AAV range

but then you look at those other contracts and think, this is just what the market is

there is definitely that

this was xp to jordan’s point about playing with jokic

keegan murray and jabari smith are interesting cases in that theyre supposed to be great shooters but so far a nice rookie season from murray notwithstanding theyre just not

there isnt really a salary market in the nba theres only not wanting ruin the vibes by getting into an extended conflict with one of your guys

i think that’s mostly true yeah

the smith and murray contracts felt somewhat gobsmacking to me. i find it fascinating that the heat got jovic on 4/62 compared to what the rest of these guys got paid when you look at i.e. WS/48 last season

braun - .144
jabari - .117
jovic - .104
daniels - .093
murray - .082

my point isn’t about jovic exactly as much as it to say that it feels like the rest of these guys should be getting paid closer to his number than the other way around

denver coaches beat denver media 114-16. was expecting more from adam mares

haha mazzulla started a trend